Praetorius — Interactive Works Console

npm package · GitHub · License: MIT · npm i -g praetorius

An interactive, artist-made composition portfolio with robust PDF and playback support.

Praetorius is a small, disciplined toolchain for composers, artists, educators, festivals, and universities to publish “score-centric” works pages: synchronized audio, score PDFs with page-follow (auto-snapping to the current printed page), deep links, and clean UIs that drop into Squarespace (or any site builder) via a single code block.

the score PDF snaps to the correct printed page while audio plays, so evaluators aren’t lost—and you aren’t judged on secondary characteristics.

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Why it exists

Presenting—or judging—score-based works on the web often collapses into: (1) the evaluator doesn’t know the score; (2) they get lost between time and page; (3) judgments drift to secondary aesthetics. Praetorius restores primary evidence: the work as score + sound, tightly synchronized.

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What it does

• PDF page-follow: printed page ↔︎ media-time mapping.
• Works set authoring: a wizard writes your DB; a generator emits paste-ready assets.
• Squarespace-friendly: paste one snippet or host the assets—no theme collisions.
• Deep links: link straight to a work, with an optional start time.
• Light/Dark: strict tokens for predictable contrast.

Non-goals: hosting your media, analytics, auth. You own your assets; Praetorius orchestrates them.

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Quick start

1) Install

# Global (recommended for authoring)
npm i -g praetorius

# Or one-off
npx praetorius@latest --help

2) Initialize a project

mkdir my-portfolio && cd my-portfolio
prae init --out dist

This seeds .prae/works.json (if missing) and a minimal dist/ scaffold you can paste or host.

3) Add works (guided)

prae add
# Answer prompts for title, one-liner, audio, pdf, cues, and (optionally) page-follow mapping

4) Generate assets

# default skin = console
prae generate --out dist

# pick a specific skin
prae generate --skin console       --out dist
prae generate --skin vite-breeze   --out dist
prae generate --skin vite-breeze --ui-runtime react --out dist
prae generate --skin docs-reader   --out dist
prae generate --skin cards-tabs    --out dist
prae generate --skin cards-tabs --ui-runtime react --out dist
prae generate --skin kiosk         --out dist
prae generate --skin kiosk --ui-runtime react --out dist
prae generate --skin typefolio     --out dist
prae generate --skin typescatter   --out dist

# single pasteable snippet (for a Code block)
prae generate --embed > embed.html
# vite-breeze/cards-tabs/kiosk embed always uses vanilla runtime fallback
prae generate --skin vite-breeze --ui-runtime react --embed > embed.html
prae generate --skin cards-tabs --ui-runtime react --embed > embed.html
prae generate --skin kiosk --ui-runtime react --embed > embed.html

# global appearance overrides (all skins; console uses palette+mode only)
prae generate --skin kiosk \
  --palette gem-diamond \
  --cursor prism-diamond \
  --hover-effect high-drama \
  --button-effect balanced-neo \
  --out dist

# mono-one custom color (HEX or OKLCH input; normalized and stored as OKLCH)
prae generate --skin cards-tabs --palette mono-one --mono-color "#3355cc" --out dist

5) Integrate in your site

• Squarespace (and similar): add a Code block and paste the embed or include the generated JS/CSS you’re hosting. This is the intended workflow; it avoids theme collisions.
• Static/JAMStack (any host): copy dist/* and reference in your template.
• PDF viewing: use the PDF.js viewer (?file=<url>) for reliable page navigation; Drive “preview” iframes don’t expose page control—see PDF Page-Follow below.

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Data model (.prae/works.json)

Minimal, human-readable schema:

{
  "version": 1,
  "works": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "slug": "soundnoisemusic",
      "title": "String Quartet No. 2 — SOUNDNOISEMUSIC",
      "one": "A through-composed/indeterminate quartet…",
      "audio": "https://…/audio.mp3",
      "pdf": "https://…/score.pdf",
      "cues": [ { "label": "@10:30", "t": 630 } ],
      "score": {
        "pdfStartPage": 11,
        "mediaOffsetSec": 0,
        "pageMap": [
          { "at": "0:30", "page": 1 },
          { "at": "1:00", "page": 2 }
        ],
        "pdfDelta": 0
      }
    }
  ]
}

Notes

• id (int), slug, title, one (short one-liner).
• audio (URL or null), pdf (URL or null).
• cover (optional image URL), tags (optional string array).
• cues[] may be { label, t } (seconds) or @mm:ss.
• score holds printed→PDF mapping: see next section.

