Reanalyzing My Files
Monday’s push got the repo breathing again. Tomorrow I’m pushing more—and I’m tightening the way I scan, sort, and fix the mess.
Why today’s about reanalysis (not just fixes)
Monday’s push was triage: get the living code to the surface, tag what’s drifting, and cut the snags. That worked. But a stable repo isn’t the finish line—it’s the floor. Today I’m reanalyzing the structure so tomorrow’s push isn’t just “more,” it’s cleaner and more predictable.
What “reanalyzing my files” means here:
- Audit the scanners that enumerate Drive files and local modules.
- Normalize token flow so I’m not juggling brittle auth paths.
- Make metadata (size, modified, MIME) first-class citizens in UI and logs.
- Resolve compile errors with a single source of truth, not scattered patches.
The quick scoreboard
- ✅ Monday: Major file push, baseline builds on both platforms, rough edges listed.
- 🔧 Today: Reanalyzing file scanners, tightening token handling, annotating metadata surfaces.
- 📦 Tomorrow: Another batch push with resolved errors and UI passes on list↔grid + tags.
The scanning pass: from “what do I have?” to “what matters?”
I’m making the file scanners do real work—not just dump filenames.
What I’m enforcing:
- Deterministic ordering: stable sort (by modified desc, then name) so diffs are sane.
- Selective hydration: only fetch size/MIME/thumbnail when a row is onscreen or requested.
- Tag-aware listings: the list↔grid view respects active tags and persists the choice.
- Audit trails: each row logs
id • modified • mime to make debugging observable.
Result: When something looks wrong in the UI, the logs already explain why.
Token flow: fewer hops, clearer states
Auth shouldn’t feel like a mini-boss fight.
Guardrails I’m adding:
- Single token source: one place to mint/refresh/use; no shadow helpers.
- State enum:
.signedOut → .signingIn → .ready(accessToken) → .expired with clear UI fallbacks.
- Retry policy: jittered exponential backoff on 401s, then a single user prompt if needed.
- Telemetry: timestamped token events to avoid ghost bugs.
Why it matters: Build errors are loud; token bugs are quiet. I want neither.
Metadata where it belongs: in front of me
I’m making metadata visible where decisions happen.
UI touches in this pass:
- Row subtitles:
Size · Modified · MIME under the name.
- Hover affordances: quick “Copy ID” and “Open in Drive” actions.
- Previews: lightweight thumbnails with graceful fallbacks for unknown types.
This turns “why is this file weird?” into a two-second glance instead of a rabbit hole.
Today’s punch list
- Refactor scanner to return
FileDescriptor with stable sort + lazy hydration
- Centralize token refresh; remove duplicate helpers
- Surface ID/modified/MIME in list↔grid cells
- Add debug overlay to show active tag filters + data source
- Verify compile across iOS/macOS; note any isolation or Sendable warnings
What I’ll ship tomorrow (Oct 1)
- Batch push: refactored scanner + token flow + UI passes
- Changelog: before/after on file rows and auth behavior
- Next target: thumbnail caching + “Recents/Favorites” tabs
Links
- External: Apple HIG (layout rhythm), Google Drive REST docs (metadata fields)
Update / Version box
Version: 2025-09-30 • Status: Reanalysis in progress
- What changed: Baseline repo pushes; scanners and token flow under refactor
- What’s next: Oct 1 push with UI polish + caching hooks
- Notes: If you saw odd auth prompts yesterday, that’s expected; today’s commit removes duplicates.
FAQ (short)
Why not push everything today?
Because I’d be pushing problems, not fixes. Today I tighten the pipes so tomorrow’s batch is clean.
Will this break existing tokens?
No. Worst case: a single re-auth prompt. After that, it should be quieter than before.
Signature
— randomblink
“Build it clean, then build it fast.”
Drive Previews, Tag Chips, and Faster List↔Grid
Previews that land sooner, tags that filter smarter, and a list/grid toggle that stops jumping.
1) Drive previews: sooner, safer
- Parallel fetch with short deadline. We request preview URLs and content metadata in parallel; if a preview misses the deadline, a crisp type glyph renders instantly and the preview swaps in later.
- Cache keys that make sense.
fileId:modified:size prevents stale thumbs and avoids over-fetch.
- Fail gracefully. If a preview URL expires or fails, we retry once with backoff; otherwise we stay on the glyph—no flicker.
Tech: Google Drive v3 via REST + URLSession (no GTLR), tokens in Keychain, MIME + modified date for cache busting.
2) Tag chips: clearer states, fewer clicks
- Tap = add/remove, Option/Alt-tap (or long-press) = isolate.
- Three visual states (default / active ● / isolated ◎), not color-only—icons + contrast.
- Keyboard: press
t to focus chips; use arrow keys; Space toggles; Enter isolates.
Why it’s calmer: you see exactly what’s filtering, and you can isolate a single tag without hunting in a sidebar.
