ADR: Scout Frontend Product Workbench

Date: 2026-05-20

Status

Accepted.

Context

Scout is becoming a standalone intelligence platform, not only a CLI/API/skill. Users need a visual way to understand execution modes, choose a working directory, run workflows, inspect source evidence, preview records, and prepare product records for Algolia.

Decision

Scout's standalone HTTP app will serve a self-educating frontend at /app.

The frontend includes:

• How to use me
• Run Console
• Product Workbench
• Algolia Preparation
• Run Monitor
• Evidence Browser
• Records Explorer
• Settings

The Product Workbench supports ecommerce crawls, record preview, JSON preview, blocked-page evidence, and Algolia preparation hooks. Algolia App ID and API key values entered in the UI are session-only request inputs. Production V1 validates readiness but does not ingest records into Algolia.

Working directory selection uses a hybrid browser folder picker plus manual server-path fallback because normal web apps cannot browse arbitrary server filesystems in every environment.

Consequences

• Scout is usable visually without replacing CLI/API workflows.
• The UI is self-educating and mode-aware.
• Product records can be inspected before downstream indexing.
• Real Algolia indexing remains a future extension behind a stable prep panel.
• Secrets are not written to repo files, artifacts, logs, or browser storage.