Explore & Discovery

The Explore page is the primary discovery surface for challenges on DoCurious. It is where users find new challenges to try, browse curated collections, search for specific activities, and discover what their communities are doing.

STATUS: BUILT

Store: src/store/useExploreStore.ts (9.2 KB) | Types: src/types/explore.types.ts (4.5 KB) | API: src/api/explore.api.ts (9.9 KB) + explore.real.api.ts | Pages: Explore.tsx, SavedList.tsx, ExploreCategoryView.tsx, DealersChoicePage.tsx, MapView.tsx | Components: 16 explore components including HorizontalChallengeRow, SearchFilterBar, LocationFilter, DealersChoice, CalendarView, FilterPanel, ActiveFilters, EventCard, and more.

Explore Page Layout

The Explore page is organized into five visual zones stacked vertically within the main content area. The global header and side navigation remain persistent.

+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  Global Header                                      |
+----------+------------------------------------------+
|          |  A. Search Bar + Filter Controls          |
|  Side    +------------------------------------------+
|  Nav     |  B. Active Filters Chip Bar              |
|          +------------------------------------------+
|          |  C. View Library (Pinned + Browsable)    |
|          +------------------------------------------+
|          |  D. Challenge Card Grid                  |
|          |     (12 per page, Load More)             |
|          +------------------------------------------+
|          |  E. Load More / End of Results           |
+----------+------------------------------------------+

Zone A: Search Bar and Filter Controls

The search bar is a full-width input at the top of the content area. It is always visible and never collapses. The placeholder text reads "Search challenges..." with a magnifying glass icon on the left and a clear button that appears when text is entered.

To the right of the search bar is a "Filters" toggle button. Clicking it opens or closes the collapsible filter panel, which displays all eight filter dimensions as a grid of controls (see Filter System below).

A sort dropdown sits right-aligned above the challenge grid. Sort options include: Relevance (default when searching), Most Popular, Newest, Price Low-High, and Price High-Low.

Zone B: Active Filters Chip Bar

This row appears only when one or more filters are active. Each active filter displays as a removable chip (for example, "Beginner x", "Free x", "Outdoor x"). A "Clear all filters" button at the end of the chip row resets everything at once. The result count updates live as filters change, displaying something like "23 challenges found."

Zone C: View Library

The View Library is the primary discovery surface. It shows curated views organized by family in horizontal scrollable rows, one row per family. Pinned views appear in a dedicated top row labeled "Your Views." Each view card shows its name, icon, challenge count badge, and a pin/unpin icon. Clicking a view loads its challenges into the challenge card grid below.

Zone D: Challenge Card Grid

A responsive grid of challenge cards. Desktop shows 3 to 4 columns, tablet shows 2 columns, and mobile shows 1 column (or swipeable horizontal for featured rows). Each page loads 12 challenge cards.

Zone E: Load More

A centered "Load More" button appears after every 12 cards. When all results have been loaded, the message reads "You've seen all X challenges." If no results match, an empty state is displayed with helpful suggestions.

Search

How Search Works

The search bar is persistent at the top of the Explore page. When you type a query and press Enter (or click the search icon), DoCurious creates a dynamic "Search Results" view that appears in the View Library. That view persists until you explicitly close it with the X button.

Searchable fields (highest to lowest priority): challenge title, category names, tags/keywords, challenge description, vendor name, materials needed, milestone text, location.

Fuzzy Matching

DoCurious uses fuzzy matching with typo tolerance so that a search like "cokking" will still match "Cooking." The implementation uses PostgreSQL trigram similarity (pg_trgm extension) initially, with Elasticsearch or Meilisearch available at scale.

Synonym expansion is also supported: searching "cooking" will also surface results for "baking" and "culinary."

