OPEN PANEL — Workstreams & Delivery Plan

Program plan derived from CANON.md §8 (and the whole canon). Single source of truth for who builds what, in what order, and what “done” means at each gate. Status: DRAFT v0.1 — sequencing assumptions, not legal/financial advice. All cross-cutting decisions are locked in CANON.md; this file does not re-open them.

0. How to read this plan

Workstreams (WS0–WS10) are durable lanes of work, each with an owner and exit criteria. They run for the life of the program, not just one phase.
Phases (0–4) are time-boxed delivery slices that pull from multiple workstreams toward one shippable outcome and one gating decision to advance.
Timeframes are relative quarters (Q+0 = program start). No absolute dates.
The non-negotiable rule from CANON §2: monetization cannot start until the rights ledger, the Foundation→VARIANT license, and arm’s-length governance all exist. That constraint shapes every sequence below.

1. Workstream map (WS0–WS10)

WS0 — FOUNDATIONS

Objective: stand up the legal, brand, and technical baseline everything else sits on.
Scope: entity formation (FOUNDATION 501(c)(3) + VARIANT C-corp), governance charter, the seven foundational contracts (CANON §6) at v1, brand identity v1, infra baseline (repos, CI, environments, object storage + CDN, Supabase project).
Key deliverables: filed entities + EINs; two boards seated (independence satisfied); architecture/FOUNDATIONAL_CONTRACTS.md ratified; CPF spec v1; brand kit v1; CI/CD green; R2/CDN buckets live; secrets management.
Dependencies: upstream = none (root). Downstream = all workstreams.
Owner: founding/legal lead + operator (entities, governance); design lead (brand); platform eng (infra). Skills: linear-file-spec, legal counsel (external).
Exit criteria: entities exist and can contract; foundational contracts ratified at v1; CI deploys a hello-world across web/backend; brand tokens usable by WS9.

WS1 — READER CORE

Objective: the one shared reading engine (@openpanel/reader) every client embeds.
Scope: CPF parser/validator; page view + guided view (panel pan/zoom along authored path); resumable progress model; accessibility primitives (per-panel alt-text, dyslexia mode); locale switching; offline-package consumption.
Key deliverables: @openpanel/reader TS package; CPF reference fixtures + conformance tests; rendering perf budget met on mid-tier mobile.
Dependencies: upstream = WS0 (CPF spec, repos). Downstream = WS2, WS3, WS4 (all clients).
Owner: eng — reader/core (TypeScript). Skills: code-review, verify.
Exit criteria: engine renders a reference comic in page + guided view, offline, with alt-text and resume, behind a stable public API the three clients consume unchanged.

WS2 — WEB

Objective: primary-reach surface: catalog + reader + account, SSR + PWA.
Scope: Next.js App Router app; SSR catalog (SEO); embed WS1 engine; account/auth; install-as-PWA; donation entry point (FOUNDATION Stripe).
Key deliverables: public web app at the FOUNDATION domain; Lighthouse/SEO budget met; PWA installable; first free comics readable end-to-end.
Dependencies: upstream = WS1, WS5 (catalog API, identity). Downstream = WS10 (ratings/age gates surfaced), WS7 (VARIANT store later mounts here).
Owner: eng — web. Skills: run, snapshot, code-review.
Exit criteria: anonymous + logged-in users can browse and read free comics on web; PWA install + offline-read of a downloaded issue works.

WS3 — MOBILE

Objective: the daily-reading, offline-first surface.
Scope: React Native (Expo); offline downloads + library management; embed WS1 engine; push (reading reminders, new-issue); store-compliant builds (iOS/Android).
Key deliverables: signed builds in both stores (TestFlight/internal track → public); offline download manager; parity reader with web.
Dependencies: upstream = WS1, WS5. Downstream = WS10 (store age-rating compliance).
Owner: eng — mobile. Skills: run, code-review.
Exit criteria: download an issue on cellular, go airplane mode, read it fully with progress sync on reconnect; both stores accept the build.

