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+# DECISIONS.md
+
+A file describing tech stack / feature decisions. sort of a change log
+
+## The Birth of the project - 2026-10-05
+
+### Languages:
+
+#### Backend
+
+##### GO
+
+The language I want to learn
+
+#### Web Frameworks
+
+##### HTMX
+
+Server side rendering reducing the number of roundtrips a user has to make to the server. The server still has to make the same number
+of API calls however from the client side it should take less bandwidth and feel quicker
+
+#### Web Frontend
+
+##### HTML
+
+standard web building blocks, no framework chosen yet
+
+##### CSS
+
+standard web building blocks, no framework chosen yet
+
+##### JS
+
+standard web building blocks, no framework chosen yet
+
+### DB
+
+##### PostgreSQL
+
+Scales better than something like SQLite at the cost of more learning overhead and setup
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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-# backslash
+# Backslash
 
-backslash - a backlog tracking program allowing to keep up with all the media you NEED to consume
\ No newline at end of file
+## A Backlog tracker.
+
+STATUS: Pre-Development
+
+A self-hosted backlog tracker that enables you to import content, organize, create lists, add notes to lists or individual items,
+leave reviews and ratings and track progress. As this progresses more features will be added of course.
+The end goal is to create a system that allows you to track multiple media types: Books, movies, TV Shows and games etc
+
+To begin I will create the system focused on games, the reason being I want to create this system to I can track my game backlog
+as well as wanting to interact with steam and play around with importing media.
+
+There are other options out there that are much better and established but I want to give this project a go in an attempt to improve
+my programming skills and get more exposure to full stack development. By no means am I a programmer, In my day job im an Infrastructure
+Operations Engineer so Im likely way out of my depth here but here goes xD
+
+My Goal is to create this project with minimal use of AI, I will restrict AI usage to asking questions and brainstorming ideas and best practices,
+again the goal here is for me to learn programming.
+
+## Screenshots and Project Demos
+
+TBC
+
+## Getting started
+
+as of right now there is no working program, not even a prototype :D
+
+### Docker Compose
+
+TBC once a working prototype exists
+
+### Kubernetes
+
+TBC once a working prototype exists
+
+## Tech stack
+
+I want to write the program in go, for no other reason than thats the language I want to learn.
+architectural decisions will be made and change as I go this can be tracked in [DECISIONS.md](DECISIONS.md),
+as needs and requirements change. Im stepping into this blind so continued research is required.
+
+## Contributions
+
+I am accepting feature requests / bugs however as this is a learning project for now, no prs.
+
+## Roadmap
+
+Will begin with basic functionality and focus on game management with imports from steam. Still unsure on feature priority / development order
+
+## Data storage & Privacy
+
+As this is selfhosted you are responsible for all data you hold using this project. Please be mindful of other users you may have using the system once the project evolves
+to allow that. I have no idea about best practices when it comes to writing programs that deal with sensitive data such as API keys or PII, I will try to make sure security
+privacy take the forefront when it comes to data storage and privacy.
+
+## Desired Features
+
+### Auth & Security
+
+- [ ] Secure Login
+- [ ] Integration with Auth Providers i.e Authentik
+
+### Account
+
+- [ ] "Families" - Allow users to view / compare libraries, notes, match shared items
+- [ ] General profile customization - Profile Pictures (linked with auth / ldap / gravitar), Custom names, Bio, Profile Pages, publicly shared favourites.
+- [ ] Media preferences
+
+### Clients
+
+- [ ] WebUI Client
+- [ ] CLI client
+
+### Media Importing
+
+- [ ] Steam for games
+- [ ] Jellyfin for media (Movies, TV Shows, Audio Books, Books)
+- [ ] Support for other sources
+- [ ] Scraping for descriptions, ratings, images, tags
+
+### Organization
+
+- [ ] Create lists
+- [ ] Add notes to lists
+- [ ] Add notes to individual items
+- [ ] Leave personal ratings
+- [ ] Filters (Genre, Length (HLTB for games), Themes, Rating)
+- [ ] Sorting (Length (HLTB for games), Rating)
+- [ ] Bulk actions
+
+### Recommendations
+
+- [ ] recommend media by comparing tags
+- [ ] take into account profile media preferences
+- [ ] separate recommendations based on media preference matches between family members
+- [ ] Public recommendations from external lists such as imdb
+- [ ] recommendations based on steam sale / steam wishlist (default off)
+
+## License - AGPL-3.0
+
+see license file [LICENSE](LICENSE).