moobird-canvas

Moobird Canvas

Moobird turns real folders into infinite visual canvases. The folder is the source of truth; .mooboard.json stores only canvas layout, manifest-only objects, and board settings.

Moobird currently uses the filename .mooboard.json even though the product is named Moobird. Do not rename this file.

Before editing

1. Identify the exact board folder.
   • Prefer a path supplied by the user or copied from Moobird.
   • The default library is ~/Documents/Moobard, but the user may have selected another folder.
   • Do not assume the default path is active.
2. Read:
   • the board directory contents;
   • .mooboard.json, when present;
   • SCHEMA.md.
3. Preserve existing objects and unknown fields unless the user asks to change them.
4. Never delete, move, or overwrite a real file unless the user explicitly requests it.
5. Treat paths in the manifest as folder-relative POSIX paths. Never write an absolute path.

Core rules

Real files and folders

File-backed canvas objects point at real content inside the board folder.

• Copy or create the real file first.
• Then add or update its manifest object.
• Use a relative path.
• Avoid filename collisions.
• Do not encode file contents in the manifest.

Flat board root (required): Put downloaded or created assets directly in the board folder. Use root-relative paths such as soft-minimalism-grasses.jpg, never images/soft-minimalism-grasses.jpg.

• Do not create asset subfolders (images/, assets/, media/, files/, downloads/, etc.) for mood boards or research canvases.
• Moobird reconciles real subfolders as folder cards. Nesting assets hides the individual files on the canvas and collapses them into one folder object.
• Prefer distinctive filenames at the board root to avoid collisions (meadow-wildflowers.jpg, not img1.jpg).
• The only intentional subfolders are nested boards (a child folder with its own .mooboard.json, referenced by a folder object). Do not use nested boards as a dump for media.