Things UI — Universal Record Inspector

[OAGr]

Things UI — Universal Record Inspector

TL;DR

Every record in the system needs a discoverable detail page. Currently, 12 of 20 thing types have no dedicated page, and record IDs in entity-profile are only clickable when a source-check verdict exists. We'll build /things/:id as a universal record inspector showing thing metadata, source-check verdicts, and navigation links — with a minimal /things search page as the index. Phase 1 (detail page + entity-profile linking) delivers the core value in 1-2 sessions. The previous things dashboard was deleted as redundant; our dashboard phase is deliberately minimal.

Problem

The things table is a universal index across all 20 domain types (~10K-50K rows), but it has no UI. Record IDs in the entity-profile viewer (E1929) are only clickable when a source-check verdict exists (PR #3938). Join-table types (personnel, investment, equity-position, etc.) have no dedicated page — thingHref() returns null for 12 of 20 types. An editor reviewing entity data cannot click through to inspect individual records, verify their accuracy, or see what data the system holds.

User stories:

• An editor reviewing the Anthropic entity profile clicks a personnel record to verify Dario Amodei's role and start date. Currently nothing happens because personnel has no page. With this change, they land on a detail page showing the full record and its verification status.
• A developer debugging a source-check failure needs to see the raw record data alongside the verdict. Currently they must query the DB directly. With this change, /things/:id shows both.
• A content reviewer searches for "Anthropic" in Cmd+K and sees grants, personnel, and investments in results. Currently, clicking these does nothing (href is null). With this change, they can click through to the thing detail page.

Current State

Asset	Status	Gap
things PG table	Complete — 20 types, FTS index, parent hierarchy	No UI pages
Things API (/api/things/*)	6 endpoints: list, search, stats, children, detail, sync	No frontend consumers beyond Cmd+K search
GET /api/things/:id	Returns 15 fields + childrenCount + childrenByType	Sufficient for detail page (no new endpoint needed for MVP)
Source-check verdicts	Full API at /api/source-checks/verdicts/:type/:id	Not cross-linked from things
tablebase_audit_log	Write-only — only 3 of 20 types log (personnel, grants, equity-positions)	No read API; defer to Phase 3
Entity-profile viewer (E1929)	Shows records per entity with full column schemas	Record IDs only clickable when verdict exists
Prior things dashboard (E1300)	Created Feb 2026, deleted Mar 31 as "redundant"	Dashboard code in git history
thingHref()	Routes 8 types to dedicated pages, returns null for 12	Join-table types have no URL destination

Proposed Approach

Two pages, minimal server work:

1. /things/:id — Universal record detail page. Fetches the thing from GET /api/things/:id (existing). Fetches source-check verdicts from GET /api/source-checks/verdicts/:type/:id (existing). Shows thing metadata, verdict summary, navigation links. For things with dedicated pages, shows prominent "View full page" link. For things without pages, this IS the destination.

2. /things — Minimal search/index page. A search box + type filter that queries the existing /api/things/search and /api/things/ endpoints. Each result links to /things/:id. Deliberately minimal — not a full dashboard with stats bars and filter tabs (those were deleted as redundant).

Phase 2 enhancement: Add record-lookup endpoint to fetch full source record fields (TABLE_MAP pattern). This turns the detail page from "thing metadata + verdicts" into "full row data + verdicts" — significantly more useful for debugging.

/things/:id Detail Page Layout
==============================

 [personnel]                               [View in entity profile ->]
 Dario Amodei — CEO at Anthropic
 Parent: Anthropic [->]

 ┌─ Thing Metadata ─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ Source Table  │ personnel                                    │
 │ Source ID     │ abc1234XYZ                                   │
 │ Description   │ —                                            │
 │ Source URL    │ crunchbase.com [ext]                         │
 │ Updated       │ Apr 1, 2026                                  │
 │ Children      │ 0 records                                    │
 └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

 ── Source Check Verdicts ────────────────────────────────────
 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ [confirmed] 95%    1 source   Last: Apr 1, 2026             │
 │ "Role confirmed via Crunchbase profile"                      │
 │                    [View full evidence ->]                   │
 └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

 ── Full Record Data (Phase 2) ──────────────────────────────
 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ id          │ abc1234XYZ                                     │
 │ role        │ CEO                                            │
 │ startDate   │ Jan 1, 2021                                    │
 │ person      │ Dario Amodei [->]  (person)                    │
 │ org         │ Anthropic [->]  (organization)                 │
 │ sourceUrl   │ crunchbase.com [ext]                           │
 └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

