---
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003
type: workplan
title: "Downstream consumption: versioned IR releases + consumer drift-check"
domain: infotech
repo: whynot-design
status: active
owner: claude
topic_slug: custodian
created: "2026-06-27"
updated: "2026-06-27"
state_hub_workstream_id: "41fed928-f44a-48f4-9870-120310fbf071"
---

# Downstream consumption: versioned IR releases + consumer drift-check

## Problem

whynot-design is the **upstream visual reference** for other repos. Those repos
should follow up on changes **at their own pace** — not be force-synced. To do
that a consuming repo needs three things it cannot do today:

1. **Pin a version** — there are no git tags and the package is `private`, so the
   only pin available is a raw commit SHA.
2. **Inspect a version** — there is no single "what's in this release" summary;
   you must read the repo.
3. **Get a grip on changes** — there is no tool that tells a consumer *what
   changed* between the version it adopted and a newer one, so drift is tracked
   by hand.

The substrate already exists: `ir/` is the technology-neutral, committed,
diffable contract (component contracts + W3C tokens + exemplars). A consumer
never needs the Lit internals — it tracks the IR. The work is to **version it,
summarise it, and give consumers a drift-check.**

## Approach

Expose `ir/` as the consumer-facing contract and make it the unit of versioned
consumption. This is the **inverse** of whynot-design's own upstream machinery
(Claude Design → `designbook/` → `ir/`), now pointed downstream
(`ir/` → consuming repos):

```
whynot-design  (upstream reference)
   │  tag vX.Y.Z + publish to Gitea npm registry
   ▼
@whynot/design@X.Y.Z   (consumer pins it; lockfile IS the pin)
   │  ships ir/ + ir/manifest.json (version + per-component/token hashes)
   ▼
consuming repo
   │  .whynot-design.lock  (manifest hashes it has adopted)
   │  npx @whynot/design drift   →  added / changed / removed components + token diffs
   ▼
follow up at its own pace  →  npx @whynot/design drift --update  (adopt new sync-point)
```

**Locked defaults for this workplan:**
- **Distribution = Gitea npm registry.** The remote is Gitea (`coulomb/whynot-design`),
  which has a built-in npm registry. The consumer lockfile becomes the version pin —
  the lowest-friction form of "versioned import."
- **Drift basis = snapshot diff.** `drift` compares the consumer's last-adopted IR
  manifest against a target version's manifest (version-to-version). Comparing a
  consumer's *live rendered UI* against the contracts ("contract parity") is the
  richer, per-stack, heavier mode and is **deferred** (T09, design-only).

## Builds on (already in this repo)

- `ir/` — committed contracts (`ir/components/*.json`), `ir/tokens.json` (W3C DTCG),
  `ir/exemplars/*`, `ir/schema/*`, `ir/SCHEMA.md`. The consumer-facing contract.
- `make ir` (`scripts/ir-extract.mjs`) — already regenerates `ir/`; the manifest and
  index hang off this.
- `package.json` `exports` map (granular: atoms/form/layout/chrome/styles/tokens) and
  `files` allowlist — a strong publish foundation.
- `CHANGELOG.md` + the `pnpm check` gate (`DesignSystemIntroduction.md` §6 versioning
  discipline) — the version-bump habit to anchor tags to.
- `adapters/ADAPTER_CONTRACT.md` drift-report + exit-code conventions — the downstream
  drift-check reuses the same shapes (`0` ok · `3` drift).

---

## Phase 0 — Versioning & release foundation

## Release tagging + versioning discipline

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T01
status: progress
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "ac6ee3c1-859d-49d4-b5dc-71bdcd2821f9"
```

Adopt semver git tags (`vX.Y.Z`) as the immutable version anchor, tied to the
existing `CHANGELOG.md` `[Unreleased]` → versioned-section flow. Document the
release ritual (bump `package.json` version, cut the CHANGELOG section, tag,
publish) in `DesignSystemIntroduction.md` §6 and a `make release` helper that
guards: refuses to tag if `[Unreleased]` is empty or the version is already
tagged. Tag the current state as the first real anchor.

## Publish to the Gitea npm registry

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T02
status: todo
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "dbd3a2e6-0623-4efd-8293-399002e85ea2"
```

Make the package installable with a version pin:
- Flip `"private": true` → `false`; fix `repository.url` (currently the placeholder
  `gitea.example.com`) to the real Gitea remote.
- Move `lit` from `dependencies` to `peerDependencies` (a component library must let
  the consumer's bundler dedupe to one `lit` — duplicate-lit is a real failure class).
- Add `publishConfig` pointing at the Gitea npm registry scope; document the consumer
  `.npmrc` (read-token) needed to install. Route the token via `warden route find`
  (credential-routing.md) — never inline a secret.
- Confirm a consumer can `npm i @whynot/design@<tag>` from Gitea and that `ir/`,
  tokens, and CSS resolve through the `exports` map.

