Roadmap: best-in-class agentic editing layer

[cgasgarth]

This issue is the GitHub-native roadmap for the next major upgrades to darktableAgent. It should reflect the current open backlog accurately rather than duplicate stale roadmap text.

Already shipped foundation

• Structured protocol with strict settingId / actionPath validation and darktable-owned image state
• Dynamic writable control surface derived from the capability manifest
• Codex app-server bridge with live tool calls, progress streaming, and conversation-history carry-forward
• Graph/curve-style control support from Expose graph, canvas, and curve editor settings to the agent #11
• Prompt and live-flow cleanup from Optimize agent instructions and live edit chat flow #20 and Optimize Agent Flow and Instructions #21
• Richer compact image-analysis signals from Expose richer image-state signals for verification and debugging #31
• Live verifier pass and higher-fidelity live preview rendering from Add critic verifier pass for edit quality checks #34 and Add darktable-cli preview rendering for high-fidelity live runs #35
• Initial prompt-level crop guidance exists, but semantic crop translation remains open in Enable Agent Cropping via Bounding Box Translation #23

Open roadmap themes

Context-efficient planning and abstraction

• Add intent router and playbook retrieval for photo-aware planning #33 Add intent router and playbook retrieval for photo-aware planning
• Add canonical edit plan DSL and deterministic binder #36 Add canonical edit plan DSL and deterministic binder

Coverage gaps in the editable control surface

• Support non-darkroom controls in the agent catalog #8 Support non-darkroom controls in the agent catalog
• Expose command and button actions to the agent #9 Expose command and button actions to the agent
• Expose image picker and sample actions to the agent #10 Expose image picker and sample actions to the agent
• Expose tab and page selector controls to the agent #12 Expose tab and page selector controls to the agent
• Expose text, file, and path input settings to the agent #13 Expose text, file, and path input settings to the agent
• Support array, struct, and other complex introspection-backed params #14 Support array, struct, and other complex introspection-backed params
• Support widgets that currently lack Bauhaus/introspection field mapping #15 Support widgets that currently lack Bauhaus/introspection field mapping
• Expand white-balance support when chromatic adaptation is active #16 Expand white-balance support when chromatic adaptation is active

Workflow expansion

• Enable Agent Cropping via Bounding Box Translation #23 Enable Agent Cropping via Bounding Box Translation
• Add subject-aware local adjustment and mask workflows #29 Add subject-aware local adjustment and mask workflows
• Add style and sidecar batch workflows #32 Add style and sidecar batch workflows

Evaluation loop

• Build evaluation harness with golden stacks and verification metrics #30 Build evaluation harness with golden stacks and verification metrics

Notes

• Expose richer image-state signals for verification and debugging #31, Add critic verifier pass for edit quality checks #34, and Add darktable-cli preview rendering for high-fidelity live runs #35 are shipped foundation, not active roadmap items.
• Keep this issue aligned with the actual current issue titles and status; if an item is closed, superseded, or retitled, update this roadmap issue in the same change.