 [Debug info v]
   Thing ID: abc1234XYZ
   Source Table: personnel   Source ID: abc1234XYZ

Key Decisions

• URL uses things.id (PK), no fallback needed

  • Problem: things.id != things.sourceId for entities (id=stableId, sourceId=slug) and resources.
  • Solution: Entities and resources already have dedicated pages and are linked there, never to /things/:id. For the 12 types without dedicated pages (personnel, investment, equity-position, benchmark-result, division-personnel, policy-stakeholder, entity-event, entity-assessment, publication, political-race, race-candidate, fact), things.id always equals things.sourceId (both are the source table PK). So a simple PK lookup via GET /api/things/:id is sufficient — no fallback mechanism needed.
  • Alternative rejected: sourceId fallback — adds complexity for a case that never occurs in practice.

• Link to dedicated pages when they exist, /things/:id only as fallback

  • In entity-profile-viewer, record IDs link to the dedicated page (via thingHref() or existing getRecordHref()) when one exists. For the 12 types returning null, link to /things/:id.
  • This avoids degrading navigation for entities, grants, benchmarks, etc. that already have rich pages.

• Keep thingHref() returning null for join-table types

  • SearchDialog filters out things where href === null. Changing this would add ~5K+ join-table records to search results, diluting quality.
  • /things/:id is discoverable through entity-profile links and direct URL, not through Cmd+K.

• Defer TABLE_MAP/record-lookup to Phase 2

  • Phase 1 shows thing-level metadata (15 fields from GET /api/things/:id) + verdicts. This is sufficient for an MVP.
  • Phase 2 adds the full source record display via a new record-lookup endpoint with a TABLE_MAP whitelist validated by Zod enum.

• Dashboard deliberately minimal

  • The prior things dashboard was deleted as "redundant." A full rebuild with stats bars and filter tabs risks the same fate.
  • Phase 3 builds a search box + type filter + paginated list. No stats cards, no filter tabs.

Architecture

File	Action	Purpose
Phase 1: Detail page
apps/web/src/app/things/[id]/page.tsx	Create	Server component: fetch thing + verdicts, render metadata + verdict cards + navigation links
apps/web/src/app/internal/entity-profile/entity-profile-viewer.tsx	Modify	Link record IDs to /things/:id for types without dedicated pages (currently 12 types link nowhere)
apps/web/src/app/source-checks/source-checks-shared.tsx	Modify	Update getRecordHref() to return /things/:id for types that currently return null
Phase 2: Full record data
apps/wiki-server/src/routes/tablebase/record-lookup.ts	Create	Hono RPC route: GET /:sourceTable/:sourceId with TABLE_MAP whitelist + Zod validation. Returns full source record row + entity name resolution. Exports RecordLookupRoute type.
apps/wiki-server/src/app.ts	Modify	Register record-lookup route
apps/web/src/app/things/[id]/page.tsx	Modify	Add "Full Record Data" section fetching from record-lookup endpoint
Phase 3: Search/index page
apps/web/src/app/things/page.tsx	Create	Server component: search box + type filter + paginated results table
apps/web/src/app/things/things-table.tsx	Create	Client "use client" component with search, type filter, pagination
content/docs/internal/things-dashboard.mdx	Create	MDX stub (allocate fresh entity ID, not E1300)
apps/web/src/components/mdx-components.tsx	Modify	Register component
apps/web/src/lib/wiki-nav.ts	Modify	Add sidebar entry
apps/web/src/app/internal/things/page.tsx	Create	Redirect to /wiki/E<new>

Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Detail page + entity-profile linking — S/M (1-2 sessions)

Goal: Record IDs in entity-profile become clickable for the 12 thing types that currently have no page. Detail page shows thing metadata and source-check verdicts.

• Create /things/[id]/page.tsx — server component using existing GET /api/things/:id and GET /api/source-checks/verdicts/:type/:id
• PK lookup only via GET /api/things/:id — no sourceId fallback needed (id==sourceId for all 12 types without pages)
• Handle null fields gracefully (description, wikiId, entityType, parentTitle)
• URL encode/decode: decodeURIComponent() on params (copy source-checks pattern)
• robots: { index: false }, revalidate = 300 (shorter than 3600 for debug tool freshness)
• Modify getRecordHref() in source-checks-shared.tsx: return /things/${recordId} for the default case (types that currently return null)
• Modify entity-profile-viewer (lines 676-692): replace hardcoded /source-checks/ URL construction with getRecordHref(section.recordType, idStr) — returns dedicated page for 8 types, /things/:id for 12 types. Remove verdict-gating on the ID link (currently section.recordType && verdict ? — should be section.recordType ?). Keep verdict-gating on the SourceCheckDot only.
• Use InferResponseType<> from Hono RPC with the existing ThingsRoute type export for type-safe API responses (per mandatory RPC pattern)
• Write page.test.tsx: render with full data, null fields, no verdicts

