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  • Booky:
  • Abstract
    • Purpose:
      • Unified Reading & Knowledge Management Platform.
    • Vision:
      • A holistic app for managing eBooks, highlights, reading progress, and prioritization — optimized for users who value deep focus, local file management, and integration with Obsidian.
  • 1. Target User & Core Problems
    • User Profile
      • Avid reader with a large personal eBook library (1,300+ files).
      • Uses Obsidian for knowledge management; wants seamless export.
      • Values prioritization, analytics, and organization over social features.
      • Frustrated by fragmented tools (Readwise, StoryGraph, Goodreads).
      • Subscribed to Obsidian philosophy of “Local-First”, handle everything locally.
      • Mainly uses services like z.lib.io to download books.
      • Loves to read intentionally, gather/collect sources of books as information gathering, and references.
  • Key Pain Points
    1. Unmanageable Local Libraries:
      1. No unified way to track which books are uploaded/available vs. wishlisted.
      2. Lack of metadata control for local files (EPUB/PDF).
    2. Poor Prioritization:
      1. Cannot weight recommendations by source credibility (e.g., Nassim Taleb > YouTube comment).
      2. No progress tracking across tags/categories (e.g., “Learning” shelf at 50% completion).
    3. Fragmented Workflow:
      1. Readwise Reader lacks analytics and progress tracking.
      2. StoryGraph lacks local file support and prioritization.
  • 2. User Experience (UX)
    • A. User Journey Flow
      • Login & Onboarding
        • Landing Page: Above-the-fold, showcasing features, FAQ. User click to login. Using main domain, and static.
        • Login Page: Minimalist design with privacy-first messaging (“Your library stays yours”). Using app.maindomain.com
        • First-Time Setup:
          • Product onboarding: User data tracking, let the user know about our “Feature Request” platform.
          • Guided tour of key sections: Home, Search, Library, Reader.
      • Main Dashboard
        • Home: Dashboard with analytics and goals.
          • Personalization:
            • Mission Board: User-defined focus areas (e.g., “Master Stoicism 2024”) with linked books. Refer to Mission Board
            • Goals & Challenges: “Complete 50% of ‘Learning’ shelf by December.” Refer to Challenge.
          • Activity Feed:
            • Recent: Showcase recent books open. Recent highlights, annotations, and book completions (no social sharing).
            • Current Read: Progress bar (Tag progress bar, book progress bar, goal progress bar) + time spent.
            • Favorite/Star: User tagged favorite.
          • Stats:
            • Reading Trends: Pages/day, genre distribution. Refer to Stats.
  • B. Interface & Interactions
    • 1. Navigation
      • Sidebar: Refer to Layout
        • Sidebar Header:
          • Search: Advanced content discovery.
          • Home: Dashboard with stats/goals.
        • Sidebar Menu:
          • Library: Full collection management
            • Bookshelves:
              • Overview: User can see the whole library unfiltered/unsorted.
              • Wishlist:
                • A page where user can see a list filled with all books. This is for user to manage their reading plan. User can see the whole library (that haven’t downloaded, meaning user input this book, but this book not yet available to read in database (user haven’t upload the book file))
                • Add books easily with rich context (“Recommended by Nassim Taleb in The Black Swan”).
              • Tags: User can manage tags here
            • Prioritization
              • Grouping of Prioritization based of User’s setting.

