# CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

## Project Overview

Sunday Comics is a Flask-based webcomic website with server-side rendering and client-side navigation. Comics are stored as simple Python dictionaries in `comics_data.py`, making the system easy to manage without a database.

## Development Commands

**Run the development server:**
```bash
python app.py
```
Server runs on http://127.0.0.1:3000 by default.

**Enable debug mode:**
```bash
export DEBUG=True
python app.py
```

**Add a new comic:**
```bash
python scripts/add_comic.py
```
This creates a new entry in `comics_data.py` with defaults. Edit the file afterwards to customize title, alt_text, author_note, etc.

**Generate RSS feed:**
```bash
python scripts/generate_rss.py
```
Run this after adding/updating comics to regenerate `static/feed.rss`.

## Architecture

### Data Layer: comics_data.py
Comics are stored as a Python list called `COMICS`. Each comic is a dictionary with:
- `number` (required): Sequential comic number
- `filename` (required): Image filename in `static/images/comics/`
- `date` (required): Publication date in YYYY-MM-DD format
- `alt_text` (required): Accessibility text
- `title` (optional): Comic title (defaults to "#X" if absent)
- `author_note` (optional): Plain text note
- `author_note_md` (optional): Markdown file for author note (just filename like "2025-01-01.md" looks in `content/author_notes/`, or path like "special/note.md" relative to `content/`). Takes precedence over `author_note`.
- `full_width` (optional): Override global FULL_WIDTH_DEFAULT setting
- `plain` (optional): Override global PLAIN_DEFAULT setting (hides header/border)
- `section` (optional): Section/chapter title (e.g., "Chapter 1: Origins"). Add to first comic of a new section.

Global configuration in `comics_data.py`:
- `COMIC_NAME`: Your comic/website name
- `COPYRIGHT_NAME`: Name to display in copyright notice (defaults to COMIC_NAME if not set)
- `FULL_WIDTH_DEFAULT`: Set to True to make all comics full-width by default
- `PLAIN_DEFAULT`: Set to True to hide header/remove borders by default
- `ARCHIVE_FULL_WIDTH`: Set to True to make archive page full-width with 4 columns
- `SECTIONS_ENABLED`: Set to True to enable section headers on archive page (uses `section` field from comics)
- `HEADER_IMAGE`: Path relative to `static/images/` for site header image (set to None to disable)
- `FOOTER_IMAGE`: Path relative to `static/images/` for site footer image (set to None to disable)
- `BANNER_IMAGE`: Path relative to `static/images/` for shareable banner (set to None to hide "Link to Us" section)
- `COMPACT_FOOTER`: Display footer in compact single-line mode
- `USE_COMIC_NAV_ICONS`: Set to True to use icon images for comic navigation buttons instead of text (requires icons in `static/images/icons/`)
- `USE_HEADER_NAV_ICONS`: Set to True to display icons next to main header navigation text (uses alert.png, archive.png, info.png)
- `USE_FOOTER_SOCIAL_ICONS`: Set to True to use icons instead of text for footer social links (uses instagram.png, youtube.png, mail.png, alert.png)
- `NEWSLETTER_ENABLED`: Set to True to show newsletter section in footer
- `SOCIAL_INSTAGRAM`: Instagram URL (set to None to hide)
- `SOCIAL_YOUTUBE`: YouTube URL (set to None to hide)
- `SOCIAL_EMAIL`: Email mailto link (set to None to hide)

### Markdown Support

**Author Notes:** Add `author_note_md` field to comic entries with a filename (e.g., `"2025-01-01.md"`) or path relative to `content/` (e.g., `"special/note.md"`). Just a filename looks in `content/author_notes/`. The markdown content is rendered as HTML and takes precedence over the plain text `author_note` field.

