Command Centers

Dex organizes functionality into specialized command centers, each providing focused interfaces for specific workflows. All centers are accessible through the Dashboard.

Entry Command Centers

Manage entry creation, editing, and health validation.

Init Wizard

Purpose: Create new entries via guided wizard interface. Launch: Dashboard → Init or dex init Workflow:

Basic Info

Slug (URL-safe identifier)
Title
Artist name
Series (dex/inDex/dexFest)

Credits

Artist details
Video crew (director, cinematography, editing)
Audio crew (recording, mix, master)
Instruments
Location and year

Downloads

Configure recording downloads with channels:

Mono (single file)
Stereo (left + right)
Multichannel (multiple discrete tracks)

Special Features:

Ctrl+I - Import recording index from Google Sheets URL
Ctrl+P - Paste mode for large URLs
Ctrl+G - Cycle channel view
Tab - Focus different panes (rows/pdf/bundle/source/segments)

Update Wizard

Purpose: Rehydrate and edit existing entry metadata. Launch: Dashboard → Update or dex update Workflow:

Select Entry

Choose entry slug from filesystem scan

Checklist

Review sections to update:

Basic metadata
Credits
Downloads
Tags

Toggle sections with Space

Edit Fields

Navigate with ↑/↓
Type to edit current field
Ctrl+I to import recording index

Review & Save

Ctrl+S to save and regenerate HTML
Esc to cancel

Output: Updates entries/<slug>/index.html and embedded JSON manifest

Doctor

Purpose: Scan entries for drift and health issues with safe repair. Launch: Dashboard → Doctor or dex doctor Features:

Scans all generated entries in entries/ directory
Detects drift between metadata and HTML
Shows per-entry health report:
- ✓ PASS - Entry is healthy
- ✗ FAIL - Drift detected or invalid data

Repair Flow:

Navigate to failed entry with ↑/↓
Review error details in right pane
Press Ctrl+S to repair selected entry
Doctor regenerates HTML from embedded manifest

Non-TTY Mode: Prints report and exits with nonzero status on failures

Doctor repair regenerates entry HTML. Always commit working state before running batch repairs.

Entry Audit

Purpose: Run production-readiness checks and validate download tree coverage. Launch: Dashboard → Entry Audit or dex entry audit --all Interface:

Left pane: List of all entries with audit status
Right pane: Download tree visualization for selected entry

Audit Checks:

Recording index reference validity
Asset token format validation
Download tree completeness
Protected asset coverage
Manifest schema compliance

Actions:

r - Rerun audit scan
↑/↓ - Navigate entries
Filter by typing slug text

Download Tree Model: Shows hierarchical coverage:

✓ Recording Index
  ✓ Stereo Master
    ✓ L (protected://...)
    ✓ R (protected://...)
  ✓ PDF Score
  ✓ Bundle

Content Command Centers

Manage catalog, home page, and editorial content.

Catalog Manager

Purpose: Manage catalog manifest, spotlight, and live publication. Launch: Dashboard → Catalog View Modes:

Full (m to toggle) - All entries from built snapshot
Staged - Only manifest entries ready for publish

Primary Operations:

Stage Entry (a)

Add entry to catalog manifest with metadata:

Lookup token
Season
Performer name
Instrument

Set Spotlight (s)

Configure featured spotlight entry:

Headline text
CTA label
Entry reference

Validate (v)

Run validation and create snapshot:

Schema validation
Linkage integrity
Protected asset coverage

Publish (p/o)

Push to live environment:

p - Test environment
o - Prod (requires “PUBLISH PROD” confirmation)

Diff Operations:

d - Compare local vs test
f - Compare local vs prod

Shows added, modified, and removed entries. Pull Operations:

l - Pull snapshot from test
k - Pull snapshot from prod

Always validate (v) before publishing. Validation failures block publish operations.

Home Featured Manager

Purpose: Manage featured entries on home page. Launch: Dashboard → Home Operations:

Set Featured List (a)

Input comma-separated entry IDs:

entry-001,entry-042,entry-099

Reorder (e)

Change display order of featured entries

Validate (v)

Check that all referenced entries exist in catalog

Publish

p - Publish to test
o - Publish to prod (with confirmation)

Status Display:

Current featured count
Last validation result
Publish history

Dex Notes Manager

Purpose: Manage markdown blog posts and editorial workflow. Launch: Dashboard → Notes Post Lifecycle:

Create Draft (a)

Runs dex notes add to create post wrapper with frontmatter

Edit Content (e)

Opens selected post in $EDITOR (vim, nano, code, etc.)

