Generate the static mirror at deploy time instead of committing it

.gitignore

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# for build
-css/xterm.css
-js/xterm*.js*
-js/aalib.js*
+# Everything `npm run build` produces — vendor assets, the app bundle, and the
+# static mirror — lands here. It is the Netlify publish directory and is never
+# committed, so generated files cannot drift from config/*.js.
+dist/
 
 images/*Zone.Identifier
 

README.md

@@ -85,13 +85,23 @@ Future project: get the Hello Worlds working for every portfolio company with a
  - zed
 
 ## Build Notes
-Run `npm run build` before serving the site locally or deploying.
+`npm run build` produces `dist/`, which is what Netlify publishes. It is wiped
+and rebuilt from scratch each time, and it is gitignored — no build output is
+ever committed.
 
-That build now:
+That build:
+ - copies the static assets (`images/`, `videos/`, `css/`, `welcome.htm`, and the
+   `config/*.js` files `welcome.htm` loads directly)
  - copies and minifies the xterm vendor assets
- - bundles the app boot/runtime code into `js/app.bundle.js`
+ - bundles the app boot/runtime code into `dist/js/app.bundle.js`
  - emits a minified lazy-load asset for the RickRoll animation
- - generates the static mirror (see below)
+ - generates the static mirror and `dist/index.html` (see below)
+
+Anything not on the copy list in `scripts/build-assets.js` stays out of `dist/`,
+so `scripts/`, `tests/`, `package.json`, and the unbundled `js/` sources are not
+served.
+
+`npm start` builds and then runs `netlify dev` against `dist/`.
 
 ## The static mirror
 The terminal renders its content only when someone types a command, so search
@@ -103,16 +113,20 @@ same `config/*.js` data as plain HTML at real URLs:
 robots.txt  sitemap.xml  llms.txt  llms-full.txt
 ```
 
-**`config/*.js` is the only source of truth — never edit the generated files.**
-Changing a portfolio description regenerates that company's page, both indexes,
-the sitemap, the llms files, and the `<noscript>` block in `index.html`. The
-regions between the `<!-- BEGIN generated-* -->` sentinels in `index.html` are
-rewritten on every build.
+**`config/*.js` is the only source of truth.** Changing a portfolio description
+regenerates that company's page, both indexes, the sitemap, the llms files, and
+the `<noscript>` block in `index.html`.
+
+There is nothing to keep in sync. The mirror is never committed — it exists only
+in `dist/`, and every deploy runs `npm run build` and regenerates it from the
+current `config/*.js`. No cron, no CI drift check, no "rebuild and commit" step:
+a config edit reaches the static pages the moment it is deployed, because that
+is the only way the pages come into existence.
 
-Three things keep it in sync:
- - `npm run build` generates it, so every Netlify deploy publishes current data
- - the output is committed, so it survives a failed build and is reviewable in PRs
- - `npm run build:pages:check` fails CI if the committed copy has drifted
+`index.html` in the repo root is a **template**. The regions between its
+`<!-- BEGIN generated-* -->` sentinels are empty; the build injects the JSON-LD
+and `<noscript>` blocks when it writes `dist/index.html`. Do not paste generated
+content back into the template.
 
 Use `npm run build:pages` to regenerate just the mirror while iterating —
 `netlify dev` does not watch `config/*.js`.
@@ -122,6 +136,12 @@ Firm-level facts (blurb, thesis, fund size, office address, email) live in
 dependencies and must load before `config/commands.js` in both
 `scripts/build-assets.js` and `welcome.htm`.
 
+`config/firm.js`, `portfolio.js`, `team.js`, and `jobs.js` end with a guarded
+`module.exports` so they work unchanged as classic browser scripts *and* as
+CommonJS modules for `scripts/build-pages.js`. Keep the `typeof module` guard —
+an unguarded `module` reference is a ReferenceError in the browser — and do not
+convert them to ESM, which would break the bundle and `welcome.htm`.
+
 ## Performance Notes
 The terminal now initializes on `DOMContentLoaded` instead of waiting for `window.onload`, and optional work such as ASCII art preloading happens after the terminal is already usable.
 
@@ -130,6 +150,27 @@ In local repeated Chromium benchmarks against the previous `HEAD`, median startu
  - homepage first command rendered: `2076.5ms` -> `223.5ms`
  - `#whois-lee` deep link rendered: `1159.9ms` -> `151.9ms`
 
+## Hosting
+root.vc is served by **Netlify**, which publishes `dist/` — `server: Netlify` on
+the live response, the apex `A` record points at Netlify's load balancer, and
+`www` 301s to the apex.
+
+The repo is also connected to a **Vercel** project. That project belongs to the
+`ai-incarnations` branch (the parked AI-reinvention experiment, #110), which
+carries its own `vercel.json` and builds there successfully. `main` has no
+Vercel deployment, so Vercel had nothing to build on this line: every attempt
+failed and posted a red check on PRs that had nothing to do with Vercel.
+
+`vercel.json` here sets [`git.deploymentEnabled: false`][1], which turns off
+automatic Vercel deployments for branches carrying this file.
+
+Do not "fix" this by making it match the `ai-incarnations` copy — that branch
+deliberately omits the key so it keeps deploying. If it is ever merged down,
+expect a conflict on `vercel.json` and resolve it toward whichever host is
+actually serving the domain at that point.
+
+[1]: https://vercel.com/docs/project-configuration/git-configuration#git.deploymentenabled
+
 Live at: [https://root.vc](https://root.vc).
 
 Special thanks to [Jerry Neumann](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerryneumann/) at [Neu Venture Capital](https://neuvc.com/) for the inspiration for this website concept.

config/firm.js

@@ -52,3 +52,10 @@ const firm = {
     "automation",
   ],
 };
+
+// Dual-mode. This file stays a classic browser script — it is concatenated into
+// js/app.bundle.js and loaded by a raw <script src> tag in welcome.htm — while
+// also being requireable by scripts/build-pages.js. `module` is undefined in a
+// browser, so the line is inert there. Do not switch this to `export`: that
+// would make the file a module and break both of the browser paths above.
+if (typeof module !== "undefined") module.exports = { firm };

config/jobs.js

@@ -24,3 +24,6 @@ const jobs = {
     "and work with some of the most innovative technical founders in the world.",
   ],
 };
+
+// Dual-mode; see the note in config/firm.js. Inert in a browser.
+if (typeof module !== "undefined") module.exports = { jobs };

config/portfolio.js

@@ -435,3 +435,6 @@ const portfolio = {
       "Vibe Robotics, founded by Kai Backman and Luke Church, builds novel programming interfaces for robotics.",
   }
 };
+
+// Dual-mode; see the note in config/firm.js. Inert in a browser.
+if (typeof module !== "undefined") module.exports = { portfolio };

config/team.js

@@ -56,3 +56,6 @@ const team = {
     groups: "wheel admin operations miracleworkers gamers",
   },
 };
+
+// Dual-mode; see the note in config/firm.js. Inert in a browser.
+if (typeof module !== "undefined") module.exports = { team };