**About Page:** The `/about` route renders `content/about.md` as HTML using the markdown library.

### Flask Application: app.py

**Core Functions:**
- `enrich_comic(comic)`: Adds computed properties (full_width, plain, formatted_date, author_note from markdown)
- `get_comic_by_number(number)`: Retrieves and enriches a comic by number
- `get_latest_comic()`: Returns the last comic in the COMICS list
- `format_comic_date(date_str)`: Converts YYYY-MM-DD to "Day name, Month name day, year"
- `get_author_note_from_file(filename)`: Loads markdown author note from file. Filename alone looks in `content/author_notes/`, paths are relative to `content/`.
- `group_comics_by_section(comics_list)`: Groups comics by section based on `section` field. Returns list of (section_title, comics) tuples.

**Routes:**
- `/` - Latest comic (index.html)
- `/comic/<id>` - Specific comic viewer (comic.html)
- `/archive` - Grid of all comics, newest first (archive.html)
- `/about` - Renders markdown from content/about.md (page.html)
- `/api/comics` - JSON array of all comics
- `/api/comics/<id>` - JSON for a specific comic

### Client-Side Navigation: static/js/comic-nav.js

Provides SPA-like navigation without page reloads:
- Fetches comics from `/api/comics/<id>`
- Updates DOM with `displayComic(comic)` function
- Handles navigation buttons and image click-through
- Uses History API to maintain proper URLs and browser back/forward
- Shows/hides header based on plain mode
- Adjusts container for full_width mode
- Updates author notes dynamically (plain text only; markdown rendering requires page reload)

**Note:** Client-side navigation displays author notes as plain text. Markdown author notes only render properly on initial page load (server-side).

### Templates

Built with Jinja2, extending `base.html`:
- `base.html`: Contains navigation header, footer, metadata tags (Open Graph, Twitter Cards)
- `index.html` & `comic.html`: Display comics with navigation buttons
- `archive.html`: Grid layout with thumbnails from `static/images/thumbs/`
- `page.html`: Generic template for markdown content (used by /about)

Global context variables injected into all templates:
- `comic_name`: Site/comic name from `comics_data.py`
- `copyright_name`: Copyright name from `comics_data.py` (defaults to `comic_name` if not set)
- `current_year`: Current year (auto-generated from system time)
- `header_image`: Site header image path from `comics_data.py`
- `footer_image`: Site footer image path from `comics_data.py`
- `banner_image`: Shareable banner image path from `comics_data.py`
- `compact_footer`: Boolean for footer style from `comics_data.py`
- `use_comic_nav_icons`: Boolean for comic navigation icons from `comics_data.py`
- `use_header_nav_icons`: Boolean for main header navigation icons from `comics_data.py`
- `use_footer_social_icons`: Boolean for footer social link icons from `comics_data.py`
- `newsletter_enabled`: Boolean to show/hide newsletter section from `comics_data.py`
- `social_instagram`: Instagram URL from `comics_data.py`
- `social_youtube`: YouTube URL from `comics_data.py`
- `social_email`: Email link from `comics_data.py`

## Static Assets

- `static/images/comics/`: Full-size comic images
- `static/images/thumbs/`: Thumbnails for archive page (optional, same filename as comic)
- `static/images/icons/`: Navigation icons (first.png, previous.png, next.png, latest.png) used when `USE_ICON_NAV` is True
- `static/images/`: Header images and other site graphics
- `static/feed.rss`: Generated RSS feed (run `scripts/generate_rss.py`)

## Important Implementation Details

1. **Comic ordering**: COMICS list order determines comic sequence. Last item is the "latest" comic.

2. **Enrichment pattern**: Always use `enrich_comic()` before passing comics to templates or APIs. This adds computed properties like `full_width`, `plain`, and `formatted_date`.

3. **Date formatting**: The `format_comic_date()` function uses `%d` with lstrip('0') for cross-platform compatibility (not all systems support `%-d`).

4. **Author notes hierarchy**: If `author_note_md` field is specified, the markdown file is loaded and rendered as HTML, taking precedence over the plain text `author_note` field. When markdown is used, `author_note_is_html` is set to True.

