Client Portal Planning Index
Purpose
This folder records the strategy, architecture, domain design, operating-cost estimates, and implementation checkpoints for the AI consulting client portal. The documents include both current direction and preserved decision history.
For strategic direction, begin with the revised plan. For current capability sequencing, read the feature roadmap, then consult the latest readiness checkpoint for point-in-time evidence.
Current direction
Revised plan
The current strategic and architectural direction for the portal. It narrows the initial scope to a thin collaboration surface, selects Vercel and Supabase as separately managed platforms, keeps Stripe and an external signature provider at their natural boundaries, and defines staged delivery and success measures.
Use this as the primary planning document when evaluating scope or proposing new work.
Feature roadmap
The current feature sequence. It distinguishes implemented local foundations from recommended collaboration, document-review, commercial-handoff, and human-gated AI phases, with supporting production-readiness tracks and evidence gates.
Use this when choosing the next bounded feature. Individual roadmap items still require their own planning and approval.
Inquiry intake and client onboarding workflow
The proposed lifecycle from unauthenticated website inquiry through consultant review, organization and workspace provisioning, deliberate invitation, and client activation. It makes manual qualification and invitation explicit and defines AI as a private advisory briefing rather than an autonomous decision maker.
Use this before implementing public inquiry handoff, consultant review, prospect communication, provisioning, or invitation automation.
Phase 1 implementation backlog
The issue-level implementation plan for the inquiry intake and consultant-approved onboarding workflow. It maps client portal issues #74 through #84 into dependency waves, identifies parallel work, and separates the core human-controlled milestone from the later staff-triggered AI briefing.
Use this after the feature roadmap and inquiry workflow when selecting or planning Phase 1 implementation work. GitHub remains authoritative for the current state of each issue.
Multi-tenant consulting platform architecture
The proposed path from the single consulting practice to a configurable, tenant-aware platform. It distinguishes operating tenants from their client organizations, defines configuration and extension boundaries, and sequences shared SaaS before evidence-driven dedicated or self-hosted options.
Use this when a change affects tenant identity, branding, provider configuration, workflow customization, product packaging, or deployment strategy.
Visual exploration
The public client portal planning showcase is the recommended entry point when presenting these artifacts in a browser. It links the storyboard, wireframe gallery, and rendered feature roadmap while keeping the planning-only status visible.
Wireframe gallery
The low-fidelity visual source of truth for implemented foundations and every recommended roadmap phase. The interactive gallery filters by role, phase, and state and simulates desktop or mobile framing without application behavior.
Storyboard presentation
The guided client-and-staff journey through the feature sequence. The HTML presentation reuses the shared wireframes, names each roadmap phase, and explains its dependency or evidence gate.
Domain model
The conceptual model and invariants for identities, organizations, memberships, invitations, inquiries, engagements, proposals, agreements, conversations, notifications, external handoffs, and future AI-agent access.
Use this when designing data structures, authorization rules, workflow states, or API behavior.
Authentication design
The security design for human identity, invitation-only activation, browser sessions, recent authentication, notification links, email and SMS behavior, and machine credentials for future AI agents.
Use this before changing authentication, account activation, session policy, notifications, or agent authorization.
Estimated operating costs
The phased cost model for the original AWS-oriented plan, including assumptions, cost controls, progression gates, and excluded items.
This remains useful as cost decision history, but its platform assumptions predate the managed Vercel and Supabase direction in the revised plan. Update or replace it before using it as a current hosted-environment forecast.
Progress checkpoints
Checkpoints are point-in-time records. Read the newest checkpoint for the current handoff and consult earlier checkpoints for context.
Readiness checkpoint — 2026-07-22
The latest checkpoint. It records completion of deterministic Supabase fixtures, cross-tenant RLS tests, authenticated engagements API tests, the isolated CI integration suite, and conditional execution of expensive Supabase checks.
Its recommended next step is to introduce a shared engagement application service used by both the server-rendered workspace and JSON:API route.
Readiness checkpoint — 2026-07-21
The preceding readiness assessment. It established that local feature exploration was viable, identified automated database and application integration coverage as the primary gap, and listed the gates for hosted staging and public release.
The testing foundation it recommended was completed in the 2026-07-22 checkpoint.
Decision history
These documents explain how the project reached its current direction. They should not override the revised plan where the documents differ.
Initial plan
The original broad proposal for an incremental AWS-native client portal, including infrastructure, product scope, repository automation, testing, and delivery assumptions.
Counterproposal
The critique of the initial plan. It argues for validating the real workflow before building a broad platform, reducing bespoke infrastructure, retaining managed provider boundaries, and introducing useful AI capabilities only after the collaboration surface is proven.
Revised plan
The resulting synthesis and current strategic decision. It is listed under current direction because it supersedes the initial plan where they conflict.
Suggested reading paths
Continue implementation
- Revised plan
- Feature roadmap
- Inquiry onboarding workflow, when the change touches prospect intake or onboarding
- Phase 1 implementation backlog, when selecting inquiry and onboarding implementation work
- Multi-tenant platform architecture, when the change affects tenant or product boundaries
- Storyboard presentation
- Wireframe gallery
- Latest readiness checkpoint
- Domain model
- Authentication design, when the change touches identity or access
Understand the strategic evolution
Evaluate readiness or plan a release
- Latest readiness checkpoint
- Revised plan
- Authentication design
- Estimated operating costs, with the platform caveat noted above
Maintenance
Keep this index synchronized whenever a document in this folder is added, removed, renamed, superseded, or materially changes purpose or status. Add new dated checkpoints to the progress section and update the recommended starting point when a newer checkpoint becomes authoritative.