Blog
Random posts.
Switching the Web App to Laravel
The player-facing web application is moving to Laravel. Documentation stays in Hugo. Player docs are getting reorganized to be easier to find. Why Change? The React + Go stack worked. It got us from zero to a working dashboard with auth, orders, and reports. But as the game grows, the web application needs to do more — and the custom Go HTTP layer was turning into a framework whether we wanted it or not.
March 29, 2026
Sprint 12 Cleanup: Parser Tests, CLI, and Doc Fixes
Post-sprint cleanup for Sprint 12. Grammar docs corrected, file-driven parser tests added, a new CLI parse command shipped, and a referee how-to published. What Happened Sprint 12 shipped the order parser and the POST /orders/parse API endpoint. The post-sprint review — documented in the previous blog entry — found eight problems and fixed them all. This cleanup session tackles the next layer of housekeeping: making sure the grammar docs say what the parser actually does, adding file-driven test coverage, and giving referees a CLI tool they can use without touching the API.
March 27, 2026
Sprint 12: MVP Order Language
Sprint 12 is complete. The API server can now parse MVP order text into typed domain values and return per-line diagnostics in a single pass. For Players The full command reference is now published. Every order available in v0 — with syntax, parameters, and examples — is documented in the Commands section of the player reference. If you’ve been waiting to know exactly how to write an assemble order or move a ship, that’s the place to start.
March 27, 2026
Sprint 11: Frontend Dashboard Enhancement
Sprint 11 is complete. The dashboard now shows live colony, ship, and planet summary cards, and the sidebar has three new destinations: Colonies, Ships, and Star List. What We Built Sprint 10 gave us a dashboard API endpoint that knows how many colonies and planets an empire has. Sprint 11 makes that visible — replacing the two-button placeholder dashboard with real data cards and connecting the sidebar to three new pages.
March 26, 2026
Sprint 10: Dashboard API
Sprint 10 is complete. The API server now exposes a dashboard endpoint — colony counts, planet counts, and ship counts — ready for the Sprint 11 frontend to consume. What We Built Sprint 9 gave empires a real starting colony. Sprint 10 gives the frontend something to ask about it.
March 26, 2026
Sprint 9: Colony Seeding
Sprint 9 is complete. When an empire is created, it now gets a real starting colony — inventory from a template, a farm group, and mining groups assigned to deposits. What We Built Sprint 8 added the types and templates. Sprint 9 fills them in.
March 26, 2026
Sprint 8: Templates and Types
Sprint 8 is complete. Homeworld setup is now template-driven — same deposits, same habitability, every time — and the domain types for colonies, groups, and inventory are ready for Sprint 9. What We Built Sprint 7 put empires on the map. Sprint 8 makes the map reproducible.
March 26, 2026
The Road to v0.7: Sprints 8–11 Planned
Sprints 8 through 11 are planned and ready to execute. Four sprints in one session — homeworld templates, colony seeding, a dashboard API, and the frontend to display it all. What Just Happened Sprint 7 put empires on the map. Before writing a single line of new code, we spent a session planning the next four sprints in full.
March 25, 2026
Sprint 7: Homeworlds
Sprint 7 is complete. The CLI can now designate homeworlds, assign empires to races, and drop starting colonies onto the map — the last setup step before a game can begin. What We Built Sprint 5 gave us an empire roster. Sprint 6 cleaned up the plumbing. Sprint 7 puts empires on the map.
March 25, 2026
Sprint 6: Pulling Out the Plumbing
Sprint 6 is complete. The CLI framework and config plumbing have been replaced — cobra, godotenv, and four copies of hand-rolled resolver helpers are gone. What We Did This sprint didn’t add features. It replaced infrastructure — the kind of change that makes every future sprint easier.
March 25, 2026