a2ui-project / a2ui-project/a2ui

Define a status taxonomy for renderers (parallel to spec version taxonomy from #1240)

Open Beginner friendly
#1,321 5 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
component: specification P2 type: feature/enhancement
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
16.4k
Forks
1.3k
Avg merge
2d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
134

Description

Follow-up from #1302 (review thread between @ditman and me).

#1240 settled on a clear taxonomy for **specification versions**: `draft` / `candidate` / `final` / `deprecated`. We don't have an equivalent for **renderers**, and the [Roadmap](https://github.com/google/A2UI/blob/main/docs/roadmap.md) currently uses an informal mix:

- ✅ Stable — Web Core Lib, Lit, Angular, Flutter, Markdown, React
- 📋 Planned — Jetpack Compose, SwiftUI
- 💡 Proposed — Vue, Svelte, ShadCN

@ditman raised the question: should we replace `Stable` with `Available` or similar? I pushed back on `Available` (loses the maturity signal — a freshly-shipped renderer is "available" the moment it's published, indistinguishable from one hardened by users for a year). But `Stable` is also imperfect pre-1.0.

### Options to consider

1. **Mirror the spec taxonomy** — `draft` / `candidate` / `stable` / `deprecated`. Couples renderer maturity to the spec version it targets. Conceptually clean; reuses vocabulary contributors already learned.
2. **OSS-standard ladder** — `alpha` / `beta` / `stable` / `deprecated`. Most renderers would currently be `beta` since we're pre-1.0. Honest but might feel like a downgrade.
3. **Available / Planned / Proposed** (@ditman's suggestion) — Simple, flat, no maturity signal.
4. **Hybrid** — Use the spec taxonomy for renderer↔spec compatibility (per spec version), and a separate maturity label per renderer overall.

### Things to decide

- Single status per renderer, or status per (renderer × spec version) cell? (The reference table is already 2D today.)
- Do we want a "recommended" / "latest" signal, or is that implied by the table ordering?
- Should the labels live in `docs/glossary.md` next to the spec version taxonomy?

cc @polina-c @ditman @jacobsimionato

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Review the spec version taxonomy defined in issue #1240 and the current renderer statuses in docs/roadmap.md. The glossary file docs/glossary.md is the likely place to add the new taxonomy. Compare the proposed options and decide on a consistent labeling system for the renderer table. The change is textual and conceptual, not code.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
65/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.