3) List ↔ Grid: faster and steady
- Per-section persistence. Projects can default to List; Resources can default to Grid; your picks stick via
UserDefaults.
- No layout jump. We normalize row heights and thumbnail placeholders so the header and chip row don’t jitter during toggles.
- Scroll position remembered across toggles within the same section.
Tiny wins that matter
- Progressive disclosure. Modified date and type inline; size/path appear on hover/focus.
- Focus rings you can see. Keyboard navigation is obvious and consistent.
- Touch targets. Chips and toggles are 44pt minimum.
Try it
- Toggle list↔grid in Resources; notice no header jump.
- Tap a couple of tags, then isolate one with Option/Alt.
- Open a large image folder—the first row should render fast with clean fallbacks.
What’s next
- Recents ranking v2 (boost multi-touch files over 48 hours).
- PDF inline preview (first page, cached).
- Session stacks (auto-bundle your last 60–90 minutes of files).
Internal & External Links
Update / Version Box
LifeOS — Dev Log #3
- Build:
0.1.0-dev (Swift 6, Xcode 16)
- Shipped: faster Drive previews, clearer tag chips, steadier list↔grid
- Known limits: giant PDFs still skip preview on slow networks
- Next: Recents ranking v2 + first-page PDF preview
Signature
— Rev. Brian Scott O’Keefe
“Less friction, more flow.”
Drive Tokens, File Previews, and a Cleaner List/Grid Toggle
Ship notes on token-based Drive calls, practical metadata (size, modified, MIME), and the new toggle that stops fighting your brain.
“Build small, ship quiet, iterate fast.”
— Rev. Brian Scott O’keefe
What shipped
- Token-based Google Drive calls (REST, no GTLR) with cleaner refresh logic.
- Metadata rows in list view: file size (human-readable), last modified (relative + absolute), MIME type (trimmed).
- List/Grid toggle that preserves mode across sessions and stops jarring reflow.
- Preview pipeline tuned for snappier thumbnails and graceful fallbacks.
If you missed the first installment, start with Dev Log #1 for context on tokens and layout goals: /blog/lifeos-scribraria-dev-log-1.
Token-based Drive calls (quick, durable, boring)
- Access/refresh split: Access tokens power requests; refresh tokens are keyed in the system keychain. Expiration is tracked; refresh happens just-in-time, not constantly.
- URLSession + typed requests: Each Drive endpoint sits behind a tiny request type with robust error mapping (auth, quota, network).
- Backoff & retry: Transient 5xx errors back off with jitter; auth failures short-circuit to a guided re-auth path.
- Privacy guardrails: Scopes are minimal; logs strip tokens; request IDs help me trace without leaking details.
Why it matters: stable tokens mean previews and lists feel instantaneous instead of “sometimes-fast-sometimes-broken.”
File metadata that’s actually useful
- Size: Shown as KB/MB/GB with one decimal (e.g., 12.4 MB).
- Modified: Relative (“2h ago”), with tooltips/secondary text for the full timestamp.
- MIME: Trimmed to a friendly label (e.g., “PDF” instead of
application/pdf).
- Secondary line pattern:
Owner • Size • Modified. Responsive rules collapse gracefully on smaller widths.
Planned options: Toggle MIME on/off per user, and a compact “developer mode” to surface raw MIME + Drive IDs for debugging.
A calmer List/Grid toggle
- State that sticks: Your choice persists between launches (UserDefaults for now).
- Zero-jitter switch: The container reserves space, so toggling doesn’t cause big jumps.
- Grid polish: Square thumbs with consistent gutters; long names wrap to two lines and then truncate.
Previews that don’t lie
- Progressive load: Low-res thumb first, then swap in high-res when ready.
- Fallback chain: If a preview fails, we show a deterministic icon (by MIME family) and keep the metadata intact.
- No spinner storm: One spinner per cell if needed; batch prefetch avoids flicker in fast scrolls.
Known issues (and what I did about them)
- Occasional 401 after sleep: Added a wake-resume check that validates tokens before resuming queued requests.
- Over-eager reloads on tab switch: Debounced; navigation now respects cache freshness windows.
- Grid thumbnails on slow networks: Introduced a tiny placeholder palette so the grid doesn’t look empty while loading.
Next sprint (what I’m building immediately)
- Per-view sort & filter memory: Size/Modified/Name, ascending/descending, remembered per folder.
- Inline quick actions: Tap-hold for copy link, rename, and “open in Drive” without losing place.
- Preview extensions: Text, Markdown, and PDF inline readers with smooth paging.
- Diagnostics panel (developer mode): Surface request timing, cache hits, and Drive file IDs.
How you can help (CTA)
Which metadata matters most—size, modified, or MIME?
Tell me in a comment or DM. I’ll tune the default layout and the order of the secondary line based on your answer.
