sillytavern-character-memory/docs/plans/2026-02-16-panel-restructure-design.md

Panel Restructure + Card-Based Consolidation Editor Design

Date: 2026-02-16 Status: Approved Branch: consolidation-improvements (builds on existing consolidation UX work)

Problem

1. Consolidation and batch extraction are buried as a button and a sub-tab. They should be first-class tools.
2. Consolidation config (strategy, prompt) is buried in Settings, separate from where consolidation happens.
3. The consolidation preview shows nicely formatted cards on the left but raw <memory> tags on the right, which is jarring.

Design

1. Top-Level Tab Layout

The extension panel becomes tab-based. Stats bar and auto-extraction toggle stay above.

Character Memory
  Stats bar (file, count, progress, cooldown)
  Enable auto-extraction checkbox

  [Main] [Consolidate] [Batch Extract] [Settings] [Log]

  Main tab (default):
    [Extract Now]  [View / Edit]
    Diagnostics section (collapsed)

  Consolidate tab:
    Strategy dropdown (conservative/balanced/aggressive/custom)
    Custom prompt textarea (when custom) or preset description
    [Consolidate]  [Undo Consolidation]

  Batch Extract tab:
    Same content as current batch extract tab

  Settings tab:
    LLM/Provider config
    Auto-Extraction sliders
    Extraction Settings (chunk size, response length)
    Storage (per-chat, filename)
    Extraction prompt
    Reset/Clear buttons

  Log tab:
    Activity Log with verbose toggle, clear, save

2. Card-Based Consolidation Editor (Popup)

Clicking "Consolidate" runs the LLM and opens a full-width popup:

Layout:

• Top: Stats bar ("Original: 47 memories -> Consolidated: 23")
• Below stats: Strategy dropdown + Re-run button + Undo button + spinner
• Main area: Two-pane side-by-side
  • Left: Original memories as read-only cards (same as current)
  • Right: Consolidated memories as editable cards
• Bottom: Accept / Cancel buttons (from CONFIRM popup type)

Editable card structure:

• Each block is a card matching the left pane's visual style
• Each bullet is an always-editable text input with a trash icon button
• "Add memory" button at the bottom of each card to add a new bullet
• "Delete block" button to remove the entire card
• "Add Block" button at the very bottom to create a new empty block

Data model:

• Editor operates on an in-memory array of block objects: [{ chat, date, bullets }]
• Same structure as parseMemories() output
• Add/delete/edit mutate this array directly (via data attributes on DOM elements)
• On Accept: serializeMemories(blocks) to save
• Live bullet count updates as blocks are modified

Version stack:

• Re-run pushes deep copy of current blocks array
• Undo pops from stack
• Same behavior as current, but operating on block arrays instead of text

3. What Changes From Current Implementation

• settings.html: Complete restructure to tab layout
• buildConsolidationDialog(): Rewrite right pane from textarea to card-based editor
• consolidateMemories(): Work with block arrays instead of raw text for the editor
• countConsolidatedText(): Replace with counting from the block array
• CSS: New tab styles, editor input styles
• Consolidation strategy UI moves from Settings drawer to Consolidate tab

4. What Stays The Same

• runConsolidationLLM() helper (returns serialized text, parsed by caller)
• CONSOLIDATION_PRESETS and buildConsolidationPrompt()
• consolidationBackup / Undo Consolidation mechanism
• Settings persistence
• Slash commands
• Memory manager popup (View/Edit) — unchanged
• All extraction logic — unchanged