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How Gesso got here.

Vectorizer → Forma → Gesso. Concrete additions, newest first.

Tán Ho, the designer and developer building GessoProduct historyDesigned and built by Tán Ho

A living record of shipped work, newest firstThe canonical repository preserves the work from the Forma baseline through the current Gesso studio. This log groups changes by user-facing outcome rather than commit noise.

See what is ready now ↗
Recoverable files
Cross-platform shells
Forma became Gesso

AI and MCP boundaries

  • Documented default-off on-device intelligence and MCP controls
  • Kept AI features hidden until explicitly enabled
  • Separated local automation from provider-dependent behavior
  • Defined an audit program for capability and data-path claims

Hosted platform foundations

  • Lifted hosted workspace preferences and collaboration transport onto current main
  • Bound provider identity and session ownership to authenticated work
  • Preserved local-first fallback when hosted configuration is incomplete
  • Separated storage, sync, and account availability from the macOS product

Media imports and export provenance

  • Added secure Pexels media search and durable local imports
  • Validated provider hosts, pagination, and server-only credentials
  • Added export credits and bounded manifest packages
  • Pinned database certificates and deployment safeguards

Creator feedback and consent

  • Separated private survey replies from marketing subscription consent
  • Added the creator-interest campaign with payment and free/paid experimentation questions
  • Added explicit Resend opt-in language and delivery guidance
  • Kept feedback durable when provider email delivery is unavailable

Hosted access, accounts, and optional checkout

  • Finished account setup after confirmed sign-in
  • Kept password recovery from revealing whether an address exists
  • Defined the free-download and optional one-time contribution flow
  • Moved deployment configuration to the web project root

Hosting controls and provider boundaries

  • Added a dedicated hosting settings pane
  • Allowed hosting to be disabled on one device without deleting provider data
  • Validated public connection profiles and rejected elevated credentials
  • Put collaboration behind truthful availability labels

Local-first collaboration foundations

  • Added a local replica store with compaction
  • Bound collaboration identities to authenticated sessions
  • Made remote deletion detach safely and preserve a local copy
  • Added resumable asset-upload and recovery contracts

Export, layout, and language fixes

  • Restored real PNG export bytes
  • Derived long-form layout exceptions and story overflow instead of storing them
  • Mirrored interface chrome for right-to-left text without flipping artwork
  • Separated local-first tests from provider-dependent suites

Product voice and legal disclosures

  • Published one practical writing standard for Gesso
  • Documented confirmed service providers and their roles
  • Clarified that Meridian does not operate generative-AI models
  • Added compact provider disclosures with official references

Work, review, and annotations

  • Built the Work surface and started new projects empty
  • Added local Review mode on a shared thread contract
  • Made annotations survive revisions with stable anchors
  • Added deterministic Markdown and JSON portability

Website, long-form, and social editors

  • Mounted website, long-form, and social surfaces
  • Connected the new-document flow to each surface
  • Moved recurring content into first-class project storage
  • Served useful document routes without requiring JavaScript

Brand Book became editable

  • Built the five-section adaptive Brand Book
  • Added inline editing for messaging, usage, and governance
  • Added honest specimens and organization-scoped controls
  • Connected swatches and drift guidance to live canvas work

Canvas editing expanded

  • Added lasso selection and in-place text editing
  • Added image vectorization through Forma’s tracer
  • Made Revisions and Find real working panels
  • Wired placement keys, quick export, reveal, and verified export

Forma became Gesso

  • Renamed the app, targets, intelligence module, and web surfaces
  • Preserved existing document identifiers so old files still open
  • Moved the web client into the main repository
  • Added CI and pre-push verification for web changes

Recoverable project files

  • Added the local project package format
  • Added predictable filenames and accessible export metadata
  • Established the canonical Vectorizer source baseline

The migrated Forma and Vectorizer baseline

The earlier baseline established the tracing engine, editable SVG documents, native preview, background removal, packaged FFI, round-trip tests, and repeatable builds that Gesso still depends on.

Research behind the work

Gesso’s direction is grounded in visual-language and platform research: editable systems, clear states, deliberate composition, and local ownership.

01

Visual language

Modular primitives, selected states, reusable libraries, and motion that belongs to the composition.

02

Editorial systems

Structured compositions, codified texture, deliberate imperfection, and static/motion co-design.

03

Illustration systems

Standardized frames, grids, editable layers, controlled strokes, and component-based delivery.

04

Progressive enhancement

Web Animations, reduced motion, View Transitions, and scroll-driven behavior with a solid HTML baseline.

05

Ownership model

Local-first files, optional hosted convenience, and clear boundaries around data, storage, and providers.

06

Evidence over theater

Release notes describe what works now, what is being built, and what remains unavailable.