Architecture and feature documentation

These guides describe the current SparkStudio source, including development work that may be newer than the downloadable installer. The preview.18 release-guide and navigation review date is October 25, 2026; the broader source/documentation audit remains dated September 30. A documented implementation is not a claim that every browser, deployment, integration or failure condition has passed acceptance.

Start with Product and architecture, then Projects. For installation, use the guide attached to your exact release; Windows installation describes preview.18. Verification and roadmap records package verification and release status, separating dated observations from current capability summaries and remaining gates. Earlier ledger entries retain the facts and limitations of their original checks; they are not instructions to start an old development package or assertions about the currently running gateway.

Preview.14 adds the Models workspace, model operations, MQTT model publishing and model-bound Designer faceplates. Gateway connections and public OPC certificates now live under Gateway Settings → Data. Older tag configuration and backup formats are rejected without automatic conversion. The matching bundle contains 38 portable workshops plus separately documented setup-required exercises.

Windows preview.18 and Docker preview.18-docker.1 add the Primary theme and the .NET 10.0.13 security update. Windows preview.17 and Docker preview.17-docker.1 open Tags and Models only inside a project Designer and group the New Connection menu. Windows preview.16 and Docker preview.16-docker.1 add the AnyLog query node connection. Windows preview.15 and Docker preview.15-docker.1 add Ask Spark model tools and the Show a message button action. Windows preview.14 and Docker preview.14-docker.1 add the Models workspace and the Designer model tree. Windows preview.13 and the Docker preview.13-docker.1 include Ask Spark and the MQTT, MTConnect and i3X source clients. The source walkthroughs explain creating tags from a connection's reviewed import or later in Tags. Windows preview.12 and Docker preview.11-docker.1 do not include these features. The Docker edition is published independently; consult the Docker guide and ledger for publication details, platform limitations and completed acceptance.

Overview and installation

Designer and presentation

Bindings, state and reusable forms

Scripting and events

Project tools and diagnostics

Data source setup

Gateway and operations

Workshops and verification

Use the example catalog and build instructions for independently authored workshops. Portable examples import as unpublished projects; setup-required examples also need the documented gateway resources. Match a workshop to its companion build. The preview.13 collection retains 37 portable projects, including runtime property bindings and visitor check-in with camera capture. Ask Spark and read-only data sources are setup-required exercises with their own prerequisites. Visitor check-in additionally needs a webcam and Labelary access. Preview.10's earlier bundle has 35 portable projects and lacks these two additions. Python component events and lifecycle/session messaging require preview.9 or newer; preview.8 and earlier do not include those features.

artifacts/sparkproj/ is the only maintained location for loose .sparkproj packages, with guides and provenance in index.json. It is ignored by Git. node tools/build-workshops.mjs --version <version> updates this directory and creates an immutable ZIP, manifest and checksums under artifacts/workshops/<version>/, without duplicate loose packages. Example loaders import authored JSON directly. Historical artifact paths in dated verification records may have been archived or removed; use the current package directory or the frozen release ZIP.

The September 30 documentation audit reconciled the overview, reusable forms, bindings, state, events, recovery and roadmap summaries against current frontend models/editors, gateway validators/services, Python helpers and existing verification records. It also checked documentation navigation, local links and referenced tool paths. It did not rerun all runtime, installer, network or database acceptance suites. Current source behavior, recorded verification and released binary coverage remain distinct.