Set Metadata (t)

Update post title and frontmatter fields

Build (b)

Generate HTML from markdown sources

Validate (v)

Check frontmatter schema and link validity

Publish

Run dex notes publish to deploy

Display:

List of all posts with status
Frontmatter preview
Publish dates

Polls Manager

Purpose: Create, edit, and publish audience polls. Launch: Dashboard → Polls Poll Fields:

Question text
Visibility (public or members)
Status (draft, open, closed)
Manual close toggle
Close timestamp

Operations:

Create (n)
Edit (e)
Open/Close (o/c)
Metrics (r/m)

Opens editor with empty poll template:

{
  "question": "",
  "visibility": "public",
  "status": "draft",
  "manualClose": false
}

Modify selected poll:

Navigate fields with ↑/↓
Edit text with Enter
Cycle enums with ←/→
Toggle bools with Space
Save with Ctrl+S

Change poll voting state:

o - Open for voting
c - Close voting

Fetch live voting statistics:

r - Refresh selected poll
m - Refresh all polls

Publishing:

t - Publish to test environment
p - Publish to prod environment

Purpose: Manage email campaigns, templates, and sending. Launch: Dashboard → Newsletter Campaign Workflow:

Create Draft (n)

Configure campaign:

Template (e.g., “newsletter”)
Name
Subject line
Preheader text
Audience segment
Template variables

Preview (p)

Render HTML preview with variables:

Opens in browser
Shows actual rendered content
Validates template syntax

Test Send (t)

Send to test email address for inbox review

Schedule (s)

Schedule send +5 minutes from now

Send Now (x)

Immediately send to segment

Campaign List:

Draft campaigns
Scheduled sends
Sent campaigns with stats

Stats Display (g):

Open rate
Click rate
Bounce rate
Unsubscribe count

Newsletter sending and scheduling are PUBLISH operations that immediately affect production email systems.

Calls Manager

Purpose: Manage “IN DEX” calls registry and active state. Launch: Dashboard → Calls Features:

View canonical calls list
Toggle active/inactive state
Edit call metadata
Validate call linkage

Infrastructure Command Centers

Manage protected assets, status incidents, and operational links.

Protected Assets Manager

Purpose: Validate and publish protected asset lookup mappings. Launch: Dashboard → Assets Asset Coverage: Maps lookup tokens to protected storage:

lookup:performer-title:track -> protected://bucket/path/to/file.flac

Operations:

Validate (v)

Check coverage for active catalog lookups:

All active entries have assets
Token format validation
Storage bucket existence

Diff (d/f)

Compare local vs environment:

d - Test environment
f - Prod environment

Publish (p/o)

Push asset mappings:

p - Test environment
o - Prod environment

Ensure Bucket (b/n)

Create storage bucket if missing:

b - Test bucket
n - Prod bucket

Display:

List of all lookup tokens
Coverage status
Missing asset warnings

Preflight checks block deployment if protected asset coverage is incomplete for active catalog entries.

Status Manager

Purpose: Manage status incidents and generate incident pages. Launch: Dashboard → Status or dex status Incident Lifecycle:

Create Incident (n)

Open incident editor with fields:

Title
Description
Severity (minor, major, critical)
Status (investigating, identified, monitoring, resolved)
Affected systems

Save (Ctrl+S)

Commits incident and triggers:

JSON file write
Incident page generation
Status page update
Publish event

Resolve (r)

Mark incident as resolved:

Sets status to “resolved”
Records resolution timestamp
Updates status page

Regenerate Page (g)

Rebuild incident HTML from data

Editor Controls:

↑/↓ - Navigate fields
Enter - Edit text field
←/→ - Cycle enum values
S or Ctrl+S - Save
Esc - Cancel

Status incident creation and resolution trigger publish events that immediately update the live status page.