Changelog
2025-09-20
- Implemented token refresh guard & exponential backoff
- Added size/modified/MIME to list cells
- Persisted list/grid toggle; stabilized transitions
- Preview fallback logic + progressive thumbnails
Version / Tooling
- Languages/SDKs: Swift 6, SwiftUI, URLSession (REST), Keychain access
- Tooling: Xcode 16
- APIs: Google Sign-In (token exchange), Google Drive REST v3
- Platforms: iOS + macOS targets
- Data: Local caching for previews and metadata snapshots
— Rev. Brian Scott O’keefe
randomblink
“I build in public so I remember in private.”
Tokens, Sync, Clean Start
Current goals
- ✅ Go REST-only with tokens (ditch legacy SDK/gRPC/GTLR; rely on clean URLSession calls).
- ✅ Harden sign-in/out across macOS/iOS with a single source of truth for auth state.
- 🔄 Design a calmer file view that shows exactly what you need (and nothing you don’t).
- 📓 Make the logs the memory: short, truthful dev notes; tight screenshots; reproducible steps.
- 🧪 Stabilize sync for Drive/Calendar basics, then layer on previews and offline cache.
Auth & tokens (the new backbone)
The old way was tangled. The new way is simple:
- Token-based REST: standard OAuth2 flow → store access + refresh tokens in the Keychain; refresh automatically before expiry; never block the UI waiting on auth.
- Single Auth service: one AuthState drives UI. If isSignedIn == false, show a safe, minimal sign-in sheet; otherwise continue seamlessly.
- Sign-out that really signs out: clear tokens, reset caches, invalidate any background tasks, bounce the app to a clean state.
- Resilience first: every network call wraps:
- Retry on transient errors (exponential backoff).
- 401 → refresh token once → retry; if it fails, drop to signed-out.
- All errors surface as human-readable toasts and machine-readable logs.
What I broke today:
A silent refresh loop when the network dropped mid-refresh. Fixed by gating concurrent refresh calls and memoizing the in-flight promise so only one refresh can run at a time.
Privacy posture: tokens never leave the device; logs redact headers; no crash reports include PII.
File view ideas (don’t fight the brain)
I’m designing for calm and orientation:
- List ↔ Grid toggle with your last choice remembered.
- At-a-glance metadata: file type, size, modified date, and Drive ID (copy-on-click).
- Thumbnails/previews where useful; text-only for dense modes.
- Recents / Favorites tabs right on top.
- Inline filters (type, tag, owner) with a compact query pill you can edit.
- Breadcrumbs you can actually use (each crumb is clickable and copyable).
- One universal action key: ⏎ opens, ⌘C copies link/ID, Space previews.
- “What changed?” ghost highlights after a sync so your eyes find fresh stuff fast.
- Gentle empty states with a single next action (import, connect, or create).
Sketch note: the content column aligns to a golden-ratio container; actions hide until hover/focus to reduce visual noise.
Known bugs (current reality, not vibes)
- Folder lists sometimes load but aren’t clickable after a slow network wake. Likely a stale SwiftUI state binding—reloading the data source fixes it; investigating a proper identity key.
- Actor isolation warnings in Swift 6 where async services touch UI state (DrivePathResolver + cache).
- Occasional duplicate types after regenerating models (invalid redeclarations). Root cause: old files not removed during refactor; adding a “regenerate and prune” step.
- Ambiguous initializers in a mock service leading to “extra arguments” compile errors—cleaning up convenience inits and adopting builders for test data.
- Token refresh race (now fixed) caused a brief signed-out flicker on resume.
I’m keeping these here until each is closed and regression-tested.
Next sprint (tight, testable, shippable)
1) Auth polish
- Add a single-flight refresh guard (done), plus unit tests for: token expiry edge, network drop, revoked refresh token.
- Implement background refresh scheduling with OS hints to avoid wake storms.
2) File view MVP
- Ship List/Grid with: name, icon, size, modified, ID (copy-on-click).
- Add Recents/Favorites tabs and persist view mode in UserDefaults.
- Wire preview (Space) for images/PDF/text.
3) Sync + cache
- Local metadata cache keyed by Drive ID; optimistic UI for move/rename.
- Debounced search with cancellable tasks to keep typing smooth.
4) Quality gates
- “No new warnings” rule on main.
- Trace logs for every network call with request ID; redaction enforced in one place.
- Screenshot + short clip of each feature before merge (so this log has pictures).
CTA: Tell me your top pain in organizing files; I’ll test it in the next build.
Drop a comment or reply with a 1–2 sentence description (bonus: a quick phone snapshot of your folder chaos). Real pain > hypothetical features.
Changelog (human-sized)
- Refactor: Removed legacy SDK hooks; REST-only networking via URLSession.
- Auth: Centralized AuthState; fixed refresh loop; clearer error surfaces.
- Design: Spec’d calmer file view; golden-ratio container; copyable IDs.
- Tooling: Added request-ID tracing; started “screenshots or it didn’t happen” rule.
- randomblink
English