figcraft/docs/collaboration-parity.md

Collaboration parity

Last reviewed: 2026-10-10 · Last updated: 2026-10-12 · Change: minor (branch version history and finer list merges; comments and version history behaviour suite and fixes; hosting the server: wss:// in the desktop app, server releases, deployment guide; team libraries on the server and swap library; branches: create, update from main, review and merge; wording: the standalone server with share links to edit or view; numbers unchanged) · Target: Figma Design (desktop app 126.10.7)

Figma is multiplayer first; FigCraft is local first. Ready ~13% (estimated): comments, version history and branches (review and merge) work inside one file; the real-time collaboration core landed in #103 (sync model, server ordering, client reconciliation, convergence tests), and live sessions (preview) let several apps co-edit a file hosted by one desktop app or kept on a self-hosted figcraft-server with share links to edit or view, joined from the desktop app or the browser, with others' cursors, selections and text carets shown live (collab-protocol.md, server.md). Remaining: 55–110 h (multiplayer 45–90 h, shared libraries 10–20 h); branching landed (its tail: 1–2 h).

Feature	Figma	FigCraft	Hours
Real-time co-editing	yes	core built, no networking (#103): client-scoped ids, per-property change sets with fractional positions, server ordering and validation, optimistic clients, binary messages; randomized multi-client convergence tests over real commands. Live sessions over the network landed (crates/collab-net): the WebSocket transport (keep-alive, size and rate limits, reconnect with backoff), hosting from the app (this machine or the local network) with invite links, live cursors with name tags, selections, avatars and follow, collab.* commands. Document sync between apps works over them (the host's server orders every batch; guests open the host's file as a new tab). Undo is per person (only your own steps, others' later writes left alone), refused edits roll back with a toast, and a reconnect resumes as the same client with what it missed (or a snapshot) and sends what was made offline. The browser build joins (same messages through the browser's WebSocket API); figcraft:// invite links open the desktop app and join. Styles, variables, collections, modes and comments made in a session take ids from their creator's space (the server checks it), so concurrent creations all survive; modes, per-mode values and replies inside one entry still resolve last-writer-wins. A standalone figcraft-server keeps many files, persists them (a snapshot plus a log, compacted), loses nothing confirmed across a restart (apps resume as the same participants) and takes files published from the app (Share ▸ Publish to server…). The desktop app and the CLI open wss:// links too (TLS through a reverse proxy), and releases ship the server for Linux with a deployment guide (systemd, Caddy, nginx, Docker). Left: server archives beyond Linux	25–55
Live cursors, selections, viewports; follow / observation mode; spotlight	yes	partial, in live sessions: named cursors, selection outlines, avatars, follow (click an avatar), others' text carets and selected characters with their names, a note when two people type in one layer; no spotlight	8–15
Cursor chat, audio, high-fives	yes	no	4–8
Share links, permissions (view / edit), teams and projects	yes	partial: figcraft-server share links per file with edit or view access (a viewer sees changes and presence, a "View only" badge and only the moving tools; the server refuses its edits), revocable at once, tokens stored as hashes; managed from the app's Share popover (first links), the server's command line or a managing connection. No accounts, teams or projects	8–17
Comments: pins on frames and layers, threads, reactions, @mentions, resolve, unread, search and filters, links, in the presenter	yes (shared)	done, local: stored in the file, your name from Preferences; a behaviour suite from the documentation (pinning and following layers, threads, own edits and deletes, mentions, reactions, C and Shift+C, stepping, filters, saving, copy and paste); restoring a version keeps them. In a live session threads sync and anyone in it can reply, react and resolve (no accounts: a name is who you are)	(shared once multiplayer lands)
Version history: named versions, autosave checkpoints, view before restore, restore, duplicate	yes (cloud)	done, saved in the .figcraft file: restoring keeps the replaced design as an autosave first, a titled autosave becomes a named version, merging a branch records the file before and after. Versions are per person in a live session (a shared history needs accounts); no comparing two versions (Dev Mode compares a ready-for-dev layer with its state when marked)	—
Branching and merging	yes (paid plans)	done, local: branches saved in the .figcraft file, each opened in its own tab; Review and merge shows both sides' changes since the branch was made and the conflicts (the same property on both sides, or a layer deleted on one side and edited on the other), each resolved for the branch or main; merge as one undo step (the branch is archived, the main file's history gets a version for the merge), update from main, archive. Each branch keeps its own version history (saved, viewed and restored on the branch tab, kept when it is merged or archived); fills, strokes and effects merge item by item. Left: branches in live sessions; other lists (text runs, export settings) conflict as a whole	1–2
Team / organization libraries	yes	partial: a file's library is published to figcraft-server under the file and enabled in other files by a share link (per-asset versions, background update checks, overrides kept), usage counts per component and file, swapping a library by names (components-parity, server.md). No team-wide library list, accounts or analytics over time	4–8
Notifications, activity	yes	no	with sharing