Relevance Ranking

Search results are ranked by a composite score that weighs multiple signals:

Signal	Weight	Details
Text relevance	40%	How well the query matches title, description, and tags. Title exact matches get the highest boost. Phrase matching ranks higher than individual word matching.
Popularity	20%	Normalized score based on completions, saves, starts, and views. Weighted toward completions. Decayed over time so recent popularity matters more.
Quality	20%	Average rating (weighted by number of ratings), completion rate, and Track Record media richness.
Freshness	10%	Newer challenges get a slight boost that decays over 30 days. Recently updated challenges get a smaller boost.
Personalization	10%	Boost for categories matching user interests, difficulty matching user history, and similarity to completed challenges.

The formula:

search_score = (text_relevance x 0.4)
             + (popularity x 0.2)
             + (quality x 0.2)
             + (freshness x 0.1)
             + (personalization x 0.1)

Instant Suggestions (Autocomplete)

As you type, a dropdown shows up to 5 challenge title suggestions. Suggestions are debounced at 300 milliseconds -- the system waits 300ms after you stop typing before making the API call. Clicking a suggestion navigates directly to that challenge's detail page. Autocomplete triggers after 2 characters.

Suggestion types include matching challenge titles, category names, and vendor names. Recent searches are stored client-side only (not on the server) and shown in the dropdown. Maximum 8 suggestions total.

Search Results View

Search results appear as a standard challenge card grid with:

A result count ("23 challenges found")
Sort options: Relevance (default), Most Popular, Newest, Price Low-High, Price High-Low
All filter controls available (filters can be combined with search)
Pagination at 12 per page with "Load More"
The view persists in the View Library until you close it

Zero-Result Handling

DoCurious never shows a completely blank results page. When a search returns no results, it shows "Did you mean...?" suggestions, related categories, and popular challenges in related categories. Target zero-result rate: below 5%.

Performance Targets

Search queries under 200ms, autocomplete under 100ms, filter application under 150ms, recommendation feed load under 300ms, feed refresh under 500ms (all p95 targets).

Filter System

Filters can be applied to any view, including search results. Multiple filters can be combined. The core logic rule is:

OR within a dimension: Selecting "Beginner" and "Intermediate" under Difficulty shows challenges that are either beginner OR intermediate.
AND across dimensions: Selecting "Beginner" difficulty AND "Free" cost shows only challenges that are both beginner AND free.

Filter Dimensions

Dimension	Options	UI Control
Category	6 parent categories with 27 subcategories (Outdoor Adventure, Decorative Arts & Crafts, Cooking & Nutrition, etc.). Multi-select.	Checkbox dropdown
Difficulty	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. Multi-select.	Checkbox group
Cost	Free, Under $25, Under $50, Under $100, $100+. Multi-select.	Checkbox group
Solo / Group	Solo, Group, Both. Multi-select.	Checkbox group
Age Range	Minimum and maximum age sliders.	Dual-handle range slider
Fulfillment Type	Kit, Hosted, Digitally Guided, Free (no fulfillment). Multi-select.	Checkbox group
Duration	Under 1 hour, 1-3 hours, Half day, Full day, Multi-day, Multi-week. Multi-select.	Checkbox group
Location	Indoor, Outdoor, Specific Venue, No Location Required. Multi-select.	Checkbox group

Filter UX Details

Filters appear in a collapsible panel below the search bar
Active filters are shown as removable chips above the results grid
A "Clear all filters" button resets all filters at once
Result count updates live as filters change
Filter state persists while the user navigates between views in the same session
URL parameters encode filter state, so filtered views are shareable and bookmarkable
The filter panel layout adapts based on the active theme configuration (exploreFilterPlacement in theme config): it can render as a modal, a sidebar, or a top bar

Curated Views

Views are organized into six families. Each view is a named collection of challenges with its own selection logic -- algorithmic, editorial, social, or contextual. Views are the navigation layer of the Explore page.

View Library

The View Library uses a hybrid list/tile layout. Views are shown as labeled tiles grouped by family. You can:

Pin favorites: Up to 5 views can be pinned. Pinned views appear in a "Pinned" row at the top of the library, above the family groupings.
Smart preview: Hovering over a view tile for 500ms shows a tooltip with 3 challenge card previews and a challenge count.
Select a view: Clicking a tile opens that view's challenge grid in the main content area.