WS4 — DESKTOP

Objective: the “collector’s library” + host for creator tooling.
Scope: Tauri (Rust shell + web UI); large offline library; signed installers (mac/win/linux); host surface for STUDIO creator tools (WS8).
Key deliverables: signed installers; offline library import/sync; collector views.
Dependencies: upstream = WS1, WS5; co-dependency WS8 (hosts STUDIO). Downstream = none.
Owner: eng — desktop (Rust + web). Skills: run, code-review.
Exit criteria: install on three OSes, sync a library offline, launch creator tooling host shell.

WS5 — BACKEND & CONTENT PIPELINE

Objective: catalog, identity/entitlements, and the media ingest that produces CPF.
Scope: Supabase (Postgres + Auth + Storage + RLS) for accounts/catalog/progress; Rust (axum) media pipeline (ingest → tiled images → CPF packaging → R2/CDN); Content API and Identity/Entitlements API per CANON §6 contracts; Postgres FTS search; analytics ingest.
Key deliverables: Content API v1; Identity/Entitlements API v1; media pipeline that turns source art into a valid CPF on CDN; entitlement = free-always, premium-stubbed.
Dependencies: upstream = WS0 (contracts, infra). Downstream = WS2/3/4 (consume APIs), WS6 (entitlements integrate with ledger).
Owner: eng — backend (Rust + Supabase). Skills: code-review, verify.
Exit criteria: an editor can ingest art and publish a free issue that all clients read; identity is one account across surfaces; free access always granted.

WS6 — RIGHTS & ROYALTY PLATFORM

Objective: the business backbone — the canonical ledger of works → rights → grants → licensees → royalty terms → payouts. Blocks all monetization.
Scope: Rights & Royalty Ledger schema (CANON §6.4) implemented; Creator Agreement data model (§6.5) feeding it; Inter-entity License Agreement (§6.6) represented in the ledger (the FOUNDATION→VARIANT master license + royalty flow); royalty calc + payout records; UBIT-relevant reporting (passive-royalty posture per §2).
Key deliverables: ledger service (Rust/axum); machine-readable creator + inter-entity agreements loaded; royalty accrual + statement generation; audit trail.
Dependencies: upstream = WS0 (contracts), WS5 (entitlements/identity). Downstream = WS7 (commerce books against ledger), WS8 (creator dashboards read ledger).
Owner: eng — backend/ledger + business/licensing lead. Skills: code-review, verify.
Exit criteria: a simulated sale on VARIANT accrues a royalty up to the FOUNDATION and a creator share, fully attributable and auditable, against a real license record.

WS7 — VARIANT COMMERCE & LICENSING PORTAL

Objective: the for-profit store + partner/licensee management.
Scope: VARIANT storefront (premium/collectible editions, entitlement-gated not hard-DRM); Stripe (separate VARIANT account); licensee onboarding + sublicense management; merch manufacturing license workflow; partnership/adaptation deal tracking.
Key deliverables: live VARIANT store; entitlement grant on purchase; licensee portal; first merch manufacturing license executed end-to-end.
Dependencies: upstream = WS6 (ledger — hard gate), WS5 (identity/entitlements), WS0 (entities/license exist). Downstream = WS10 (commerce compliance).
Owner: business/licensing lead + eng — commerce. Skills: code-review.
Exit criteria: a buyer purchases a VARIANT edition, gets the entitlement, and the sale books a royalty in the ledger; one external licensee transacts through the portal.

WS8 — CREATOR PLATFORM (STUDIO)

Objective: submission, contracting, and royalty transparency for creators.
Scope: submission/intake; machine-readable Creator Agreement signing; CPF authoring/ guided-view tooling (STUDIO, hosted in WS4 desktop + web); royalty dashboards reading WS6.
Key deliverables: creator onboarding + e-sign; STUDIO authoring producing valid CPF; per-creator royalty dashboard.
Dependencies: upstream = WS6 (ledger/agreements), WS5 (identity), WS1 (CPF/engine). Downstream = feeds catalog (WS5) with creator-authored CPF.
Owner: creator-relations lead + eng — web/desktop. Skills: code-review, verify.
Exit criteria: a creator submits, signs a machine-readable agreement, authors a CPF in STUDIO, sees it published, and tracks accrued royalties in their dashboard.

