Entity Graph Implementation Plan

WARNING

Archived: the entity graph and work ownership model was removed in September 2026, so this page does not describe the current app. See Entity System (Archived).

Purpose

This document turns the entity-graph discussion into an execution plan for Kototoro.

The goal is not to build a full knowledge graph platform. The goal is to introduce a local, incremental, user-driven entity graph that becomes the primary shell for tracking-driven discovery and detail navigation.

Scope

This plan covers:

• the entity graph storage and ingestion model
• the detail-page information architecture
• the migration path from tracking-site details to entity details
• the first integration path for source lookup from entities

This plan does not cover:

• a backend service
• global crawling or full-site graph materialization
• a graph database
• AI, embeddings, or recommendation infrastructure
• a full UI redesign of existing source details

Product-Level Decision

Kototoro should converge to two user-facing detail modes, not three:

• Entity Details: the primary detail page for a work or other entity
• Source Details: the execution page for a specific source content item

Tracking Site Details should remain as a limited raw-reference page for:

• fallback when entity ingestion fails
• direct source-of-truth inspection
• debugging and manual binding flows
• transitional compatibility while the entity flow is still rolling out

This keeps the mental model stable:

• tracking site = truth and metadata authority
• entity graph = local integration layer
• source = playable/readable content

Core Model Boundaries

Entity Types

The current entity taxonomy should remain intentionally small:

• WORK
• CHARACTER
• PERSON
• ORGANIZATION

This is sufficient for the current feature set and keeps the graph cheap to maintain.

Staff and Cast Policy

The current and planned mapping should be:

• authors, illustrators, directors, script writers, producers, staff -> PERSON
• companies, studios, publishers, circles, production committees -> ORGANIZATION

Do not introduce more entity types unless a concrete UI or data-flow requirement appears in at least two real call sites.

Graph Depth Policy

Graph materialization must stay shallow by default:

• store only user-relevant nodes
• persist 1-hop or 2-hop relationships
• do not auto-expand beyond the currently browsed tracking item
• keep cache deletion cheap and deterministic

Architecture Rules

The implementation must continue to follow these rules:

• tracking data is the truth for entity metadata
• source data is content access, not entity truth
• UI reads from the local entity graph, not directly from tracking API payloads
• every persisted graph node is cache-like and deletable
• ingestion is triggered by user navigation, not background crawling

Current Status

As of the current implementation round, Phase 1 through Phase 3 are materially in place:

• Room schema and migration for entity, entity_binding, and relation
• DAO and repository support for graph access and pruning
• tracking-to-entity ingestion pipeline
• basic relation creation for work, character, and person edges
• cross-site binding matcher with auto-bind and weak-bind thresholds
• source adapter contract for Entity -> SourceResult

What is not done yet:

• entity details as the main UI entry
• navigation migration from tracking-site details to entity details
• wider source-side entry migration
• richer staff and organization ingestion beyond the currently exposed discovery DTOs

Detail Page Strategy

Final Target

The long-term navigation target is:

1. user opens a tracking result
2. app resolves or creates a local entity
3. app opens Entity Details
4. user selects a source result
5. app opens the existing Source Details

Tracking Site Details remains reachable from Entity Details as a secondary action such as:

• View tracking record
• Open raw tracking details

Why Not Reuse DetailsActivity Directly

DetailsActivity is still source-content centric:

• it assumes a concrete Content
• it bundles reading/playback execution concerns
• it is not a stable home for entity-level metadata aggregation

Forcing entity responsibilities into that page would mix two very different responsibilities and make Phase 4 harder to review safely.

Why Not Keep Tracking Details as a Third Primary Page

Keeping three parallel primary details would create an unstable mental model:

• users would not know which page is the canonical overview
• internal routing rules would stay inconsistent
• later PERSON or ORGANIZATION details would have no clean home

So the plan is:

• entity details becomes the default detail shell
• source details remains the actionable content page
• tracking raw details becomes a fallback and inspection page

Data Flow

Entity-First Tracking Entry

The preferred flow for tracking-site clicks should be:

1. try findEntityByBinding(service, remoteId)
2. if found, open Entity Details
3. if missing, fetch tracking details
4. map the tracking payload to TrackingWorkDto
5. ingest into the entity graph
6. open Entity Details
7. if ingestion fails, keep a direct fallback path to raw tracking details

Initial Mapping Constraints

The current tracking discovery DTO exposes enough for a first work-level page, but not enough for a full Bangumi-style people graph across all services.