For You Family

Personalized views tailored to the individual user.

View	Logic
Best Fit	Primary personalized view. Ranks challenges based on selected interest categories, age, past completions (avoids repeats, suggests related), difficulty progression, cost preferences (inferred from behavior), and category diversity (mixes familiar + adjacent categories). Adjustable via preference selector. See Best Fit Recommendations.
Recommended	Challenges recommended to you by friends, family, and community members via the Recommend flow.
Continue Your Journey	Challenges in Series you have already started -- shows the next challenge in the series.
Bucket List	Challenges that align with your Bucket List items.
Matched to Your Profile	Challenges popular among users with similar interest profiles (collaborative filtering).

Discover Family

Curated views for exploration and pushing boundaries.

View	Logic
Dealer's Choice	Gamified random selection. See Dealer's Choice for the full specification.
Uncharted Territory	Challenges exclusively from subcategories and types you have NOT selected when setting Best Fit parameters. Excludes completed and in-progress challenges. Maximizes novelty.
Expert Picks	Staff-curated editorial selections, rotated periodically. Each pick includes a short editorial blurb.
Hidden Gems	High-rated challenges with low completion counts. Surfaces quality content that has not gone viral.
Level Up	Challenges one difficulty level above your most commonly completed difficulty.

Views driven by community and platform-wide activity.

View	Logic
My Communities	Dynamic sub-views for each community you belong to. Shows challenges that community members have recently completed, started, or added to Bucket Lists.
Most Completed This Month	Platform-wide. Challenges with the highest completion count in the current calendar month.
Trending	Challenges with the steepest increase in starts over the past 7 days.
Rising Stars	Recently approved challenges gaining traction quickly (ratio of completions to age).
Top Rated	Challenges whose Track Records have the highest average thumbs-up counts.
Discover Communities	Not a challenge view. Shows discoverable communities (public Interest/Hobby type) the user can browse and request to join.

Fresh Family

Time-sensitive and recently added content.

View	Logic
New This Week	Challenges approved within the last 7 days.
Just Added	Challenges approved within the last 24 hours. May be empty on slow days.
Seasonal	Staff-curated seasonal collections (summer outdoor, holiday crafts, back-to-school). Rotated quarterly.
Limited Time	Challenges with a defined availability window (hosted event on a specific date, seasonal vendor offering).
Recently Updated	Challenges that have been edited or refreshed since you last viewed them.

Practical Family

Utility-driven views for users with specific constraints.

View	Logic
Free Only	All challenges where cost is free.
Quick Wins	Challenges with estimated duration under 1 hour.
Practical Skills for Age	Challenges tagged as Practical Skills & Preparedness, filtered to your age range.
Online Only	Digitally Guided challenges requiring no physical materials or venue.
Kit Required	Challenges with fulfillment type = kit.
Under $X Budget	You set a budget threshold; shows all challenges at or below that price. Budget persists in settings.
Solo Challenges	Challenges where solo/group = solo or both.
Group Challenges	Challenges where solo/group = group or both.
Near Me	Map-based view showing hosted and venue-specific challenges near your location. See Map View.

Search Results (Dynamic)

Dynamically generated when you perform a search. Persists in the View Library until closed with the X button. Supports all filters and sort options.

Staff Tools (Admin Only)

Platform admins have access to view-level analytics (popularity, pin frequency, conversion rate, time spent) and view management tools (archive views, create new curated views, edit names/descriptions, reorder within families, feature specific views).

Best Fit Recommendations

Best Fit is the primary personalized view. It combines multiple signals to rank challenges for each user.

Ranking Signals

Signal	Weight	How It's Used
Interest categories	High (primary signal)	User's selected interests during onboarding. Updated from settings.
Past completions	High	Avoids showing challenges already completed. Favors categories and difficulty levels the user has demonstrated interest in.
Age	Hard filter + medium boost	Filters out age-inappropriate challenges. Boosts challenges in the user's exact age range.
Difficulty progression	Medium	If a user has completed 3 Beginner challenges in a category, Intermediate challenges in that category get boosted.
Cost preferences	Low-Medium	Inferred from behavior: if you mostly start free challenges, the system does not heavily feature $100+ challenges.
Category diversity	Medium	Mixes familiar categories with adjacent/unexplored categories. Avoids over-indexing on one category.
Challenge quality	Low-Medium (tiebreaker)	Completion rate, Track Record quality (thumbs-up counts), and editorial rating.
Recency	Low	Slight boost for newer challenges to surface fresh content.

