dknauss · dknauss · Aug 10, 2026 · Aug 10, 2026
@@ -376,6 +376,14 @@ Recent decisions affecting current work:
   and arbitrary SVG upload, which is a security feature wearing a UI feature's
   clothes and wants its own pass. `todos/pending/2026-08-09-icon-picker-remaining-scope.md`
 
+- **AME feature-surface research** — the 2026-08-01 prior-art spike was
+  *architectural*, scoped to Phase 20; its four-bullet market-gap list is now spent
+  (import/export queued, reparenting out of scope, per-role deny shipped, inline UX
+  is the premise). A second pass would inventory AME free/Pro/add-ons as a **product**
+  and sort each feature into have-it / deliberately-not / already-queued /
+  unclaimed / anti-feature. Deliverable is a NOTE, and "nothing worth adopting" is a
+  legitimate verdict. Worth doing because after Phases 27/28 there is no milestone.
+  `todos/pending/2026-08-10-ame-feature-surface-research.md`
 - **Named config presets + JSON export/import** — v1.5 candidate; supersedes/extends V2-06 (SPEC.md Roadmap item 6). Research captured in `todos/pending/2026-07-03-config-presets-export-import.md`
 - **Declutter switch (non-core menu items → bottom section)** — v1.5 candidate; needs discuss/feasibility pass (top_order precedence, CPT handling). Research captured in `todos/pending/2026-07-03-declutter-switch-non-core-menu-items.md`
 - ~~**Research Admin Menu Editor (Jānis Elsts) prior art**~~ — ✅ DONE 2026-08-01 (pulled forward from v1.5 to feed Phase 20). Findings note: `compat/PRIOR-ART-admin-menu-editor.md` (adopt/avoid/differentiate; AME 1.15.1 source read). Key inputs to Phase 20: COMPAT-04 → adopt AME's parent-scoped `parent>child` submenu identity; COMPAT-07 → split editable label from preserved title markup; COMPAT-10 → no prior art, Maestro-original. Cosmetic-only stays Maestro's differentiator (AME conflates hide with access). Todo moved to `todos/completed/`.

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+---
+created: 2026-08-10T00:00:00.000Z
+title: Admin Menu Editor — feature-surface scoping research (what to build next, not how)
+area: research
+files:
+  - .planning/compat/PRIOR-ART-admin-menu-editor.md (the 2026-08-01 spike — its ARCHITECTURE half is done; do not redo it)
+  - .planning/DECISION-settings-surface.md (the two-icon / no-settings-page budget any adopted feature must fit)
+  - .planning/phases/19-cosmetic-hiding-feasibility/19-FEASIBILITY-NOTE.md (the deliverable shape to copy)
+  - SPEC.md (Roadmap items 1-10 + Out of Scope — the existing claims on this territory)
+---
+
+## Problem
+
+AME has been read once, and only architecturally.
+[`compat/PRIOR-ART-admin-menu-editor.md`](../../compat/PRIOR-ART-admin-menu-editor.md)
+(2026-08-01, AME free 1.15.1, source read) was pulled forward to feed Phase 20 and
+answered Phase 20's questions — identity, apply model, submenu targeting, hook
+order, storage. Those findings shipped as COMPAT-04/07/14.
+
+It never examined AME as a *product*. Its whole feature-facing output is one
+"market signals" section whose gap list is now spent:
+
+| Named gap (2026-08-01) | Status 2026-08-10 |
+|---|---|
+| Import/export | Queued as [[2026-07-03-config-presets-export-import]] — unplanned |
+| Reparenting / drag between levels | Out of scope in `SPEC.md` v1, gated on highlighting |
+| Per-role *deny* | **Shipped** — this is Maestro's cosmetic hiding |
+| True inline editing UX | Not a gap; it is the product's premise |
+
+The one artifact meant to say what to build next has nothing unclaimed left in it,
+and after Phases 27/28 there is no milestone. That makes this worth doing now — and
+easy to get wrong by inventing features instead of finding them.
+
+## The deliverable is a NOTE, not a feature
+
+Same contract as [[2026-08-09-admin-toolbar-editing-research]]: a scoping note, no
+commitment to build. `19-FEASIBILITY-NOTE.md` is the shape — explicit verdict,
+reasons, named constraints, written so a phase can be planned from it.
