Product analysis: improvement axes and missing features

[MrMichou]

Product Analysis: Improvement Axes and Missing Features

This issue summarizes a comprehensive product analysis of tgcp, identifying missing features, UX improvements, and technical enhancements organized by priority.

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1. Missing GCP Services

High Priority

• Cloud Run — Services, revisions, jobs (increasingly adopted serverless platform)
• Cloud SQL — Instances, databases, backups (core managed database service)
• IAM — Service accounts, roles, policy bindings (essential for security management)
• Cloud Logging — Log entries viewer with filtering (critical for debugging)

Medium Priority

• Pub/Sub — Topics, subscriptions, snapshots
• Secret Manager — Secrets listing, versions
• Artifact Registry — Repositories, images, tags

Lower Priority

• Cloud Functions — Functions (v1/v2), triggers
• Cloud Scheduler — Jobs, execution history
• Cloud DNS — Zones, record sets
• Memorystore — Redis/Memcached instances
• BigQuery — Datasets, tables (read-only exploration)

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2. Missing UX Features

Global Search

• Fuzzy search across all resource types (not just current table filtering)
• Search by resource name, ID, labels, or tags
• Quick-jump to any resource from anywhere

Clipboard Integration

• y to yank/copy selected cell value (name, IP, ID, etc.)
• Y to copy full resource JSON to clipboard
• Visual feedback on copy

Preview / Side Panel

• Split-pane view showing resource details alongside the table
• Toggle with a key (e.g., P)
• Auto-update when selection changes

Auto-Refresh

• Configurable auto-refresh interval (e.g., every 30s)
• Visual indicator showing last refresh time and countdown
• Toggle on/off with a key

Bookmarks / Favorites

• Bookmark frequently accessed resources or views
• Quick-jump to bookmarked items
• Persist across sessions in config

Bulk Operations

• Multi-select with Space or v (visual mode)
• Bulk start/stop/delete on selected resources
• Confirmation dialog showing all affected resources

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3. Navigation Improvements

Multi-Zone / Aggregated View

• Option to list resources across all zones in a region or globally
• Useful for getting a full picture without switching zones manually
• Add a "region" or "all zones" mode

Full Navigation History

• Back/forward navigation stack (like a browser)
• :history command to view navigation history
• Jump to any point in history

Mouse Support

• Optional mouse click to select rows
• Scroll wheel for navigation
• Click on tabs/breadcrumbs to navigate
• Keep keyboard-first, mouse as enhancement

Tab / Multi-View Support

• Multiple resource views in tabs
• Switch between tabs with gt/gT (vim-style)
• Compare resources across tabs

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4. Technical Improvements

Local Cache Layer

• Cache API responses with configurable TTL
• Instant display of cached data while refreshing in background
• Reduce API calls and improve perceived performance
• Cache invalidation on write operations

Snapshot Testing for UI

• Capture rendered TUI frames as text snapshots
• Detect unintended UI regressions
• Use insta crate for snapshot testing

Performance Benchmarks

• Benchmark rendering performance for large resource lists
• Track API call latency
• CI integration to detect performance regressions

Configuration Improvements

• :set command for runtime configuration changes
• Environment variable overrides for all config options
• Config validation on load with helpful error messages

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5. Suggested Priorities

Quick Wins (1-2 days each)

• Clipboard copy (y/Y)
• Auto-refresh toggle
• Last refresh timestamp display
• Mouse scroll support
• Multi-zone aggregated listing

Medium Term (3-5 days each)

• Cloud Run resources
• Cloud SQL resources
• Global fuzzy search
• Preview/side panel
• Navigation history stack
• Local cache layer

Long Term (1+ week each)

• IAM resources and role viewer
• Cloud Logging viewer
• Tab/multi-view support
• Bulk operations with multi-select
• Bookmark system
• Snapshot testing framework
• Pub/Sub, Secret Manager, Artifact Registry resources

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Notes

• All new GCP services should follow the existing data-driven JSON resource definition pattern
• UX features should maintain the vim-style keyboard-first philosophy
• Mouse support should always be optional and non-intrusive
• Performance should be tested with large resource lists (100+ items)

This is a living document — individual items should be broken into separate issues as they are picked up for implementation.