The recommendation formula:

recommendation_score = (category_match x 0.35)
                     + (difficulty_match x 0.15)
                     + (quality_score x 0.25)
                     + (freshness_bonus x 0.10)
                     + (diversity_bonus x 0.15)

Preference Selector

You can customize Best Fit by adjusting weights in a preference selector:

Category interest sliders (per category: Not Interested / Slightly / Moderately / Very Interested)
Difficulty preference (show me easier / all / harder challenges)
Budget ceiling (do not show challenges above $X)
Novelty preference (stick to what I know / surprise me)

These preferences are saved to your profile and persist across sessions. They supplement the algorithmic signals -- they do not replace them.

Cold Start (New Users)

For new users with no history, the system relies on onboarding interest selections, defaults to Beginner difficulty, mixes free and low-cost challenges, and shows platform-wide popular challenges as a fallback. After 3 completions, behavioral signals begin influencing rankings.

Diversity Rules

Every recommendation set enforces rules to prevent filter bubbles: no more than 40% from a single category, at least 2 different categories in any set of 6+, no more than 30% from a single vendor, at least 20% from challenges added in the last 30 days, and impression fatigue suppression after 5 impressions without interaction. Always includes at least 1 "exploration" pick from an untried category.

Dealer's Choice

Dealer's Choice is a gamified discovery feature that pushes users outside their comfort zone. It is the platform's answer to "I don't know what to try next."

How It Works

Deal Me In: You click "Deal Me In." The system selects 4 challenge cards based on your profile, deliberately biased toward categories you have not tried or rarely engage with.
Cards revealed: 4 cards appear face-down, then flip over with a short animation.
One re-deal allowed: You can click "Re-Deal" once to get 4 new cards. The original 4 are gone. No further re-deals are permitted.
Select one card: You pick one of the 4 presented cards (or the 4 re-dealt cards). The selected challenge is immediately added to In Progress and a Track Record is created in draft state.
Timer starts: You have a defined completion window. If the window expires, the challenge is auto-abandoned with XP penalties.

Card Selection Algorithm

The 4 cards are selected with weighted randomness that favors novelty:

Card Type	Weight	What It Means	Visual
Uncharted	34%	Subcategories you have NEVER tried or tried much less than your average	Distinct visual badge labeled "Uncharted"
Less Commonly Tried	33%	Subcategories you have tried somewhat-to-much less than your average	Standard card styling
Comfort Zone Push	33%	Categories you do regularly but at a higher difficulty level	Labeled "Comfort Zone Push"

The algorithm also filters for:

Age-appropriateness
Cost (preferring free or low-cost)
Difficulty level (appropriate to your experience)
Avoiding challenges already in progress or already completed

XP Multipliers

Dealer's Choice challenges earn multiplied XP based on their novelty category:

Card Type	XP Multiplier	Example
Comfort Zone Push	1.5x	Base 100 XP becomes 150 XP
Less Commonly Tried	1.5x	Base 100 XP becomes 150 XP
Uncharted	2.0x	Base 100 XP becomes 200 XP

Abandonment Penalty

Dealer's Choice uses a symmetric penalty model. If you abandon a DC challenge, you lose the same XP you would have gained:

Card Type	Penalty
Comfort Zone Push	-1.5x base XP
Less Commonly Tried	-1.5x base XP
Uncharted	-2.0x base XP

Why symmetric penalties? The risk/reward symmetry makes the choice meaningful. Users should only "Deal In" when they are genuinely willing to try something new. Without penalties, users would re-deal until they got something easy.

Completion Windows

DC challenges have a maximum completion window. If the window expires without completion, the challenge is auto-abandoned with the full XP penalty.