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PDF Page-Follow (concept & practice)

Goal: While audio plays, the PDF viewer jumps to the correct printed page.

• pdfStartPage: the PDF page number that corresponds to printed page 1.
• mediaOffsetSec: if the recording’s bar 1 doesn’t start at 0:00 (pre-roll, announcements), offset can be positive or negative.
• pageMap: waypoints like { at: "7:49", page: 10 } defined in printed page numbers.
• Optional pdfDelta: adjust all computed PDF page numbers by a constant.

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Skins

Praetorius renders the same data across different skins. Choose one at generate time with --skin. (You can regenerate in another skin at any time—your data stays the same.)

Skin	Summary (one-liner)
console (default)	Terminal-style console/takeover UX with commands.
vite-breeze	Modern “liquid glass” portfolio UI.
docs-reader	Reader layout for long-form notes + preview.
cards-tabs	Neo-brutal gallery board + tabbed inspector/action rail.
kiosk	Touch-wall presentation with hidden operator menu.
typefolio	Editorial spread with a live preview pane.
typescatter	Free-form/scatter presentation with focus on titles.

See the ui/ directory in the repo for each skin’s source and templates. (Skins currently listed in the repo include at least vite-breeze, docs-reader, cards-tabs, kiosk; additional skins here reflect the current codebase you’re generating with.)

UI runtime

vite-breeze, cards-tabs, kiosk, and docs-reader support two runtimes:

• vanilla (default): prae generate --skin <skin>
• react (opt-in): prae generate --skin <skin> --ui-runtime react

For CMS code blocks, --embed always falls back to vanilla runtime for vite-breeze, cards-tabs, kiosk, and docs-reader.

Docs Reader authoring (2026):

• Markdown-first content remains the default.
• Optional frontmatter supports rich page modules:
  • hero: { kicker?, title?, lede? }
  • modules[]:
    • score: { title?, pdf, audio?, cues?, pageFollow? }
    • media: { title?, layout?, items[] }
    • process: { title?, steps[] }
    • credits: { title?, roles[] }
• Docs search supports search.engine: auto|light|fuse|none in .prae/docs.json.

Kiosk operator defaults:

• Attract mode: Visual-only
• Density: Balanced
• Motion: Standard
• Open operator menu with bottom-right hotspot or Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + O.

Global appearance (all output skins)

Praetorius supports a global appearance layer that maps into each skin token system:

• theme (light|dark) remains the mode toggle.
• palette selects the color family.
• cursor, hover-effect, and button-effect are global presets.

{
  "theme": "dark",
  "ui": {
    "appearance": {
      "theme": {
        "palette": "orange-blue-white-silver",
        "monoBaseOklch": "oklch(0.62 0.09 250)"
      },
      "cursor": { "preset": "system" },
      "effects": { "hover": "balanced-neo", "button": "balanced-neo" }
    },
    "branding": { "attribution": { "enabled": true } }
  }
}

Palette options:

• ryb-tricolor
• mono-bw
• mono-one (uses monoBaseOklch or --mono-color)
• gem-diamond
• orange-blue-white-silver (default)

Cursor options:

• system (default)
• block-square
• ring
• prism-diamond

Effects (for both --hover-effect and --button-effect):

• minimal
• balanced-neo (default)
• high-drama

Console skin behavior:

• Applies palette + mode to text tokens only.
• Ignores cursor and hover/button effect presets (non-blocking console note is printed).

Branding behavior:

• ui.branding.attribution.enabled is default-on and controls the powered-by footer lockup.
• Legacy site.showBadge === false is normalized to ui.branding.attribution.enabled = false.
• Official npm/GitHub callouts are first-party components (no Shields dependency).
• Press assets and lockup rules are available in docs /press.

