# Spine Initial Scaffold — Implementation Plan
**Goal:** A minimal Emacs web server that serves a templated "Hello from Emacs." page, exercising the `simple-httpd` + `mustache.el` stack end-to-end.
**Architecture:** Single `spine.el` entry point bootstraps packages, starts `simple-httpd` on port 8080, and registers a `/hello` servlet. Templates are `.mustache` files read from a `templates/` directory relative to `spine.el`.
**Tech Stack:** Emacs Lisp, `simple-httpd` (MELPA), `mustache` (MELPA), `ht` (transitive).
---
## File structure
| File | Responsibility |
|------|---------------|
| `templates/hello.mustache` | Smoke-test HTML template with `{{title}}` and `{{message}}` placeholders |
| `spine.el` | Entry point: package bootstrap, server config, template renderer, `/hello` handler |
`spine.el` is the sole Elisp file. No project file, no Makefile — invocation is `emacs --quick --load spine.el`.
---
### Task 1: Create the hello.mustache template
**Files:**
- Create: `templates/hello.mustache`
- [ ] **Step 1: Create templates/ directory and hello.mustache**
```bash
mkdir -p templates
```
Write `templates/hello.mustache`:
```html
{{title}}
{{message}}
```
- [ ] **Step 2: Verify template file exists**
Run: `cat templates/hello.mustache`
Expected: outputs the template content above.
- [ ] **Step 3: Commit**
```bash
git add templates/hello.mustache
git commit -m "feat: add hello.mustache smoke-test template"
```
---
### Task 2: Write spine.el entry point
**Files:**
- Create: `spine.el`
- [ ] **Step 1: Write the full spine.el**
Write `spine.el`:
```elisp
;;; spine.el — personal reading tracker, served from Emacs
;; --- package bootstrap ------------------------------------------------
(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives
'("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")
t)
(package-initialize)
(dolist (pkg '(simple-httpd mustache))
(unless (package-installed-p pkg)
(package-refresh-contents)
(package-install pkg)))
(require 'simple-httpd)
(require 'mustache)
;; --- configuration ----------------------------------------------------
(defvar spine-port 8080
"Port for the Spine HTTP server.")
(defvar spine-template-dir
(expand-file-name "templates/"
(file-name-directory load-file-name))
"Directory containing .mustache templates.")
;; --- template rendering -----------------------------------------------
(defun spine-render (name context)
"Render templates/NAME.mustache with CONTEXT (an ht hash table).
Returns the rendered string."
(mustache-render
(with-temp-buffer
(insert-file-contents
(expand-file-name name spine-template-dir))
(buffer-string))
context))
;; --- handlers ---------------------------------------------------------
(defservlet hello text/html ()
(insert (spine-render "hello.mustache"
(ht ("title" "Spine")
("message" "Hello from Emacs.")))))
;; --- start ------------------------------------------------------------
(setq httpd-port spine-port)
(httpd-start)
(message "Spine listening on http://localhost:%d" spine-port)
(provide 'spine)
;;; spine.el ends here
```
- [ ] **Step 2: Verify the file has no syntax errors by loading it with Emacs in batch mode**
Run: `emacs --quick --batch --load spine.el`
Expected: no errors printed to stderr. The server starts briefly then Emacs exits (batch mode runs the file then quits). You should see something like:
```
Spine listening on http://localhost:8080
```
If a package is missing, you'll see MELPA refresh output followed by install messages — that's fine, it means the bootstrap worked.
- [ ] **Step 3: Commit**
```bash
git add spine.el
git commit -m "feat: add spine.el — package bootstrap, server, hello handler"
```
---
### Task 3: Smoke test — first launch (package install)
**Files:**
- No changes — verification only.
**Prerequisite:** Delete any previously installed `simple-httpd` and `mustache` packages so we test the bootstrap path. Run:
```bash
rm -rf ~/.emacs.d/elpa/simple-httpd-* ~/.emacs.d/elpa/mustache-* ~/.emacs.d/elpa/ht-*
```
If you're using a custom `package-user-dir`, adjust the paths accordingly. If you don't want to nuke your real packages, set `package-user-dir` to a temp directory for this test:
```bash
mkdir -p /tmp/spine-elpa
emacs --quick --eval "(setq package-user-dir \"/tmp/spine-elpa\")" --load spine.el
```
(Use whichever approach fits your setup — the key is testing the fresh-install path.)
- [ ] **Step 1: Start Emacs with spine.el (fresh package state)**
Run (in one terminal, Emacs stays running):
```bash
emacs --quick --load spine.el
```
Expected output in the `*Messages*` buffer:
- MELPA archive refresh output (first-time only)
- Package install messages for `simple-httpd`, `mustache`, `ht`
- `Spine listening on http://localhost:8080`
- [ ] **Step 2: Verify /hello endpoint**
In another terminal:
```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8080/hello
```
Expected: HTML output containing `Hello from Emacs.
` and `Spine`.
- [ ] **Step 3: Stop Emacs**
In the Emacs terminal, press `C-x C-c` to quit.
---
### Task 4: Smoke test — second launch (no package install)
**Files:**
- No changes — verification only.
- [ ] **Step 1: Start Emacs again (packages already installed)**
```bash
emacs --quick --load spine.el
```
Expected: no MELPA refresh output, no package install messages. Only `Spine listening on http://localhost:8080`.
- [ ] **Step 2: Verify /hello still works**
```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8080/hello
```
Expected: same HTML as before.
- [ ] **Step 3: Stop Emacs** (`C-x C-c`)
---
### Task 5: Final commit
**Files:**
- No code changes — just confirming all commits are done.
- [ ] **Step 1: Verify git status is clean**
```bash
git status
```
Expected: `nothing to commit, working tree clean`
If anything shows as modified, stage and commit it:
```bash
git add -A
git commit -m "chore: finalize initial scaffold"
```
- [ ] **Step 2: Review commit log**
```bash
git log --oneline
```
Expected: 2–4 commits covering the template, spine.el, and any fixes.