Challenge Type	Completion Window
Standard challenges	1 year from selection
Seasonal challenges	2 years from selection (allows the relevant season to come around again)
Long-duration challenges	Custom window set by vendor/staff (minimum 6 months)

Users receive reminders at 30 days, 7 days, and 1 day before their completion window expires.

Constraints

Rule	Detail
Maximum 3 simultaneous DC challenges	You cannot have more than 3 active Dealer's Choice challenges at once. Complete or abandon one before starting another.
7-day cooldown after abandonment	After abandoning a DC challenge, you cannot "Deal Me In" for 7 days. This prevents rapid deal-abandon-redeal cycles.
Re-deal limit	Exactly 1 re-deal per round. No exceptions.
No cherry-picking	You must select one of the 4 presented cards (or the 4 re-dealt cards). You cannot exit without selecting once cards are revealed, unless you abandon the entire round -- which counts as an abandonment with penalty.

Under-13: Practice Dealer's Choice

For users under 13, Dealer's Choice operates in a safer "Practice" mode:

Aspect	Practice DC (Under 13)	Full DC (13+)
XP multiplier	1.25x for all card types	1.5x / 1.5x / 2.0x
Abandonment penalty	None (XP cannot go negative for minors)	Full symmetric penalty
UI label	"Practice DC"	"Dealer's Choice"
Card selection	Same algorithm but strictly filtered for age-appropriateness	Full algorithm
Constraints	Same max 3, same re-deal rules	Same

Friend Challenge: You can challenge a friend to a DC round. Both users get the same 4 cards and must each select one. If both complete their selected challenges, each gets a +25% bonus on top of their DC multiplier. If one completes and the other abandons, no penalty to the completer and standard penalty to the abandoner.

Group DC: A community can initiate a Group DC where all participants (3-10 people) get the same 4 cards. Each participant selects independently. If ALL participants complete their chosen challenges, everyone gets +25% bonus.

Community DC Events: A community leader can schedule a DC event ("Everyone deals in by [date]"). Participants deal in during the event window. A community leaderboard shows who completed their DC challenge. No additional XP -- social motivation only.

DC Activity Feed: A feed visible only to users who have participated in DC at least once, showing entries like "[User] just dealt in!" and "[User] completed an Uncharted challenge!" This is a pull model with no push notifications for feed items.

DC Leaderboard: Platform-wide leaderboard for DC-specific XP earned. Resets monthly. Shows rank, display name, DC challenges completed, and total DC XP. Separate leaderboards for under-13 (Practice DC) and 13+ (Full DC).

Map View (Near Me)

The Map View is a location-based discovery feature that shows hosted and venue-specific challenges near you. It lives in the Practical family of views as "Near Me."

STATUS: BUILT

Page: src/pages/explore/MapView.tsx | Component: src/components/explore/LocationFilter.tsx

Layout

+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  Global Header                                      |
+----------+------------------------------------------+
|          |  A. Map Controls Bar                     |
|  Side    +------------------------------------------+
|  Nav     |                                          |
|          |  B. Interactive Map                      |
|          |     (pins for hosted challenges/events)  |
|          +------------------------------------------+
|          |  C. Results List Panel                   |
|          |     (collapsible, scrollable)            |
+----------+------------------------------------------+

Map Controls

Location input: Text field auto-populated with your current location. Editable for manual address or zip code entry. Geolocation icon for "Use my location."
Distance radius dropdown: 5 miles, 10 miles, 25 miles (default), 50 miles, 100 miles, 250 miles.
Filter button: Opens the filter panel (same filters as Explore, plus a "Has upcoming events" toggle).
View toggle: Map view (default) or List view (switches the map area to a full card list).

Map Interface

The map uses a full-screen interactive map (Google Maps or Mapbox). Vendor pins appear for each location with hosted or venue challenges, clustered at low zoom. Each pin shows a challenge count badge with category-colored dots. Clicking a pin opens a popup card with vendor name, address, challenge count, and scrollable challenge cards. Clicking a cluster zooms in.