+
+**A legitimate verdict is "nothing worth adopting."** If the remaining gaps are all
+already queued, say so in a paragraph and stop. Do not pad a feature list to justify
+the pass.
+
+## Scope
+
+**In:** the user-facing feature inventory of AME free, Pro, and its add-ons
+(Branding, Toolbar) — including the free build's `modules/` directory, which the
+prior read skipped and which is where discrete features live. Map each to one
+verdict:
+
+1. **Have it** — name Maestro's equivalent, so the note doubles as a position statement
+2. **Deliberately not** — excluded by Out of Scope or cosmetic-only; record *why*, because this gets asked again
+3. **Already queued** — link the todo/phase, don't re-derive
+4. **Genuinely unclaimed** — the only category that produces new work
+5. **Anti-feature** — they ship it; we should be able to say why we won't
+
+**Out:** architecture, apply model, hook ordering, storage, identity, submenu
+targeting — all answered 2026-08-01. If a feature finding needs an architectural
+answer, note the dependency and stop. Also out: other prior art — "Wider Admin Menu"
+and "Hide Admin Menu" belong to `SPEC.md` items 9 and 10. AME-only is what keeps
+this bounded.
+
+## Constraints an "unclaimed" finding must already clear
+
+Reject in place rather than surfacing for a later phase to reject again:
+
+- **Cosmetic-only is not negotiable.** AME conflates hiding with access control
+  (`do_not_allow`, `wp_die()`), its largest user-confusion category per the
+  2026-08-01 forum mining. `SPEC.md` item 7 (enforcement bridge) is already flagged
+  IN TENSION — don't let a feature finding smuggle that decision in.
+- **The settings surface is decided; the budget is two icons.**
+  `DECISION-settings-surface.md` allots Profiles and Settings modals and rules out a
+  wp-admin settings page permanently. A feature needing a third icon has a placement
+  problem to solve *in the note*.
+- **Borrow patterns, not code** (`SPEC.md` principle 4). A feature that only works
+  under AME's full-rebuild model is a no.
+- **Editing happens on the menu.** Anything requiring you to leave the menu to
+  configure the menu contradicts the core value.
+
+## Questions the note must answer
+
+- **What does AME free actually let a user do, enumerated?** Start with `modules/`.
+- **What is Pro-gated, and which are Maestro's cheapest credible free wins?** The
+  headline split is recorded (granting, hide-from-all-except-one, import/export,
+  drag between levels, iframe items, colors, 600+ icons, Branding, Toolbar;
+  $49–$179/yr). Missing is the per-feature judgement: cost, fit with cosmetic-only,
+  and whether "AME charges for this" is demand evidence or just their packaging.
+- **Do the recurring-pain categories point at features, not just fixes?** The five
+  named on 2026-08-01 were mined for bugs to pre-empt. "Menu reset to default"
+  confusion in particular smells like a missing feature — a durable answer to *what
+  changed and how do I get back* — which per-item reset plus
+  [[2026-07-03-config-presets-export-import]] may or may not already be.
+- **Has AME shipped since 1.15.1?** Re-check version and changelog delta first;
+  record the version studied, as the prior note did.
+- **Does anything justify a milestone?** Rank candidates against the
+  queued-but-unplanned set ([[2026-07-03-config-presets-export-import]],
+  [[2026-07-03-declutter-switch-non-core-menu-items]],
+  [[2026-08-09-icon-picker-remaining-scope]], Phase 22) — a new idea that loses to
+  something already queued is a finding too.
+
+## Method
+
+Free AME is GPL and readable from the official zip. **Pro is not** — its feature set
+comes from marketing, upsell strings, and the forum, all claims rather than verified
+behaviour. Label those unverified, as the prior note did. Do not cite the
+unconfirmed GitHub mirror.
+
+**Placement:** `.planning/compat/PRIOR-ART-admin-menu-editor-features.md`, beside the
+architecture note rather than inside it — that one is a shipped input to Phase 20 and
+should stay readable as the record of what fed those fixes.
+
+Source: Dan's request 2026-08-10, after confirming no AME research phase was ever
+planned.