            • Status

        • Sidebar Content List:
          • List out all Tags below here. So user can can click at Tag and see a list of books based of that tags.
        • Sidebar Footer (Setting/Utilities):
          • Bulk Upload → Open up to a page where user can manage their bulk upload
          • Settings and User Profile:
    • 2. Search Engine
      • Unified Search:
        • Query titles/authors/highlights/annotations.
        • Filters:
          • Availability (Uploaded/Local/Wishlist)
          • Progress (Unread/In Progress/Completed)
          • Priority Score (e.g., “>7/10”)
      • Results:
        • Grouped by books/highlights/notes.
        • Highlight previews with context.
    • 3. Library
      • Book Grid/List
        • User can also click the book to open up “Book Profile”
      • Tabs:
        • Prioritization: (Just a list, that based of recommendation weightage)
          • Recommendation weight matrix (assign source credibility). Recommendation Matrix: Assign weights to sources (e.g., “Nassim Taleb = 10/10”).
          • AI-assisted ranking based on tags/goals. Scoring System: Manually adjust priority or let AI auto-rank based on tags/goals.
          • Blank Slate Method templates (“Why Read This?”).
          • User can also click the book to open up “Book Profile”
        • Status/List:
          • Based of Status.
          • User can also click the book to open up “Book Profile”
          • Grid/list view toggle with sort options (priority, progress, title).
        • Tags: Nested taxonomy (Nonfiction/Psychology) with aggregate progress tracking.
      • Book Profile (When User Click/Expand a Book):
        • Tab 1 (Profile and Rich Metadata):
          • Upload: Uploading the book. Auto book image detected through the file.
          • Book metadata fields (Type (EPUB, PDF, Kindle), Author, Published, Upload/Saved date, Length (i.e (3 hrs 41 mins (58,385 words)).)
          • Custom metadata fields (Recommendation Source, Linked Obsidian Notes, Tags, Blank Slate Statement).
          • Status (Wish, Available to Read, In-Progress, Lapse, Finished, Note-taking Mode, Spaced Repetition)
          • Priority scoring + external link attachments.
        • Tab 2 (Notebook):
          • Context Timeline (Added: Jan 5 | Highlighted: 10 quotes on March 2 | Last visit/read | Progress bar).
          • All highlights appear here chronologically.
          • Can add document notes.
          • Content File attachments (PDF summaries, mind maps, links, etc). - So user can put anything to put more “context”
  • C. Reading Mode (Reader Experience)
    • Reading Tools:
      • Manual Progress Tracking:
        • Slider to set page/chapter %.
        • Checkpoints (e.g., “Mark Chapter 5 as complete”).
      • Color-coded highlights with nested tags (#quote, #critical-concept). Refer here Highlighting
    • Nudges: “Haven’t opened Antifragile in 14 days - resurface?”
  • 3. Core Features
    • A. Library Management
      • Problem: Chaotic 1,300+ eBook collections across devices. and format
      • Solution:
        • Bulk EPUB/PDF upload with auto-tagging/duplicate detection. Built for people who loves to own the PDF of the book, instead of relying on reading platform like Kindle etc.
        • Detect duplicates.
        • Book Profile: Created a function called Book Profile where user can plan their reading despite of not having the book yet. Book profile allow metadata editor for titles/authors/custom fields. Also user’s context for prioritization.
    • B. Prioritization Engine
      • Problem: Can’t weight recommendations or track category progress.
      • Solution:
        • Weighted Recommendations:
          • Assign priority scores to recommendation sources (e.g., Nassim Taleb = 10/10, YouTube comment = 2/10).
          • AI-driven “Grouping” based on priority/thematic relevance/time available.
      • Progress Aggregation:
        • Track completion % per tag/category (e.g., “Learning” = 50% if 5/10 books are half-read).
        • Dashboard with progress bars for tags, authors, or custom lists.
    • C. Integrated Reader
      • Problem: Readwise Reader lacks analytics.
      • Solution:
        • Highlight/annotation sync + nested tagging (Nonfiction/Psychology/Biases).
        • Advanced Filters: Sort by priority score, progress %, or time since last opened.
    • D. Obsidian Integration (External Plugin, built in Obsidian)
      • Problem: Disconnected note-taking workflow.
      • Solution:
        • Bidirectional Sync:
          • Auto-export highlights/progress to Obsidian with YAML front matter. User can customize their Obsidian CSS, so the export can be “custom”.
          • Pull Obsidian notes into Book Profiles.
        • Plugin Workflow:
          1. User opens Obsidian and activates the plugin.
          2. OAuth login via Obsidian.
          3. Sync Options:
            • Pull highlights, annotations, and progress %.
            • Push Obsidian notes to the app’s “Book Profile” (bidirectional linking).
          4. Preview rendered Markdown templates.
    • E. Reader Analytics
      • Problem: Hard to track progress without proper analytics
      • Solution:
        • Time spent per book/session.
        • Highlight density (e.g., “You highlighted 15% of this book”).
        • Exportable charts for yearly/monthly trends.

Diagram

graph TD
     ===== LANDING PAGE =====
	LANDING_PAGE[Landing Page]:::page --->|"Clicked (Sign In) → redirect to app.booky.com"| SIGN_IN[Sign In]:::navigate --> LOGIN_PAGE[Login Page]:::page
	LANDING_PAGE[Landing Page]:::page --->|"Clicked (Sign Up) → redirect to app.booky.com"| SIGN_UP[Sign Up]:::navigate --> SIGNUP_PAGE

     ===== APP LAYOUT =====
    APP_LAYOUT[App Layout]:::layout
    APP_LAYOUT --> SIDEBAR[Left Sidebar]:::component
    APP_LAYOUT --> CONTENT[Main Right Content Area]:::page
    READER[Reading View]:::layout

     === Home Page Components ===
    HOME --> MISSION[Mission Board]:::component
    HOME --> GOALS[Goals & Challenges]:::component
    HOME --> ACTIVITY[Activity Feed]:::component
    HOME --> STATS[Reading Stats]:::component

     === Sidebar Navigation ===
	SIDEBAR --> SIDEBAR_HEADER[Sidebar Header]:::component
	SIDEBAR --> SIDEBAR_MENU[Sidebar Menu]:::component
	SIDEBAR --> SIDEBAR_CONTENT[Sidebar Content List]:::component
	SIDEBAR --> SIDEBAR_FOOTER[Sidebar Footer]:::component

    SIDEBAR_HEADER --> SEARCH[Search Bar]:::navigate
    SIDEBAR_HEADER --> HOME_LINK[Home]:::navigate
    
    SIDEBAR_MENU --> LIB_LINK[Library]:::navigate 
    
    SIDEBAR_CONTENT --> TAGS[Tag List]:::navigate -->|Tag Filtered| LIBRARY
    
    SIDEBAR_FOOTER --> BULK_UPLOAD[Upload Here]:::navigate
    SIDEBAR_FOOTER --> PREFERENCES[Preferences]:::navigate

	 ===== Book Profile =====
	BOOK_PROFILE --> TAB1(Tab 1: For Metadata):::page
	BOOK_PROFILE --> TAB2(Tab 2: For User's Context):::page
	
	 ===== Book Profile Tab 2 =====
	TAB2 --> CONTEXT_TIMELINE(Context Timeline):::component
	TAB2 --> HIGHLIGHT(Highlights Chronologically):::component
	TAB2 --> FILE_ATTACHMENT(Content File Attachment):::component

	TAB1 --> READ_NOW(Read Now Button):::navigate --> READER
	TAB2 --> READ_NOW --> READER

     === Preferences ===
    PREFERENCES --> USER_PROFILE[User Profile]:::page
    PREFERENCES --> SETTING[Setting]:::page

    % === Reader Right Sidebar ===
	READER_RIGHT --> TAB1_READER(Highlights, Notes):::component
	READER_RIGHT --> TAB2_READER(Manual Progress Tracking):::component

Graph View

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