A scrollable results panel (below the map on mobile, beside it on desktop) shows challenge cards sorted by distance. Clicking a card highlights the corresponding pin on the map.

Location and Distance

User location is obtained via browser Geolocation API (mobile) or IP-based approximation (desktop), with a permission prompt on first access. Default radius is 25 miles. Users can enter a zip code or city name for trip planning. Mobile users get real-time GPS with a "Center on my location" button.

Map Filtering

All standard Explore filters apply to the Map View. Additionally:

Category filter: Pins update in real time as category filters change
Cost filter: Hide vendors whose challenges exceed the budget threshold
Fulfillment type: Map View shows only challenges with fulfillment_type = hosted or location_type = specific_venue by default. A toggle allows including kit-based and digitally guided challenges that happen to have a vendor location.

Map Data and Performance

For challenges to appear on the map, they need location_type = specific_venue or fulfillment_type = hosted with a valid geocoded address (lat/lng stored at challenge creation time, not computed on each load). Locations load in batches based on the visible viewport with 300ms debounce on map movement, pin clustering at high zoom, and a maximum of 200 pins visible at once.

Challenge Cards

Every challenge on the Explore page is displayed as a card. Cards are the fundamental visual unit across all views, search results, and saved lists.

Card Anatomy

Each card contains:

Element	Details
Cover image	Fills the top of the card with a fixed aspect ratio of approximately 3:2
Title	Truncated to 2 lines
Category badge(s)	1-2 category labels shown as colored badges
Difficulty indicator	Text label plus a visual indicator (color dot or icon): Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Cost	"Free" badge (green) or a price like "$24.99"
Bookmark icon	Toggles the Interesting List. Outline when not saved, filled when saved. Single click toggles without navigating away.
Completion count	Small text beneath the card: "47 people completed this"

Clicking anywhere on the card (except the bookmark icon) navigates to the Challenge Detail page.

Responsive Grid

Breakpoint	Columns
Desktop	3-4 columns
Tablet	2 columns
Mobile	1 column (or swipeable horizontal for featured rows)

Saved List

The Saved List consolidates two pre-commitment stages into a single accessible view: the Interesting List (lightweight bookmarking) and the Bucket List (deliberate "I want to do this" commitment).

STATUS: BUILT

Page: src/pages/explore/SavedList.tsx | Store: useExploreStore manages savedList and savedChallengeIds

Interesting List

The Interesting List is a lightweight bookmarking feature for challenges you want to remember but are not ready to commit to.

Interaction: Bookmark icon on every challenge card. Outline = not saved, filled = saved. Single click toggles.
Access: Available as a saved filter/view from the Explore page. Not a separate navigation page.
Persistence: Items remain until explicitly removed or moved to Bucket List.

Actions on Interesting List items:

Move to Bucket List (stronger intent signal)
Start challenge directly (skips Bucket List)
Remove from Interesting List
Share or recommend to someone

Bucket List

The Bucket List is a deliberate commitment. It is a separate navigation page with its own privacy and sharing settings.

Layout: Grid of challenge cards, similar to Explore but only showing your saved items.
Privacy: Its own privacy/permission settings independent of individual Track Records. You can share your Bucket List with specific communities or individuals.
Lifecycle: Items disappear from the Bucket List when you move them to Accepted/Started (begin the challenge). Completed challenges do not reappear.

Actions on Bucket List items:

Start challenge (creates Track Record, moves to In Progress)
Remove from Bucket List
Move back to Interesting List (downgrade intent)
Share or recommend to someone

Community Bucket List Feed

Each community has a Bucket List Feed that shows what members want to do. This enables partner-finding: if two community members both have the same challenge on their Bucket List, the platform surfaces that overlap. See Communities for details.

Discovery to Completion Flow

The full path from discovery to completion:

See challenge on Explore page. Click bookmark icon -- saved to Interesting List.
Review Interesting List later. Move challenge to Bucket List (intent confirmed).
Ready to start. Click "Start" from Bucket List -- challenge moves to In Progress, Track Record created.
Complete and document. Build Track Record entries offline. Submit for verification.
Verified. Challenge appears in Completed tab. XP and badges awarded.