WS9 — BRAND & DESIGN SYSTEM

Objective: the shared identity + component system across all surfaces (cross-cutting).
Scope: BRAND_IDENTITY (panel-grid/gutter motif, ink/paper + per-brand accent); design tokens; shared component library; FOUNDATION vs VARIANT theming; trademark usage assets.
Key deliverables: brand/BRAND_IDENTITY.md v1 → living design system + token package consumed by WS2/3/4/7/8.
Dependencies: upstream = WS0 (brand v1). Downstream = every UI surface.
Owner: design/brand lead. Skills: snapshot.
Exit criteria: tokens + components published and adopted by web; both brand contexts theme from one system.

WS10 — TRUST, SAFETY & COMPLIANCE

Objective: ratings, COPPA/minors, moderation, and UBIT/legal ops (cross-cutting).
Scope: content-rating + age-gating across surfaces; COPPA-aware data handling; moderation workflow; data & privacy policy enforcement; UBIT monitoring + financial-controls support (annual audit, reserves); store/age-rating compliance for mobile.
Key deliverables: rating taxonomy + enforcement; COPPA data posture; moderation queue; UBIT-monitoring checklist tied to WS6 reporting; privacy policy live.
Dependencies: upstream = WS0 (policies), WS5 (data model), WS6 (UBIT reporting). Downstream = gates public launch and monetization.
Owner: compliance lead + operator. Skills: security-review.
Exit criteria: every published comic carries a rating; minors’ data handled per COPPA; UBIT posture documented and monitored; moderation path exists.

2. Dependency graph (the spine)

                         WS0  FOUNDATIONS
        (entities · governance · contracts · brand v1 · infra)
                                 |
            +--------------------+--------------------+
            |                                         |
        WS1 READER CORE                       WS5 BACKEND & PIPELINE
       (CPF + engine)                      (catalog · identity · ingest)
            |                                         |
   +--------+--------+                        WS6 RIGHTS & ROYALTY
   |        |        |                        (ledger · licenses)  <-- GATE for $$
  WS2      WS3      WS4                                |
  WEB     MOBILE   DESKTOP                   +---------+---------+
            (consume engine + APIs)          |                   |
                                           WS7                  WS8
                                     VARIANT COMMERCE      CREATOR STUDIO
                                     (store · licensees)   (submit · sign · author)

   WS9 BRAND & DESIGN SYSTEM  ───────── cross-cutting (themes every UI) ─────────►
   WS10 TRUST · SAFETY · COMPLIANCE ─── cross-cutting (gates launch + monetization) ►

Spine in one line: WS0 → WS1 → {WS2,WS3,WS4} and WS0 → WS5 → WS6 → {WS7,WS8}; WS9 and WS10 run continuously across all of it.

3. Phased roadmap

PHASE 0 — FORMATION (Q+0 → Q+1)

Goal: legally and technically able to build and, eventually, to contract & monetize.
Workstreams: WS0 (lead), early WS9 (brand v1), early WS10 (policy drafting).
Key deliverables: FOUNDATION + VARIANT formed; two boards seated with independence; governance + conflict-of-interest + compensation + reinvestment policies adopted; foundational contracts v1 ratified (esp. CPF); brand kit v1; infra/CI/CDN baseline.
Definition of done: entities can contract; contracts ratified; CI ships hello-world on web + backend; brand tokens exist.
Gating decision to advance: Are the entities + foundational contracts + brand stable enough to build the product on without churn? (operator + legal sign-off).

PHASE 1 — READER MVP (Q+1 → Q+2)

Goal: first free comics live on the web — the charitable program is real.
Workstreams: WS1 (reader core), WS5 (backend/catalog/ingest), WS2 (web), WS9, WS10.
Key deliverables: @openpanel/reader v1; media pipeline → CPF on CDN; Content + Identity APIs v1; public web app with catalog + reader + accounts; ratings on every issue.
Definition of done: a member of the public can find and read a free comic end-to-end on the web, with a rating and an account, offline-capable PWA.
Gating decision to advance: Is the reader engine stable and the content pipeline repeatable enough to fan out to more clients and creators?