Quality gates: pnpm build passes, pnpm test passes. Verify: (1) personnel thing detail renders, (2) entity thing shows "View full page" link to wiki, (3) thing with no verdict shows "Not yet checked", (4) entity-profile record IDs are clickable for personnel/investment/equity-position types.

Exit criteria: Navigate from entity-profile → click any record ID → see thing detail or dedicated page.

Phase 2: Full source record display — S (1 session)

Goal: Detail page shows all columns from the source table, not just thing-level metadata.

• Create record-lookup.ts — Hono RPC route with method-chaining, export type RecordLookupRoute
• TABLE_MAP: static map of sourceTable name → Drizzle table object, validated by Zod enum. Initial entries (15 tables): { personnel, grants, funding_rounds, investments, equity_positions, divisions, division_personnel, funding_programs, benchmarks, benchmark_results, publications, policy_stakeholders, entity_events, entity_assessments, research_area_organizations }. Entities, facts, and resources excluded (they have dedicated pages/different PK schemes).
• GET /:sourceTable/:sourceId — query source table, return cleaned row + resolved entity names
• Register in app.ts
• Update detail page: add "Full Record Data" section with key-value table, entity refs as links
• Write record-lookup.test.ts: test 3-4 table types, test unknown table → 400, test entity name resolution

Quality gates: pnpm build passes, pnpm test passes. Verify detail page shows full personnel row, full grant row, entity refs link correctly.

Exit criteria: /things/:id shows complete source record with all columns.

Phase 3: Search/index page — S (1 session)

Goal: Browsable entry point for discovering things by search and type filter.

• Allocate fresh entity ID via pnpm crux tb ids allocate things-dashboard
• Create things/page.tsx (redirect) + things-table.tsx (client component)
• Search box → GET /api/things/search, type filter dropdown, paginated list → GET /api/things/
• Each row links to /things/:id
• MDX stub + mdx-components registration + wiki-nav sidebar entry
• Set 30-day usage review date — delete if unused

Quality gates: pnpm build passes. Dashboard loads with data, search returns results, type filter works, pagination works.

Exit criteria: Dashboard browsable at /wiki/E<new>.

Scope Cuts

• No type-specific renderers — All types use generic key-value table. Pretty formatting for benchmarks, timelines, etc. is future work.
• No thingHref() changes — Join-table types continue to return null in search. Things discoverable only via entity-profile links.
• No /source-checks rename — Issue Rename /source-checks to /records — unified record detail page #3923 deferred. Independent routes, zero breakage.
• No audit log read API — Only 3/20 types write audit entries. Defer until coverage justifies it.
• No children tree — Entity-profile already shows children. Detail page shows childrenCount as a stat with link to entity-profile.
• No stats bar on dashboard — Deliberately minimal to avoid repeating the deleted dashboard pattern.

Quality & Verification Infrastructure

Tests:

• apps/web/src/app/things/[id]/__tests__/page.test.tsx — Phase 1: render with full data, null fields, no verdicts, entity thing (shows "View full page"), personnel thing (no dedicated page)
• apps/wiki-server/src/__tests__/record-lookup.test.ts — Phase 2: test personnel, grants, unknown table → 400, entity name resolution

Migration verification: N/A — no schema changes.

UI verification:

• /things/<personnel-thing-id> — shows thing metadata + verdicts (or "Not yet checked")
• /things/<entity-thing-id> — shows "View full page" link to wiki page
• /things/<thing-with-colon-id> — URL encoding works correctly
• Entity-profile → click personnel row ID → lands on /things/:id
• Entity-profile → click entity row ID → lands on wiki page (not things)

Deploy steps: No new env vars. No manual migrations. No post-deploy checks beyond standard CI.

Documentation: Update .claude/rules/internal-dashboards.md to list Things Index after Phase 3.

Monitoring: revalidate = 300. If wiki-server is down, pages show error state (same pattern as source-checks).

