Vader Engine

The production-hardened development factory for Cursor agents.
Build production-ready applications with a visual command center,
61-point integrity verification, and triple-sandbox development environments.

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📊 Current Status

Metric	Value
Version	v2.6.1
Integrity Grade	61/61 (100%)
Dashboard	✅ Vader Construct — 12+ routes on port 3010
API Layer	✅ 7 endpoints (health, grade, logs, projects, templates, env, scripts)
Sandboxes	✅ 3 isolated environments (ports 3000–3002)
Templates	✅ 4 blueprints (portfolio, divi-bridge, task-manager, vader-site)
Unit Tests	✅ 8/8 Vitest
E2E Tests	✅ 6 Playwright specs (dashboard navigation + sandbox smoke)
Status	🟢 Production Ready

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🚀 Why Vader Engine?

Most boilerplates give you files. Vader Engine gives you a complete development operating system.

Capability	Vader Engine	Typical Boilerplate
Visual Command Dashboard	✅	❌
61-Point Integrity Grader	✅	❌
Real-time Operations Hub	✅	❌
Triple Sandbox Architecture	✅	❌
Built-in Template Engine	✅	❌
MCP-Ready (13 servers)	✅	❌
Zero-Leak Security Protocol	✅	❌
Agent Start / End / Update Rituals	✅	❌

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🖼️ Screenshots

Vader Construct Dashboard

Real-time metrics, sandbox controls, and activity feed

System Metrics

CPU, memory, disk I/O, and request latency monitoring

Process Manager

Active process monitoring with PID, CPU, and memory usage

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🚀 Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/jonbeatz/Vader-Engine.git
cd Vader-Engine
npm run msc:check-node          # Node 20.x–24.x preflight
npm run bootstrap               # deps, ports, env validation
cp .env.example .env.local      # (Windows: copy .env.example .env.local) then add live values
npm run msc:dev:dashboard

Open http://localhost:3010 — the Vader Construct command center.

Verify the full baseline gate:

npm run start-project:gate      # validate-env · lint · 61/61 · 8/8 tests

Requirements: Node 20.x–24.x (.nvmrc pins 20.19.1) · npm ≥ 10
Secrets: Live keys belong in .env.local only — never commit or paste into chat. See SECURITY.md.

Agent ritual: Say start project in Cursor chat for full cold-start — see START-HERE.md.

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✨ What's New

v2.6.1 (Documentation Polish)

Feature	Description
📖 Production README	Status table, Quick Start, agent ritual pointers
🪟 Windows hint	.env.local copy instruction for Windows operators
🔄 Full doc sync	Root, .cursor/docs, rules, and prompts aligned to 2.6.1

Release notes: RELEASE_v2.6.1.md

v2.6.0 (Vader Construct Live)

Feature	Description
🎨 Complete v0 UI/UX	Full dashboard rewrite with live data across 12+ routes
📡 7 API Endpoints	Health, grade, logs, projects, templates, env, scripts
⚡ TanStack Query v5	Race-condition-free fetching with skeleton loading states
🧪 E2E Test Suite	Playwright smoke for dashboard navigation + sandboxes
🔧 Operations Hub	Ports, logs, processes, metrics, env, and script dispatch
📚 Lean doc index	DOCS.md router + agent workflow prompts (Start / End / Update Project)

Full release notes: RELEASE_v2.6.0.md · RELEASE_v2.6.1.md · Changelog: CHANGELOG.md

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🏗️ Architecture

Vader Engine
├── Dashboard (port 3010)    # Vader Construct UI — shells out to msc:* scripts
├── Integrity Center         # 61-point grader
├── Sandbox Manager          # 3 isolated environments (3000–3002)
├── Template Engine          # 4 blueprint scaffolds via msc:template CLI
├── Operations Hub           # Ports, logs, processes, metrics
└── CLI Engine               # msc:* script system (scripts/ + package.json)

Design principle: Lean Boundary — the dashboard never duplicates grader or health logic; API routes invoke existing root scripts.

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📂 Project Structure

Vader-Engine/
├── ui/dashboard/          # Vader Construct (Next.js, port 3010)
├── ui/msc-shield.css      # Studio Dark token SSoT
├── examples/              # Triple sandboxes
│   ├── nextjs-minimal/    # Port 3000 — minimal frontend
│   ├── nextjs-payload/    # Port 3001 — full-stack CMS
│   └── nextjs-tailwind/   # Port 3002 — Tailwind + shadcn Path B
├── templates/             # Reusable blueprints (4 registered)
├── scripts/               # Automation & msc:* tooling
├── core/                  # Shared bridge code
├── e2e/                   # Playwright test suite
├── .cursor/               # Agent prompts, rules, skills, MCP config
├── docs/                  # Human runbooks (ARCHITECTURE, CONTRIBUTING, releases)
├── TRUTH.md               # Constitution (root — technical precedence)
└── _archive/              # Archived legacy docs (reference only)

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📡 API Endpoints

Endpoint	Purpose
GET /api/health	Service and port health
GET /api/grade	61-point integrity grader
GET /api/logs	Real-time activity logs
GET /api/projects	Dynamic project discovery
GET /api/templates	Template catalog
GET /api/env	Runtime environment info (redacted)
GET /api/scripts	Available npm scripts

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🔧 Development Commands

npm run start-project:gate    # Full baseline gate (recommended before PR)
npm run grade                 # 61-point integrity check
npm run msc:dev:dashboard     # Dashboard on :3010
npm run msc:dev:example       # Minimal sandbox on :3000
npm run msc:dev:payload       # Payload sandbox on :3001
npm run msc:dev:tailwind      # Tailwind sandbox on :3002
npm run msc:template -- list  # Template catalog
npm run msc:e2e               # Playwright E2E (run msc:e2e:install first)
npm run msc:backup            # Standard backup (see msc:backup:full)
npm run dev:recover           # Clear stale caches + restart dev flow

Say End Project in Cursor chat for session closeout — see START-HERE.md.

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📚 Documentation

Document	Purpose
START-HERE.md	Operator cold-start checklist
DOCS.md	Complete documentation index (SSoT router)
TRUTH.md	Constitution — zero-leak, tokens, MCP portability
PROJECT_CONTEXT.md	Architecture & onboarding map
ARCHITECTURE.md	System architecture deep dive
CONTRIBUTING.md	Fork, hooks, PR gates
SECURITY.md	Zero-leak policy & advisory reporting
TROUBLESHOOTING.md	Common issues & recovery
CHANGELOG.md	Release history

For Cursor agents: .cursor/docs/Code-Jedi.md · .cursor/prompts/Start-Project.md

Security: .env.local is gitignored. Use .env.example for key names only. Never commit secrets.

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🗺️ Roadmap

v2.7 (Next)

• Enhanced metrics dashboard & activity timeline
• Project manager improvements
• Deeper Operations Hub integrations

v3.0 (Future)

• Boilerplate Studio visual editor
• AI Project Builder
• Tauri desktop app

See .cursor/plans/ENGINE_ROADMAP.md for the full integration plan.

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions that respect the Vader Protocol.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (feat/your-feature)
3. Run npm run start-project:gate — must pass 61/61 grade and 8/8 tests
4. Commit your changes (Husky runs lint + env validation)
5. Push and open a Pull Request

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for forge rules, template conventions, and pre-tag gates.

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📄 License

MIT © Vader Engine

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