PHASE 2 — MOBILE + OFFLINE + CREATOR STUDIO (Q+2 → Q+4)

Goal: reach the daily-reading surface and start onboarding creators.
Workstreams: WS3 (mobile), early WS8 (STUDIO authoring + submission), WS9, WS10, continued WS5.
Key deliverables: mobile apps in both stores with offline downloads; STUDIO authoring producing valid CPF; creator submission + intake (pre-royalty).
Definition of done: mobile offline reading works and is store-approved; a creator can author + submit a CPF that gets published.
Gating decision to advance: Is the IP-and-rights backbone ready to turn on money (ledger + license + governance) — the CANON §2 precondition for monetization?

PHASE 3 — RIGHTS & ROYALTY + VARIANT COMMERCE + FIRST MERCH LICENSE (Q+4 → Q+6)

Goal: turn on monetization legally — VARIANT sells, royalties flow up, creators paid.
Workstreams: WS6 (ledger — the hard gate), WS7 (VARIANT commerce/licensing), WS8 (royalty dashboards), WS10 (UBIT monitoring), WS4 may begin.
Key deliverables: Rights & Royalty Ledger live; FOUNDATION→VARIANT master license executed + represented in ledger; VARIANT store live; first merch manufacturing license executed; creator royalty statements generated.
Definition of done: a VARIANT-edition sale books a royalty up to the FOUNDATION and a creator share, fully auditable, against a real arm’s-length license — with UBIT posture documented.
Gating decision to advance: Are the arm’s-length controls + audit trail strong enough to scale licensees/partners without inurement or UBIT risk? (board + counsel sign-off).

PHASE 4 — DESKTOP COLLECTOR + LICENSING PORTAL + PARTNERSHIPS + SCALE (Q+6 → Q+9)

Goal: complete the surface set and scale the business cleanly.
Workstreams: WS4 (desktop collector + STUDIO host), WS7 (full licensee/partner portal), WS8 (full creator platform), WS9/WS10 hardening, performance/scale across WS1–WS6.
Key deliverables: signed desktop installers + collector library; external licensee portal with self-serve sublicensing; first strategic partnership/adaptation deal; scale + cost posture for media at reach.
Definition of done: all four surfaces shipped; external licensees transact self-serve; at least one partnership live; residuals demonstrably reinvested per policy.
Gating decision to advance: Steady-state operations — annual audit clean, reinvestment policy demonstrated, growth funnel healthy. (transition program → ongoing operations.)

4. Milestone table

Mn	Name	Gate (decision/sign-off to pass)	Target
M0	Entities + contracts ratified	Operator + legal: entities can contract; contracts v1 locked	Q+1
M1	Reader engine v1	Eng: stable public API, conformance tests green	Q+2
M2	First free comics live (web)	Public can read free comic e2e + rating	Q+2
M3	Mobile offline live	Both stores approve; offline read + sync works	Q+4
M4	Creator STUDIO authoring	Creator authors valid CPF → published	Q+4
M5	Rights & Royalty Ledger live	Royalty accrues + audits against a real license	Q+5
M6	FOUNDATION→VARIANT license executed	Board + counsel: arm’s-length valuation + recusal	Q+5
M7	VARIANT store live	Sale grants entitlement + books royalty	Q+6
M8	First merch manufacturing license	Executed end-to-end through portal/ledger	Q+6
M9	Desktop collector shipped	Signed installers on 3 OSes; offline library	Q+7
M10	Licensee portal + first partnership	External licensee self-serves; 1 partnership live	Q+9

5. Team & roles per phase

Role / skill	P0	P1	P2	P3	P4
Legal / founding lead (entities, governance, contracts)	●●●	●	●	●●	●
Design / brand lead (WS9)	●●	●●	●●	●	●
Eng — backend (Supabase + Rust/axum, WS5/WS6)	●	●●●	●●	●●●	●●
Eng — reader core (TS, WS1)	●	●●●	●	–	●
Eng — web (WS2)	–	●●●	●●	●●	●●
Eng — mobile (WS3)	–	–	●●●	●	●
Eng — desktop (WS4)	–	–	●	●	●●●
Content / editorial (ingest, ratings, catalog)	–	●●	●●	●●	●●
Business / licensing lead (WS6/WS7)	●	–	●	●●●	●●●
Creator relations (WS8)	–	–	●●	●●	●●●
Compliance / trust & safety (WS10)	●●	●●	●●	●●●	●●