Links Manager

Purpose: Open staff operational links in default browser. Launch: Dashboard → Links Link Categories:

Production sites
Test environments
Admin panels
Analytics dashboards
Documentation

Usage:

Navigate to desired link with ↑/↓
Press Enter to open in browser
Press Esc to return to dashboard

Command Center Design Patterns

All command centers follow these patterns:

↑/↓ - Navigate lists and menus
Enter - Activate/select/continue
Esc - Back/cancel
Ctrl+Q - Quit Dex
Type - Filter or edit

Status Line

Bottom of each center shows:

Current operation state
Row counts (e.g., “full=42 staged=38”)
Last operation result
Error messages

Multi-Pane Layout

Complex centers use split views:

Left pane - List/menu
Right pane - Details/preview
Bottom - Status and help

Inline editing for structured data:

Field-by-field navigation
Type-appropriate controls (text/enum/bool)
Preview before save
Cancel with Esc

Performance Considerations

Large Datasets

Command centers handle large entry sets efficiently:

Windowed rendering (only visible rows)
Lazy loading for details panes
Incremental filtering
Debounced search

Async Operations

Long-running operations show:

“Busy” indicator
Progress messages
Graceful error handling
Results display

Troubleshooting

Command Center Won't Load

Symptom: Returns to dashboard immediatelyCauses:

Missing data files (catalog.json, polls.json, etc.)
Invalid JSON syntax
File permissions

Fix:

# Check file existence and validity
cat data/catalog.editorial.json | jq .

# Fix permissions
chmod 644 data/*.json

Publish Operations Fail

Symptom: Auth errors or 401 responsesCauses:

Missing admin tokens
Expired credentials
Wrong environment

Fix:

# Set tokens in shell
export DEX_CATALOG_ADMIN_TOKEN_TEST="..."
export DEX_CATALOG_ADMIN_TOKEN_PROD="..."

# Verify environment
echo $DEX_CATALOG_ADMIN_TOKEN_PROD

Validation Blocks Publish

Symptom: Publish disabled after validation failsCauses:

Schema errors
Missing coverage
Invalid references

Fix:

Review validation errors in status line

Run CLI commands for detailed output:

dex catalog validate
dex assets validate

Fix errors and re-validate (v)

Editor Opens Wrong Program

Symptom: $EDITOR command fails or opens unexpected programFix:

# Set preferred editor
export EDITOR=vim
# or
export EDITOR=nano
# or
export EDITOR="code --wait"

Next Steps

Keybindings Reference

Complete keyboard shortcut reference

CLI Commands

Non-interactive CLI command reference

Workflows

Production-safe operational workflows

Dashboard

Main dashboard navigation guide

Interactive Mode

Command Centers

Entry Command Centers

Init Wizard

Update Wizard

Doctor

Entry Audit

Content Command Centers

Catalog Manager

Stage Entry (a)

Set Spotlight (s)

Validate (v)

Publish (p/o)

Home Featured Manager

Dex Notes Manager

Polls Manager

Calls Manager

Infrastructure Command Centers

Protected Assets Manager

Validate (v)

Diff (d/f)

Publish (p/o)

Ensure Bucket (b/n)

Status Manager

Links Manager

Command Center Design Patterns

Consistent Navigation

Status Line

Multi-Pane Layout

Performance Considerations

Large Datasets

Async Operations

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Keybindings Reference

CLI Commands

Workflows

Dashboard

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Interactive Mode

​Entry Command Centers

​Init Wizard

​Update Wizard

​Doctor

​Entry Audit

​Content Command Centers

​Catalog Manager

Stage Entry (a)

Set Spotlight (s)

Validate (v)

Publish (p/o)

​Home Featured Manager

​Dex Notes Manager

​Polls Manager

​Newsletter Manager

​Calls Manager

​Infrastructure Command Centers

​Protected Assets Manager

Validate (v)

Diff (d/f)

Publish (p/o)

Ensure Bucket (b/n)

​Status Manager

​Links Manager

​Command Center Design Patterns

​Consistent Navigation

​Status Line

​Multi-Pane Layout

​Modal Editors

​Performance Considerations

​Large Datasets

​Async Operations

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Keybindings Reference

CLI Commands

Workflows

Dashboard

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Entry Command Centers

Init Wizard

Update Wizard

Doctor

Entry Audit

Content Command Centers

Catalog Manager

Home Featured Manager

Dex Notes Manager

Polls Manager

Newsletter Manager

Calls Manager

Infrastructure Command Centers

Protected Assets Manager

Status Manager

Links Manager

Command Center Design Patterns

Consistent Navigation

Status Line

Multi-Pane Layout

Modal Editors

Performance Considerations

Large Datasets

Async Operations

Troubleshooting

Next Steps