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CLI reference

All commands are available via praetorius or its short alias prae.

• prae init [--out dist] — create seed files (.prae/works.json, minimal output).
• prae add — add a new work (guided prompts).
• prae edit — edit an existing work (by id/slug; guided).
• prae rm — remove a work.
• prae order — reorder display order.
• prae list — print current DB for inspection.
• prae import <file.(json|csv)> — import works.
• prae export [--format json|csv] — export works.
• prae generate [--skin <name>] [--ui-runtime vanilla|react] [--palette <name>] [--cursor <preset>] [--hover-effect <preset>] [--button-effect <preset>] [--mono-color <hex|oklch>] [--out dist] [--embed] — emit assets/snippet.
• prae doctor — validate schema, mapping, and links; print actionable guidance. (Doctor++ checks are implemented; use this when something feels off.)

Authoring is intended to be host-agnostic: generate static assets (dist/*) or a single --embed snippet you paste into a site builder.

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Embedding & hosting

• Squarespace/WordPress/Webflow/etc.: paste the embed or include your hosted script.js/styles.css. This avoids theme collisions and works anywhere a Code/HTML block is allowed. For vite-breeze, cards-tabs, kiosk, and docs-reader, embed output always uses the vanilla runtime even if --ui-runtime react is requested.
• PDF hosting: prefer your own origin (or a CDN you control). When using Google Drive, convert links as noted under PDF Page-Follow.

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Deep linking

You can link directly to a work section (e.g., #work-<slug>) and optionally include a start time query (e.g., ?t=630 for 10:30). Your UI can read these on load and activate the correct section + seek the audio.

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Accessibility & performance

• ARIA: preview/hud announce via aria-live; controls are labeled.
• Keyboard: arrow keys to change selection; Esc closes drawers.
• Performance: audio loads lazily; PDF viewer is iframed to isolate work.
• Color: strict light/dark tokens for predictable contrast.

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Troubleshooting

404s for style.css/main.js (during dev or embed testing) If you see GET http://localhost:5173/style.css 404 or similar, you’re pointing at a dev server that isn’t running or a path that doesn’t exist in production. When embedding, either paste --embed output directly or host dist/* on your site and reference those hosted URLs.

PDF page-follow doesn’t work Use cdn-hosted links URL with a proper file= parameter (not a Drive “preview” URL). Verify your score mapping is monotonic (i.e. times increasing; pages ≥ 1).

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Runtime release control plane

For opt-in web runtime auto-update, treat the channel manifest as privileged infrastructure.

Key operations:

• Generate a signing key pair:
  • npm run release:runtime:keygen -- <key-id>
• Promote a runtime version into a channel:
  • npm run release:runtime:promote -- --manifest ./manifests/stable.json --channel stable --version 0.2.12 --runtime-url https://cdn.praetorius.dev/runtime/0.2.12/script.js --runtime-file ./dist/script.js --key-id <key-id> --allow-origins https://cdn.praetorius.dev
• Verify manifest signature + URL/integrity policy:
  • npm run release:runtime:verify -- --manifest ./manifests/stable.json --required-key-id <key-id> --public-keys-json '{\"<key-id>\":\"<spki-base64>\"}' --allow-origins https://cdn.praetorius.dev
• Emergency rollback (force pin):
  • npm run release:runtime:rollback -- --manifest ./manifests/stable.json --version 0.2.11 --key-id <key-id>
• Emergency stop (kill switch):
  • npm run release:runtime:killswitch -- --manifest ./manifests/stable.json --enable true --key-id <key-id>

Required privileged env vars (or --private-key-file):

• PRAE_MANIFEST_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PEM
• PRAE_MANIFEST_SIGNING_KEY_ID

Recommended governance:

• Restrict who can run promote/rollback/kill-switch scripts.
• Require CI verification before manifest promotion.
• Keep signing private keys in a secrets manager only.

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Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome—open an issue with a minimal repro (DB sample, links). Unit tests for time parsing and score validation are especially helpful.

License

MIT. © Seb Suarez.