@lifeascode

Structured knowledge graph for software features, decisions, and docs.

Document your project as typed nodes (feature, decision, bug, epic, research, runbook, faq, release) with audience-specific views (dev, product, user, support, tester). Build a graph, explore it in a React hub, or let Claude navigate it via 20 MCP tools.

npm install -g @lifeascode/lac

Quick start

lac init                                  # scaffold lac.config.json
lac create feature "User Login" -d auth  # create nodes/auth/feature-user-login-xxxx/node.md
lac fill feature-user-login              # AI-fill missing fields (needs ANTHROPIC_API_KEY)
lac build                                # emit .lac/graph.json + .lac/index.json
lac serve                                # live hub at http://localhost:3737
lac lint                                 # validate all nodes

Node format

Nodes are plain Markdown with YAML frontmatter:

---
id: feature-user-login-x1a2
type: feature
title: User Login
status: active
domain: auth
schemaVersion: 2
priority: 1
tags: [auth, security]
views:
  dev:
    componentFile: src/screens/LoginScreen.tsx
    npmPackages: [expo-auth-session]
  product:
    acceptanceCriteria:
      - User can log in with email + password
      - Session persists across app restarts
---

## dev.implementation

Login flow uses Expo AuthSession with PKCE. Tokens stored in SecureStore...

## product.problem

Users need a secure, frictionless way to authenticate across sessions...

## user.userGuide

Tap **Sign In**, enter your email and password, then tap **Continue**...

Prose fields (implementation, problem, userGuide, etc.) go in ## view.field markdown sections. Structured fields (arrays, strings) go in the YAML frontmatter under views.

CLI commands

| Command | Description | |---|---| | lac init [dir] | Scaffold lac.config.json | | lac create <type> <title> | Create a new node.md | | lac build [dir] | Validate nodes → emit .lac/graph.json + .lac/index.json | | lac lint [dir] | Report schema errors and lifecycle violations | | lac advance <id> <status> | Validate and transition node status | | lac fill <id> | AI-fill empty required fields using Claude | | lac status [dir] | Health summary — counts by status, blocked nodes | | lac search <query> | Full-text search across all nodes | | lac serve [dir] | Live hub at http://localhost:3737 with hot reload | | lac diagram [dir] | Print Mermaid flowchart of the node graph | | lac export --html [dir] | Generate self-contained .lac/hub.html |

Lifecycle

draft → active  (requires: implementation, 1+ decision, successCriteria)
active → frozen (requires: all above + userGuide + componentFile)
frozen → active (reason required)

Node types

| Type | Class | Required views | |---|---|---| | feature | permanent | dev, product | | bug | absorbing | dev | | decision | permanent | dev | | epic | permanent | product | | research | permanent | dev | | runbook | permanent | support | | faq | permanent | user | | release | permanent | user |

React components

npm install @lifeascode/lac react react-dom

import { LacHub } from '@lifeascode/lac'

// All-in-one dashboard
<LacHub dataUrl="/.lac/graph.json" theme="dark" />

// Or pre-load data (SSR / Next.js)
import { LacDataProvider, LacSprintBoard } from '@lifeascode/lac'

<LacDataProvider data={graph} theme="dark">
  <LacSprintBoard />
</LacDataProvider>

Components

| Component | Purpose | |---|---| | LacHub | Full dashboard — Sprint, Guide, Decisions, Success, Search tabs | | LacFeatureCard | Node detail with view tabs, markdown render, relationships | | LacSprintBoard | Draft/active nodes sorted by priority | | LacDecisionLog | All decision nodes with choice preview | | LacSearch | Real-time full-text search | | LacGuide | FAQ + runbook + frozen feature browser | | LacSuccessBoard | Nodes with success criteria | | LacHelpPanel | Floating/inline node lookup by ID or query |

All components are inline-styled — zero CSS dependencies.

MCP server

Wire lac-mcp into Claude Code or Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lac": {
      "command": "lac-mcp",
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/project"
    }
  }
}

20 tools: get_node_status, roadmap_view, create_node, write_node_fields, advance_node, fill_node, search_nodes, audit_decisions, node_summary_for_pr, and more.

Configuration

lac.config.json at the project root:

{
  "schemaVersion": 2,
  "project": "my-app",
  "extends": ["@lifeascode/lac"],
  "types": {
    "spike": { "id": "spike", "label": "Spike", "class": "permanent", "requiredViews": ["dev"] }
  },
  "views": {
    "dev": {
      "fields": {
        "performanceNotes": { "type": "prose", "label": "Performance Notes" }
      }
    }
  },
  "hub": {
    "defaultTab": "sprint",
    "accentColor": "#c4a255"
  }
}

Playground

cd playground && bun run dev   # http://localhost:5173

The playground is self-documenting — its fixture graph.json contains @lifeascode/lac documenting its own features, decisions, and guides as LAC nodes.

License

MIT