Revision history

Date	Change	Summary
2026-10-12	minor	A branch's own version history and finer list merges (gap 17): versions saved or autosaved on a branch tab go into the branch (viewed, restored, renamed, deleted and duplicated there, saved in the file with it); merging adds a version to the main file's history and the merged or archived branch keeps its own; fills, strokes and effects merge item by item, conflicting only when the same item changed both ways, an item was removed on one side or both sides added different items. Comments, versions, find, misc breadth 85% → 87%, ready 60% → 61%, 2–5 h → 1–4 h; gap 17 1–3 h → 1–2 h; feature breadth (~82%) and ready for real work (~51%) unchanged at this rounding; full parity ~306–595 h → ~305–594 h
2026-10-12	minor	Comments and version history behaviour suite written from the public documentation (15 tests, about 80 table rows plus stepwise checks; 4 tests failed before the fixes) and its fixes: in a live session, threads made in the session couldn't be replied to, edited, reacted to, resolved, moved, deleted or opened (their ids, from their creator's id space, were refused as out of range); restoring a version brought back that version's comments, losing newer threads and replies (comments now stay, those on layers the version lacks staying where they were); restoring now keeps the replaced design in the history as an autosave first, unless a version of it was just saved or restored; giving an autosave a title makes it a named version (it could be dropped to make room); merging a branch adds the main file as it was and then a Merged “<branch>” version to its history. Pinned where the documentation is silent: pins go to the innermost frame under them, copies, duplicates and duplicated pages come without comments, replying reopens a resolved thread, versions stay with whoever saved them in a live session (a shared history needs accounts). Left: a branch's own version history, comparing two versions; percentages and hours unchanged here (comments and versions are graded with feature area 16 in target-app-parity)
2026-10-11	minor	Hosting figcraft-server: the desktop app and figcraft-cli open wss:// links (rustls with Mozilla's root certificates, always verified; FIGCRAFT_CA_FILE adds a private authority), releases ship the server for Linux x86_64 and aarch64, it stops gracefully on SIGTERM or Ctrl+C, and docs/server.md has a deployment guide (systemd unit, Caddy, nginx, Docker); percentages and hours unchanged until the next re-measure
2026-10-11	minor	Team libraries on figcraft-server (gap 10): a file's library is published to the server under the file and enabled in other files by a share link, updates are noticed in the background and accepted with overrides kept, the server counts which files use which components, and a library can be swapped for another by names; team libraries 10–20 h → 4–8 h; ready ~12% → ~13%
2026-10-11	minor	Branches landed (gap 17): File ▸ Create branch… copies the file into a branch tab that remembers its base; Review and merge shows both sides' changes (layers with Inspect-style property changes, styles, variables, comments) and the conflicts (the same property changed on both sides, or a layer deleted on one side and edited on the other), each resolved for the branch or main; merging is one undo step and archives the branch; Update from main; branches are saved in the .figcraft file. Comments, versions, find, misc breadth 80% → 85%, ready 58% → 60%, 4–8 h → 2–5 h; collaboration 12% → 13%; menu breadth 204/204 (the catalog gained File ▸ Create branch…); feature breadth (~79%) and ready for real work (~47%) unchanged at this rounding; full parity ~380–725 h → ~378–722 h
2026-10-11	minor	Collaboration wording after the standalone server: figcraft-server keeps many files, persisted as a snapshot plus a log of what changed (compacted, checksummed, damaged files skipped and reported), restarts lose nothing confirmed and apps resume where they were; the app publishes its file to it; share links per file let people edit or only view (the server refuses a viewer's edits), are revocable and stored as hashes; TLS comes from a reverse proxy (the desktop app has none of its own yet); percentages and hours unchanged until the next re-measure
2026-10-11	minor	Collaboration wording after the collaboration polish: styles, variables, collections, modes and comments created in a live session take ids from their creator's id space (concurrent creations no longer overwrite each other; the server checks it), others' text carets and selections show on the canvas, and typing in a layer someone else is typing in says so; percentages unchanged
2026-10-11	minor	Wording only: live sessions (#104), then the browser joining them and figcraft:// invite links opening the desktop app; percentages and hours unchanged until the next re-measure
2026-10-10	minor	Merged main after #101–#103: WASM plugins (plugins area 0% → 35% breadth, 20% ready; ecosystem 5% → 20%) and the multiplayer core without networking (multiplayer 5% → 15% breadth, 5% ready; collaboration 8% → 12%); menu breadth 97.5% → 98.5% (200/203); ready for real work ~46% → ~47%; full parity 420–790 h → 390–745 h; beta 210–380 h → 200–365 h. Fixed the stated weight sums (areas 1–16 sum to 94, total 113; percentages were already computed with those)
2026-10-10	major	Created from the 2026-10-10 re-measure