**Dependency:** T01 (a tag/version must exist to publish).

---

## Phase 1 — IR version manifest (the diff anchor)

## Generate ir/manifest.json

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T03
status: todo
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "aaa6d20f-23d3-4467-ac6e-2c24067f1723"
```

Extend `make ir` to emit `ir/manifest.json`:
`{ schemaVersion, designVersion, generatedAt, components: [{ name, hash }], tokensHash }`,
where each `hash` is a deterministic content hash of the canonicalised contract /
tokens JSON (stable across formatting, sensitive only to meaningful change). Commit
it. This is both the at-a-glance inventory (inspection) and the O(1), exact anchor
for cross-version diffing. Add a JSON Schema (`ir/schema/manifest.schema.json`) and
document it in `ir/SCHEMA.md` / `ir/README.md`. Hash stability across extractor
changes is governed by `schemaVersion` (bump on shape changes).

---

## Phase 2 — Consumer drift-check

## Define the consumer sync-point

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T04
status: todo
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "fe077343-8b6e-48e7-8eb7-a36cc96366c5"
```

Specify `.whynot-design.lock` — the small file a consuming repo commits to record
which IR state it has adopted: `{ designVersion, adoptedAt, manifestHashes }`
(the subset of `ir/manifest.json` the consumer has reconciled against). Document
its lifecycle (created on first adopt, advanced by `drift --update`). This is the
consumer-side equivalent of `designbook/.design-sync.json`.

## Build the `drift` CLI

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T05
status: todo
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "db7fcac0-f3fa-4df3-8f54-e0be731381aa"
```

Ship a `bin` entry (`@whynot/design` → `npx @whynot/design drift`) that runs **in a
consuming repo**: read the consumer's `.whynot-design.lock` and the installed (or a
`--version`-targeted) `ir/manifest.json`, and report **added / changed / removed
components + token changes**, grouped and human-readable, with `--json` for
automation. Exit codes mirror the adapter contract: `0` in-sync · `3` drift detected
· `2` usage/config error. `--update` adopts the target as the new sync-point
(rewrites `.whynot-design.lock`). No network beyond the already-installed package.
Reuse the diff/report shapes from `adapters/ADAPTER_CONTRACT.md` so upstream and
downstream drift read the same.

**Dependency:** T03 (manifest) + T04 (lock format).

## Consumer adoption guide + example fixture

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T06
status: todo
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "5a3c67d8-fd40-4847-a79f-e6fc6a608a1f"
```

Write a short consumer guide (pin → inspect → `drift` → `drift --update`) and a tiny
example consuming-repo fixture under `examples/` (or `docs/`) that exercises the full
loop against a fixed version, so the workflow is copy-pasteable. Cross-link from
`README.md` and `MultiFrameworkSupport.md`.

As part of this task, add a **"Tracking whynot-design from a consuming repo"**
section to `README.md` (next to *Quick start*) — the README currently documents only
*component usage*, not how a consumer pins a version, inspects it (`ir/INDEX.md` /
`ir/manifest.json`), runs `drift`, and adopts the new sync-point at its own pace.
Point it at the full guide above. While there, finish the install-line correctness
the 2026-06-27 adhoc started: the `pnpm add …#v0.2.0` pin only resolves once T01 has
cut the tag and T02 has published, so reconcile the README to the real, tagged
registry coordinates as those land.

---

## Phase 3 — Inspectability

## Generate ir/INDEX.md catalog

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T07
status: todo
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "7159dcdc-55cf-4815-9ba2-0361266a7b8f"
```

Extend `make ir` to emit `ir/INDEX.md` — a human-readable catalog generated from the
contracts: per component, its group, description, props/variants/slots/events summary,
and a link to its exemplar. This makes a version browsable without cloning or running
anything, complementing the machine-readable manifest.

## Showcase as visual catalog (depends on WP-0002 T11)

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T08
status: wait
priority: low
state_hub_task_id: "a0886a4f-cf27-44ef-b8c6-8e61ceda1f84"
```

The `examples/showcase` "every component" page is the visual catalog for a version,
but it currently wedges the renderer (tracked as **WHYNOT-WP-0002-T11**). This task is
just to confirm, once T11 lands, that the showcase is deployable/inspectable per
version (e.g. served from a tag) — no new build, reuse the existing page. Blocked on
WP-0002-T11.

---

## Phase 4 — Deferred: live contract-parity mode (design-only)

## Sketch consumer-side contract parity

```task
id: WHYNOT-WP-0003-T09
status: todo
priority: low
state_hub_task_id: "e7704a1f-2011-41cb-9e77-c7a6bb2a05ac"
```

Design (do **not** implement) the richer drift mode: compare a consumer's *live
rendered elements'* observed attributes/properties against the IR contracts —
the consumer-side mirror of WP-0002 T08 parity, requiring per-stack introspection.
Deliverable: a design note + a go/defer decision recorded as a `record_decision`,
not code. Keeps the snapshot-diff default (T05) as the must-have while capturing the
shape of the heavier mode.

---

## Open questions / risks

- **Gitea npm read-token distribution** — consumers need an `.npmrc` token to install
  from a private-org registry; route ownership via `warden route` (credential-routing.md),
  never inline. Decide org-read vs per-consumer tokens (T02).
- **Hash stability** — the manifest hash must be invariant to formatting and sensitive
  only to meaningful contract change; canonicalise JSON before hashing and gate shape
  changes behind `schemaVersion` (T03).
- **Token diff granularity** — whether `drift` reports a single `tokensHash` change or
  per-token added/changed/removed; start coarse (one hash), refine if consumers ask (T05).
- **Shared drift logic with WP-0002** — the upstream adapter drift and this downstream
  consumer drift compute the same kind of contract diff; factor the diff core so both
  reuse it rather than forking (T05).
- **One-way constraint holds** — consumers read the IR; they never write back to
  whynot-design. `drift` is read-only against the package; only `.whynot-design.lock`
  (in the consumer repo) is written.

## Registering this workplan

After review, register the workstream from `~/state-hub`:

```bash
make fix-consistency REPO=whynot-design
```