Shortcut paths: You can skip the Interesting List (add directly to Bucket List from any challenge card) or skip both (start a challenge directly from the challenge detail page). The Interesting List to Bucket List to Start path is recommended but not enforced.

Calendar View

The Calendar View provides a time-based interface for discovering scheduled challenges, tracking commitments, and planning activities. It shows vendor-hosted events, personal commitments, assignment due dates (school context), community events, and Learning Path milestones.

STATUS: BUILT

Component: src/components/explore/CalendarView.tsx | Related: EventCard.tsx, EventDetailPanel.tsx, EventDetailModal.tsx

Four layouts are available: Month View (default, traditional grid with color-coded dots), Week View (7-day horizontal with time slots), List View (chronological with infinite scroll), and Day View (hourly breakdown). Events are color-coded by type: blue for scheduled challenges, green for your commitments, orange for assignment due dates, purple for community events, gray for personal plans, and teal for Learning Path milestones.

Notifications (Explore-Specific)

Event	Recipient	Channel	Timing
DC challenge timer expiring	User	In-app + Email	24 hours before expiry
DC challenge auto-abandoned	User	In-app + Email	On expiry
Friend DC challenge received	Friend	In-app	Immediate
Group DC all completed	All participants	In-app	On last completion
Bucket List challenge price drop	User	In-app	On price change
New challenge in favorite category	User	Weekly digest	Weekly
DC cooldown ended	User	In-app	On cooldown expiry

Roles and Permissions

All roles can browse the Explore page, search challenges, use filters, pin views (max 5), use Map View, and use Calendar View.

Restricted actions:

Action	Who Can	Who Cannot
Save to Interesting / Bucket List	All roles except Tier 1 students	Tier 1 students (school-only accounts)
Full Dealer's Choice (1.5x/2.0x multipliers)	All users aged 13+	Under-13 users, Tier 1 students
Practice Dealer's Choice (1.25x, no penalties)	Under-13 users only	Users 13+ (they get Full DC)
View analytics and manage views	Platform Admin only	All other roles

Key Constraints

Tier 1 students (school-only accounts): Cannot save to Interesting or Bucket List. Practice DC only. Content strictly filtered for school-appropriateness.
Under-13 users: Practice Dealer's Choice only. No negative XP. Minimal browsing behavior tracking (interests + completions only). Recommendations filtered for age-appropriateness.
Under-13 Tier 2: Parent notification sent on event registration; parent can cancel.
All users: Recommendation signals stored only for active accounts. Deleted with account on request. No cross-platform tracking. No third-party recommendation services.

Data Model Summary

The Explore & Discovery system spans 17 PostgreSQL tables (all IDs are UUIDs, all timestamps in UTC). Key table groups:

Saved lists: interesting_list_items, bucket_list_items, bucket_list_settings, bucket_list_permissions -- bookmarking and save-for-later with per-user privacy controls
Views: curated_views (family, slug, selection logic), view_library_pins (max 5 per user), view_analytics (opens, pins, conversions)
Preferences: user_interest_preferences (per-category interest levels), user_explore_preferences (difficulty, budget, novelty), user_interest_profiles (computed recommendation profile)
Dealer's Choice: dealers_choice_rounds (cards dealt, selected card, multiplier, status, cooldown), group_dc_events, dc_leaderboard_monthly
Location: challenge_locations (lat/lng indexed for spatial queries, geocoded at creation time)
Search & Recommendations: challenge_quality_scores (pre-computed daily), recommendation_feeds (cached per user), search_analytics, impression_tracking (suppresses after 5 impressions without interaction)

Implementation Notes

The frontend implementation spans the Zustand store (useExploreStore), typed models (explore.types.ts with ViewFamily, CuratedView, SavedItem, SearchSuggestion, DealersChoiceResult), a mock API (explore.api.ts) with a real API stub (explore.real.api.ts), 5 page components, and 16 explore-specific components. The store uses typed selectors (selectCuratedViews, selectSavedList, selectDealersChoice) and manages the saved list with a Set<string> for O(1) bookmark lookups. Filter placement adapts to the active theme configuration.