5. **Settings cascade**: Global settings (FULL_WIDTH_DEFAULT, PLAIN_DEFAULT) apply unless overridden per-comic with `full_width` or `plain` keys.

6. **Navigation state**: Client-side navigation reads `data-total-comics` and `data-comic-number` from the `.comic-container` element to manage button states.

7. **Comic icon navigation**: When `USE_COMIC_NAV_ICONS` is True, templates use `.btn-icon-nav` class with icon images instead of text buttons. JavaScript automatically detects icon mode and applies appropriate classes. Disabled icons have reduced opacity (0.3).

8. **Archive sections**: When `SECTIONS_ENABLED` is True, comics with a `section` field will start a new section on the archive page. Only add the `section` field to the first comic of each new section. All subsequent comics belong to that section until a new `section` field is encountered.

## Production Deployment

The app uses Flask's development server by default. For production:

**Recommended: Docker**
```bash
docker-compose up -d
```

**Alternative: Gunicorn**
```bash
pip install gunicorn
export SECRET_KEY="$(python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))')"
export DEBUG=False
gunicorn app:app --bind 0.0.0.0:3000 --workers 4
```

Environment variables:
- `SECRET_KEY`: Flask secret key (generate with `secrets.token_hex(32)`)
- `PORT`: Server port (default: 3000)
- `DEBUG`: Debug mode (default: False)

## Accessibility Implementation

Sunday Comics follows WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines. When modifying the site, maintain these accessibility features:

### Keyboard Navigation
- **Focus indicators**: All interactive elements have visible 3px outlines when focused (defined in `static/css/style.css`)
- **Skip to main content**: First focusable element on every page, appears at top when focused
- **Keyboard shortcuts**: Arrow keys (Left/Right), Home, End for comic navigation (handled in `static/js/comic-nav.js`)
- **Focus management**: After navigation, focus programmatically moves to `#comic-image-focus` element

### Screen Reader Support
- **ARIA live region**: `#comic-announcer` element announces comic changes with `aria-live="polite"`
- **ARIA labels**: All icon buttons have descriptive `aria-label` attributes
- **ARIA disabled**: Disabled navigation buttons include `aria-disabled="true"`
- **Empty alt text**: Decorative icons (next to text labels) use `alt=""` to prevent redundant announcements
- **Clickable images**: Links wrapping comic images have `aria-label="Click to view next comic"`

### Semantic HTML
- Proper heading hierarchy (h1 → h2 → h3)
- `lang="en"` on html element
- Semantic elements: `<header>`, `<nav>`, `<main>`, `<footer>`
- `tabindex="-1"` on programmatically focusable elements (not in tab order)

### CSS Accessibility
- `.sr-only` class: Hides content visually but keeps it accessible to screen readers
- `.skip-to-main` class: Positioned off-screen until focused, then slides into view
- Focus styles use `outline` property (never remove without replacement)
- Disabled buttons use both color and opacity for visibility

### JavaScript Accessibility
The `comic-nav.js` file handles:
1. **Announcements**: Updates `#comic-announcer` text content on navigation
2. **Focus**: Calls `.focus()` on `#comic-image-focus` after loading comic
3. **ARIA attributes**: Dynamically adds/removes `aria-disabled` on navigation buttons
4. **Boundary feedback**: Announces "Already at first/latest comic" at navigation limits

### Maintaining Accessibility
When adding features:
- Ensure all images have meaningful alt text
- Test with keyboard only (no mouse)
- Verify focus indicators are visible
- Check ARIA labels on icon buttons
- Test with screen readers when possible (VoiceOver, NVDA)
- Maintain semantic HTML structure

## Testing Approach

No test suite currently exists. When adding tests, consider:
- Comic retrieval and enrichment logic
- API endpoint responses
- Date formatting edge cases
- Markdown rendering for author notes and about page
- Accessibility: keyboard navigation, ARIA attributes, focus management