WizardMerge/ROADMAP.md

WizardMerge Roadmap

Vision

WizardMerge aims to become the most intuitive and powerful tool for resolving merge conflicts in software development. By combining intelligent algorithms with a clean, accessible UI, we want to make merge conflict resolution from a dreaded task into a smooth, understandable process.

Core Principles

1. Visual Clarity: Show conflicts in a way that makes the problem immediately obvious
2. Smart Assistance: Provide intelligent suggestions while keeping humans in control
3. Context Awareness: Understand code structure and semantics, not just text diffs
4. Workflow Integration: Seamlessly fit into developers' existing Git workflows
5. Safety First: Make it hard to accidentally lose changes or break code

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Phase 1: Foundation (0-3 months)

1.1 Enhanced Merge Algorithm

Priority: HIGH

• Implement three-way merge algorithm (base, ours, theirs)
• Add conflict detection and marking
• Support for different conflict markers (Git, Mercurial, etc.)
• Line-level granularity with word-level highlighting
• Handle common auto-resolvable patterns:
  • Non-overlapping changes
  • Identical changes from both sides
  • Whitespace-only differences

Deliverable: wizardmerge/algo/three_way_merge.py module

1.2 File Input/Output

Priority: HIGH

• Parse Git conflict markers from files
• Load base, ours, and theirs versions from Git
• Save resolved merge results
• Support for directory-level conflict resolution
• Backup mechanism for safety

Deliverable: wizardmerge/io/ module with file handlers

1.3 Core UI Components

Priority: HIGH

• Three-panel diff view (base, ours, theirs)
• Unified conflict view with inline markers
• Syntax highlighting for common languages
• Line numbering and navigation
• Conflict counter and navigation (next/previous conflict)

Deliverable: Enhanced main.qml with conflict viewer components

1.4 Basic Conflict Resolution Actions

Priority: MEDIUM

• Accept ours / Accept theirs buttons
• Accept both (concatenate) option
• Manual edit capability
• Undo/redo stack
• Keyboard shortcuts for common actions

Deliverable: Action handlers in QML and Python backend

1.5 Git Integration

Priority: MEDIUM

• Detect when running in Git repository
• Read .git/MERGE_HEAD to identify conflicts
• List all conflicted files
• Mark files as resolved in Git
• Launch from command line: wizardmerge [file]

Deliverable: wizardmerge/git/ module and CLI enhancements

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Phase 2: Intelligence & Usability (3-6 months)

2.1 Smart Conflict Resolution

Priority: HIGH

• Semantic merge for common file types:
  • JSON: merge by key structure
  • YAML: preserve hierarchy
  • Package files: intelligent dependency merging
  • XML: structure-aware merging
• Language-aware merging (AST-based):
  • Python imports and functions
  • JavaScript/TypeScript modules
  • Java classes and methods
• Auto-resolution suggestions with confidence scores
• Learn from user's resolution patterns

Deliverable: wizardmerge/algo/semantic/ module

2.2 Enhanced Visualization

Priority: MEDIUM

• Side-by-side diff view option
• Minimap for large files
• Color-coded change types (added, removed, modified, conflicted)
• Collapsible unchanged regions
• Blame/history annotations
• Conflict complexity indicator

Deliverable: Advanced QML components and visualization modes

2.3 Code Intelligence

Priority: MEDIUM

• Integration with Language Server Protocol (LSP)
• Syntax validation during merge
• Show syntax errors in real-time
• Auto-formatting after resolution
• Import/dependency conflict detection

Deliverable: wizardmerge/lsp/ integration module

2.4 Collaboration Features

Priority: LOW

• Add comments to conflicts
• Mark conflicts for review
• Export resolution report
• Share conflict context via link
• Team resolution patterns library

Deliverable: Collaboration UI and sharing infrastructure

2.5 Testing & Quality

Priority: HIGH

• Comprehensive test suite for merge algorithms
• UI automation tests
• Performance benchmarks for large files
• Fuzzing for edge cases
• Documentation and examples

Deliverable: tests/ directory with full coverage

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Phase 3: Advanced Features (6-12 months)

3.1 AI-Assisted Merging

Priority: MEDIUM

• ML model for conflict resolution suggestions
• Pattern recognition from repository history
• Natural language explanations of conflicts
• Context-aware code completion during merge
• Risk assessment for resolution choices