So the first integration pass should only map:

• work title
• aliases
• author/staff names when present
• tracking binding identity

Character, cast, and organization ingestion should stay incremental and service-dependent.

Entity Details MVP

The first entity-details implementation should stay intentionally small.

It should include:

• entity title and type
• aliases
• current bindings
• first-hop related entities
• source adapter lookup results for WORK
• explicit action to open raw tracking details when available

It should not include yet:

• a full redesign of the detail visual system
• complex edit flows
• advanced graph browsing
• background graph expansion

Relation Display Rules

The first page should render only the relations that are meaningful for the current entity type:

• WORK: characters, creators, weak related links
• CHARACTER: parent work, voice actors
• PERSON: created works, voiced characters
• ORGANIZATION: associated works or people when later introduced

Direction matters. The UI should not show mirrored edges twice.

Entity Coverage Plan

Phase 4A: Entity Detail Shell

Deliverables:

• EntityDetailsActivity
• EntityDetailsFragment
• EntityDetailsViewModel
• router support for opening entity details
• repository read-model support for bindings and first-hop relation rendering

Acceptance criteria:

• an entity can be opened from an entity id
• a tracking item can resolve into an entity page
• the page can still open the raw tracking details when needed

Phase 4B: Tracking Entry Migration

Deliverables:

• tracking discovery list opens entity-first flow
• category pages open entity-first flow
• other tracking-entry call sites use the same behavior

Acceptance criteria:

• tracking discovery no longer leads users into a long-term third primary details page
• fallback to raw tracking details remains available

Phase 4C: Source Integration on Entity Page

Deliverables:

• source results rendered inside entity details
• click-through to existing source details

Acceptance criteria:

• a work entity can surface matching source candidates
• the existing DetailsActivity stays unchanged as the execution-oriented content page

Phase 4D: Wider Entry Migration

Deliverables:

• selected local or tracking cross-links migrate toward entity details
• legacy source-first paths remain valid where the app already owns a concrete Content

Acceptance criteria:

• entity details becomes the default overview shell
• source details is only used when the user is already selecting concrete content

Planned Technical Work Breakdown

Workstream 1: Docs and Navigation Contract

• add this document
• define the two-detail mental model explicitly
• add router APIs for entity-first navigation and raw tracking fallback

Workstream 2: Entity Detail Read Model

• expose first-hop related entity lookup
• keep view-model orchestration thin
• avoid speculative domain abstractions

Workstream 3: Tracking Ingestion Bridge

• reuse existing discovery service
• add a small mapper from TrackingSiteItemDetails to TrackingWorkDto
• keep service-specific enrichment optional

Workstream 4: Source Result Bridge

• use the existing EntityGraphSourceAdapter
• load only for WORK
• keep source search bounded by the adapter limits

Risk Areas

Risk 1: Discovery DTOs Are Too Thin

Some services only expose author-style metadata in the current abstraction.

Mitigation:

• ship the work-level entity page first
• enrich the DTOs only when there is a concrete UI need
• do not block the page on full cast/staff coverage

Risk 2: Mixed Navigation During Migration

Multiple call sites may continue to open raw tracking details for some time.

Mitigation:

• centralize the behavior in AppRouter
• keep raw tracking details behind an explicit fallback API

Risk 3: Source Search Noise

Entity-to-source search may return weak matches.

Mitigation:

• keep the current confidence threshold
• limit source count and per-source result count
• treat this page as candidate discovery, not authoritative binding

Rollback and Safety

This migration is intentionally additive and reversible:

• existing source details remain intact
• raw tracking details remain intact
• entity details can be introduced as a new route without deleting old flows
• router-level fallbacks can restore old behavior if the entity path proves unstable

Definition of Done for the Current Round

This round is complete when:

• the implementation plan is committed to docs
• an entity details MVP exists
• tracking discovery uses entity-first routing
• raw tracking details remain reachable as a fallback
• Kotlin compilation still passes

Follow-Up Work After This Round

The next iterations after the MVP should focus on:

• richer PERSON and ORGANIZATION ingestion where tracking data supports it
• improved entity-page presentation and section prioritization
• targeted tests for entity-details view-model orchestration
• selective migration of more cross-links from content pages to entity pages