(●●● lead/heavy · ●● active · ● advisory/part-time · – not yet)

6. Cross-cutting tracks (run continuously)

Security — least-privilege from WS0; secrets management; per-phase security-review; separate Stripe accounts (FOUNDATION donations vs VARIANT commerce) never co-mingled.
Accessibility — baked into WS1 (per-panel alt-text, dyslexia mode, keyboard/screen-reader reader paths); a release gate on every client, not a phase.
Compliance / UBIT — WS10 monitors the §2 passive-royalty posture continuously once the ledger exists; no “substantial services” creep; conflict-of-interest recusal on every inter-entity transaction; annual independent audit.
Localization — CPF carries locale + alt-text from day one (WS1); UI string externalization in every client from first build so locale isn’t a retrofit.

These do not get their own phase; each phase’s Definition of Done includes the relevant cross-cutting gate (e.g., no surface ships without accessibility + rating + privacy checks).

7. Risk & sequencing notes

Hard precondition for ANY monetization (CANON §2 — non-negotiable):

Rights & Royalty Ledger live (WS6) — money cannot move without an auditable rights model.
FOUNDATION→VARIANT master license executed at arm’s length — independent valuation, conflict-of-interest recusal, written agreement (M6).
Arm’s-length governance in place — two non-identical boards, FOUNDATION majority independent of VARIANT, conflict-of-interest policy enforced.

Therefore Phases 1–2 ship the free product only. The first dollar is Phase 3, gated on M5 + M6. Shipping a store before the ledger/license would risk private inurement / UBIT — a fail condition, not a delay.

What blocks launch (free product):

WS1 reader engine not stable → blocks all clients (single point of dependency — resource WS1 first and hardest).
WS5 catalog/identity not ready → no content to read, no accounts.
WS10 ratings/COPPA not enforced → cannot publish to a young-skewing audience or to app stores.

Sequencing hazards:

Don’t let WS2/3/4 fork the reader engine — they must consume @openpanel/reader unchanged (CANON §4). Engine API churn cascades to three clients.
Don’t start WS7 commerce work that assumes ledger semantics before WS6 contracts are frozen.
Brand churn (WS9) after clients adopt tokens is expensive — lock brand v1 in P0.
Jurisdiction is still an open decision (CANON §10.1); a non-US answer reworks the entire legal spine and resequences P0/P3 — resolve before M0.

8. First 30 / 60 / 90 days

Days 0–30 (open the spine):

Resolve CANON §10 open decisions via operator interview: jurisdiction, brand name, entity relationship (Option A default), creator economics (Hybrid default + %).
Engage nonprofit/IP counsel; begin FOUNDATION 501(c)(3) + VARIANT C-corp formation.
Stand up repos, CI/CD, Supabase project, R2/CDN buckets (WS0 infra).
Draft CPF spec v1 and the foundational-contracts skeleton; circulate for ratification.
Kick off brand identity v1 (WS9): panel-grid/gutter motif, FOUNDATION + VARIANT accents.

Days 31–60 (make the engine real):

Seat both boards; adopt governance, conflict-of-interest, compensation, reinvestment policies.
Ratify foundational contracts v1 (lock CPF) → M0.
Begin @openpanel/reader (WS1): CPF parser + page view; reference fixtures.
Begin WS5 media pipeline (ingest → tiled images → CPF on CDN) and Content/Identity API v1.
Draft data & privacy + editorial/content-rating policies (WS10).

Days 61–90 (first free comic in sight):

Reach reader engine v1 with guided view + accessibility + offline (M1 in view).
Wire web app (WS2) to Content/Identity APIs; embed the engine; PWA shell.
Ingest the first real issues; attach ratings; publish to staging.
Target a public free comic readable on web (M2) by end of Phase 1.
Stand up UBIT-monitoring + audit relationship now (cheap to start early, expensive to retrofit).

Changes to sequencing or gates must stay consistent with CANON.md. If a change implies editing the canon (jurisdiction, brand, entity relationship, creator economics, monetization precondition), stop and route it through the operator — those are locked decisions.