Deliverable: wizardmerge/ai/ module with ML models

3.2 Multi-Repository Support

Priority: LOW

• Support for monorepos
• Cross-repository dependency tracking
• Batch conflict resolution
• Conflict prevention suggestions during PR review

Deliverable: Enhanced Git integration with multi-repo awareness

3.3 Advanced Git Workflows

Priority: MEDIUM

• Rebase conflict resolution mode
• Cherry-pick conflict handling
• Merge strategy selection (recursive, ours, theirs, octopus)
• Submodule conflict resolution
• Partial staging of resolved conflicts

Deliverable: Comprehensive Git workflow support

3.4 Plugin Ecosystem

Priority: LOW

• Plugin API for custom merge strategies
• Community plugin repository
• Language-specific plugins (Go, Rust, C++, etc.)
• IDE integrations (VSCode, IntelliJ, etc.)
• Custom visualization plugins

Deliverable: Plugin system architecture and marketplace

3.5 Performance & Scale

Priority: MEDIUM

• Handle files with 100k+ lines
• Streaming diff for large files
• Incremental parsing and rendering
• Background processing for analysis
• Memory-efficient data structures

Deliverable: Performance optimizations throughout codebase

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Technical Architecture

Current Stack

• UI: PyQt6 + QML (declarative UI)
• Backend: Python 3.8+
• Themes: Plugin-based theming system
• Algorithms: Custom merge utilities

Proposed Additions

• Diff Library: diff-match-patch or difflib enhancements
• Git Integration: GitPython or pygit2
• Syntax Highlighting: Pygments or QML SyntaxHighlighter
• AST Parsing: Language-specific parsers (ast, esprima, tree-sitter)
• LSP: python-lsp-server integration
• Testing: pytest, pytest-qt
• ML (future): scikit-learn or lightweight transformers

Architecture Decisions

1. Separation of Concerns

   • Keep merge algorithms pure and testable
   • UI communicates via well-defined Python API
   • Git operations isolated in dedicated module

2. Performance First

   • Lazy loading for large files
   • Background threads for expensive operations
   • Incremental updates to UI

3. Extensibility

   • Plugin system for merge strategies
   • Theme system already in place
   • Configuration file support

4. Safety

   • Never modify original files until confirmed
   • Auto-save drafts
   • Full undo history
   • Backup before resolve

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Success Metrics

Phase 1

• Successfully resolve basic three-way merges
• Handle 90% of common conflict patterns
• Command-line integration working
• 5 active users providing feedback

Phase 2

• Auto-resolve 50% of simple conflicts
• Support 10+ programming languages
• UI response time < 100ms for typical files
• 100+ active users

Phase 3

• 80% user satisfaction rating
• Handle repositories with 1M+ lines
• 10+ community plugins
• 1000+ active users

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Community & Contribution

Getting Involved

1. Try it out: Use WizardMerge on real conflicts
2. Report issues: Help us identify edge cases
3. Suggest features: What would make your life easier?
4. Contribute code: Pick an item from the roadmap
5. Write plugins: Extend for your use case

Development Priorities

We'll prioritize based on:

• User feedback: What real developers need most
• Impact: Features that help the most people
• Feasibility: What we can build well with available resources
• Foundation first: Core functionality before advanced features

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Related Projects

• mergebot: https://github.com/JohnDoe6345789/mergebot - Companion automation tool
• Git: Native three-way merge
• KDiff3: Mature merge tool
• Meld: Visual diff and merge
• Beyond Compare: Commercial option

Our niche: Modern UI + intelligent algorithms + seamless workflow integration

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Timeline Summary

Q1 2024: Foundation - Core merge algorithm, file I/O, basic UI Q2 2024: Intelligence - Semantic merging, enhanced visualization Q3 2024: Polish - Testing, performance, collaboration features Q4 2024: Advanced - AI assistance, plugins, scale

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Next Steps

1. Immediate: Implement three-way merge algorithm
2. This Sprint: Add file input/output and Git integration
3. This Quarter: Complete Phase 1 foundation items
4. Feedback Loop: Release early, get user feedback, iterate

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This roadmap is a living document. Priorities may shift based on user feedback and technical discoveries. Last updated: 2024