Caching strategy (planned for production): User recommendation feeds pre-computed hourly per user. Popular/trending/new feeds pre-computed daily and cached globally. Search results cached by query + filters with a 5-minute TTL. Challenge quality scores computed in a daily batch job.

Cross-References

Challenge System: Challenge detail pages, Track Records, verification workflow, challenge lifecycle
Gamification: XP system, levels, badges, streaks, Learning Paths -- how DC multipliers and penalties integrate with the broader XP economy
Communities: Community Bucket List feeds, community DC events, social views in the View Library, Discover Communities view

Spec Reference

This page is derived from:

Doc 4: Explore Page & Discovery -- Sections 1-11 (full document)
Screen Descriptions: Features -- Section 1 (Explore page layout) and Section 7 (Map View)

Explore & Discovery ​

Explore Page Layout ​

Zone A: Search Bar and Filter Controls ​

Zone B: Active Filters Chip Bar ​

Zone C: View Library ​

Zone D: Challenge Card Grid ​

Zone E: Load More ​

Search ​

How Search Works ​

Fuzzy Matching ​

Relevance Ranking ​

Instant Suggestions (Autocomplete) ​

Search Results View ​

Zero-Result Handling ​

Performance Targets ​

Filter System ​

Filter Dimensions ​

Filter UX Details ​

Curated Views ​

View Library ​

For You Family ​

Discover Family ​

Social Family ​

Fresh Family ​

Practical Family ​

Search Results (Dynamic) ​

Staff Tools (Admin Only) ​

Best Fit Recommendations ​

Ranking Signals ​

Preference Selector ​

Cold Start (New Users) ​

Diversity Rules ​

Dealer's Choice ​

How It Works ​

Card Selection Algorithm ​

XP Multipliers ​

Abandonment Penalty ​

Completion Windows ​

Constraints ​

Under-13: Practice Dealer's Choice ​

Social Dealer's Choice ​

Map View (Near Me) ​

Layout ​

Map Controls ​

Map Interface ​

Location and Distance ​

Map Filtering ​

Map Data and Performance ​

Challenge Cards ​

Card Anatomy ​

Responsive Grid ​

Saved List ​

Interesting List ​

Bucket List ​

Community Bucket List Feed ​

Discovery to Completion Flow ​

Calendar View ​

Notifications (Explore-Specific) ​

Roles and Permissions ​

Key Constraints ​

Data Model Summary ​

Implementation Notes ​

Cross-References ​

Spec Reference ​

Explore & Discovery

Explore Page Layout

Zone A: Search Bar and Filter Controls

Zone B: Active Filters Chip Bar

Zone C: View Library

Zone D: Challenge Card Grid

Zone E: Load More

Search

How Search Works

Fuzzy Matching

Relevance Ranking

Instant Suggestions (Autocomplete)

Search Results View

Zero-Result Handling

Performance Targets

Filter System

Filter Dimensions

Filter UX Details

Curated Views

View Library

For You Family

Discover Family

Social Family

Fresh Family

Practical Family

Search Results (Dynamic)

Staff Tools (Admin Only)

Best Fit Recommendations

Ranking Signals

Preference Selector

Cold Start (New Users)

Diversity Rules

Dealer's Choice

How It Works

Card Selection Algorithm

XP Multipliers

Abandonment Penalty

Completion Windows

Constraints

Under-13: Practice Dealer's Choice

Social Dealer's Choice

Map View (Near Me)

Layout

Map Controls

Map Interface

Location and Distance

Map Filtering

Map Data and Performance

Challenge Cards

Card Anatomy

Responsive Grid

Saved List

Interesting List

Bucket List

Community Bucket List Feed

Discovery to Completion Flow

Calendar View

Notifications (Explore-Specific)

Roles and Permissions

Key Constraints

Data Model Summary

Implementation Notes

Cross-References

Spec Reference