Risks & Mitigations

Risk	Severity	Mitigation
things.id != things.sourceId for entities/resources — entity-profile linking breaks	High	Link entities/resources to their dedicated pages (they have them). Only link to /things/:id for types without pages. Verified: for all 12 such types, id == sourceId always holds. No fallback needed.
Dashboard deleted 6 days ago as "redundant"	High	Phase 3 is deliberately minimal (search + list, no stats). Set 30-day delete review. Detail page (Phase 1) is the primary value.
TABLE_MAP drift when new tables added	Medium	Zod enum validation on sourceTable. Gate check or test that asserts TABLE_MAP covers all VALID_THING_TYPES source tables.
52 files have hard-coded /source-checks/ URLs	N/A	Not renaming source-checks. /things/:id is independent.
Null fields (description, wikiId, entityType, parentTitle)	Medium	Conditional rendering. Test with join-table type records.
URL encoding of colon-containing thing IDs	Low	Copy source-checks pattern: encodeURIComponent() on build, decodeURIComponent() on read.

Open Questions

1. Should the detail page show a "raw JSON" toggle inside the debug footer? Adds ~20 lines, useful for debugging. Recommend: yes, include in Phase 1.
2. Should Cmd+K search eventually link to /things/:id for join-table types? Currently deferred. Could be enabled later by updating thingHref() with careful filtering to avoid result flooding.

Rejected Approaches

A: Rename source-checks to /records — 52 files with hard-coded /source-checks/ URLs. Blast radius too high.

C1: Ghost Links (hover popovers) — Records need permanent, shareable URLs.

C2: Parasitic on entity-profile — E1929 is 500+ lines, unintuitive URLs, dual code paths for orphans.

C3: Rename & subsume source-checks — Couples verification and data concerns; same blast radius as A.

Full dashboard (original Phase 3) — Stats bars, filter tabs, DataTable matching the deleted version. Reduced to minimal search page to avoid repeating the create-delete cycle.

Audit log on detail page — Only 3/20 types write entries. Empty section for 85% of records is misleading. Deferred.

Children tree on detail page — Duplicates entity-profile's per-entity record display. Replaced with stat line + link.

Red Team Log

Technical Critic (4 blocking, 3 significant)

• BLOCKING: things.id != sourceId for entities/resources — Fixed by linking entities/resources to dedicated pages, not /things/:id. Only types where id==sourceId go to things.
• BLOCKING: No Hono RPC compliance — Fixed: Phase 2 record-lookup explicitly uses method-chaining + type export.
• BLOCKING: TABLE_MAP needs runtime validation — Fixed: Zod enum validation specified.
• BLOCKING: URL encode/decode not specified — Fixed: explicit pattern copied from source-checks.
• SIGNIFICANT: Smoke test URLs used wrong ID format — Removed smoke tests (overkill for internal pages).
• SIGNIFICANT: Audit log coverage only 3/20 types — Deferred audit log entirely.
• SIGNIFICANT: ISR revalidate=3600 too stale for debug tool — Changed to revalidate=300.

UX Critic (3 high, 2 medium)

• HIGH: "Things" is opaque naming — Acknowledged but kept. /things matches the PG table name and avoids confusion with issue Rename /source-checks to /records — unified record detail page #3923's proposed /records. Internal tool URL, not user-facing.
• HIGH: Dashboard likely to be deleted again — Reduced to minimal search page.
• HIGH: OQ#3 has clear answer — Resolved: link to dedicated pages when available, /things/:id only as fallback.
• MEDIUM: Detail page too many sections — Removed children tree, removed audit log. Now: header + thing metadata + verdicts + debug footer. Four sections.
• MEDIUM: No user stories — Added three concrete user stories.

Scope Critic (5 cuts recommended)

• Cut audit log read API — Accepted. Only 3/20 types.
• Cut children tree — Accepted. Stat line + link instead.
• Radically simplify dashboard — Accepted. Search + list only.
• Consider cutting TABLE_MAP — Partially accepted: deferred to Phase 2 instead of Phase 1.
• Consider cutting tests — Partially accepted: reduced to 2 test files (page + record-lookup).

[OAGr]

Branch: claude/deploy-tasks-verify-cmd

Cross-link: this is part of an emerging Things UI cluster with #3998 (Things Listing Enhancements) and #4005 (TableBase Coverage Dashboard & Enrichment Queue). #3945 covers the universal record inspector (detail page); #3998 covers the listing/index side; #4005 covers the coverage dashboard. Consider treating these as siblings of one Things UI epic. — Discussion review 2026-04-08.