# The Booth — ephemeral media board + operator decisions

**URL:** `http://10.100.10.50:8090/` · **CLI:** `booth` (on PATH on nh3-dev)
**Storage:** a booth is *just a folder* — `~/booth-data/<name>/` on nh3-dev. No upload API.

Wiped **24h after last activity** unless kept. No auth (LAN/WG-internal), so never
drop secrets in a booth.

## Show the operator something

```sh
booth new <name>; booth add <name> <file>...     # or just cp/rsync into ~/booth-data/<name>/
rsync -a ./out/ nh3-dev:booth-data/<name>/       # from another host
booth url <name>                                 # -> http://10.100.10.50:8090/b/<name>/
booth keep <name> / booth unkeep <name>          # exempt from / restore the 24h sweep
```

Auto-renders a gallery of images, webm+mp4 video and audio. A `<file>.txt` sidecar
becomes that item's caption (this is how you label an A/B pair). A folder's own
`index.html` is served **verbatim** — build a custom report when you want one.

## Ask the operator to decide (no chat round-trip)

**As of Booth v0.2.x an ask is one shape of a MARK** — `pick` (this), `note` (free
text the operator volunteers), `flag` (the operator pointing at one item). All three
are read the same way, and the operator can now flag and annotate items, which he
previously had to relay in chat.

```sh
booth ask    <booth> <id> "<prompt>" "<option A>" "<option B>" [...] [--no-notes]
booth answer <booth> <id> --wait                 # blocks until answered (default 1h)
booth answer <booth> <id>                        # non-blocking; exit 1 while unanswered
booth marks  <booth> [--wait [SECS]]             # EVERY mark, as JSON; --wait while any pick is open
booth marks-import <booth>                       # pull pre-v0.2 sidecars in; deletes nothing
```

`booth asks <booth>` survives as a deprecated alias for `marks` and now emits JSON,
not the old aligned table — **if you parse those columns, that parse is broken.**

Open picks are flagged on the Booth front page, so a waiting question is visible
without pinging anyone. ⚠ A **partially answered** pick counts as OPEN (changed in
v0.2.0; the old badge called it closed while the panel called it partial).

**Storage is one file per booth: `<booth>/.marks.json`.** The pre-v0.2
`<stem>.ask.json` / `<stem>.answer.json` sidecar pair is gone — `<stem>.answer.json`
will 404 forever, so a remote session polling it is polling nothing. Read over HTTP
instead, one call for the whole booth:

```sh
curl -sf http://10.100.10.50:8090/b/<booth>/marks.json    # {booth, marks:[...], open:[ids]}
```

Re-answering overwrites — a mark is the CURRENT judgment, not a log. Radio only, no
multi-select. Page anchors are `#mark-<id>` (was `#ask-<stem>`), and
`/b/<booth>/asks` 308-redirects to `/b/<booth>/marks`.

⚠ If a booth's `.marks.json` is ever damaged, reads degrade to "no marks" so the page
still loads, but every WRITE refuses with a 409 — deliberately, because overwriting
would replace every judgment in that booth. Repair it by hand; nothing deletes it.

**Put the ask WHERE THE ARTIFACT IS.** If the booth has its own `index.html`, the
Booth substitutes placeholders: `<div data-booth-ask="<stem>"></div>` for the whole
ask, `data-booth-ask="<stem>:<question-key>"` for one question's radios,
`data-booth-ask-submit="<stem>"` for notes + submit. (`<stem>` is the pick's id;
these placeholders are unchanged in v0.2.x.) Per-question fragments bind to
one form via the HTML5 `form=` attribute, so a five-clip audition can put each radio
group under its own audio and still submit in a single POST.
⚠ Keep the placeholder OUTSIDE any grid/flex container or it becomes a cell in it.

⚠ **A partial answer is legal and you must handle it.** The operator can leave any
question blank; the sidecar then carries `complete: false` and the blank keys in
`unanswered`. **Check `complete` before acting**, and read a key in `unanswered` as
"not decided yet", never as "declined".

## Standing convention — the link board

**Every operator-facing link worth more than the next thirty seconds goes on the
standing link board, in the same turn you mention it.**

```sh
booth link <url> "<short description>"       # on nh3-dev
ssh nh3-dev 'booth link <url> "<desc>"'      # from anywhere else
booth links                                  # read it
```

Still put the link in your reply — this is *in addition to*, not instead of. Links in
chat drown in scrollback; the board is a kept booth rendered at the top of the Booth
front page. Don't post noise: if the operator would not click it a week from now, it
does not belong there.

**Full schema + rules:** `~/development/booth/README.md` (gitea `vh/booth`; extracted from eshpfi 2026-09-21)