Monorepo SSOT for tooltip definitions — multilingual support

Background

Current state (as of 2026-06-23)

Tooltip definitions for the focus pages (sites/mbr, sites/sdc) are loaded at build time from Core/Misc/Glossary.md in the KB vault. Authors write Glossary(TermName) in focus page markdown; the build pipeline resolves it to a .ft tooltip span.

Key files:

sites/mbr/src/utils/load-focus-content.ts — loadGlossaryTerms() parses Core/Misc/Glossary.md; injectGlossaryTooltips() replaces Glossary(term) tokens
sites/sdc/src/utils/load-focus-content.ts — same infrastructure
packages/components/src/ui/Tooltip.astro — shared component for general Astro page use (prop-driven, not Glossary-driven)
packages/i18n/ — shared message catalogue (en, fr) exists but not yet wired to tooltip definitions

Design decision (2026-06-23): Glossary(term) is opt-in, not auto-magic. The pipeline replaces only explicit Glossary(term) tokens — it does NOT auto-tooltip every substring matching a Glossary key. This prevents unintended tooltips on common terms (AI, HTML, etc.).

Why this task exists

When multilingual support is added to MBR or SDC focus pages (or any other page using Glossary tooltips), the definition must vary by language. Core/Misc/Glossary.md is an English KB file — it has no mechanism for French or other language variants.

Additionally, non-focus-page content (MDX, Astro component slots, etc.) may eventually want Glossary tooltips. A monorepo-level data store would let these pages consume definitions without depending on the KB vault path.

Problem

Glossary.md is English-only and KB-resident — no language variants possible
Focus pages currently hardcode GLOSSARY_PATH = '/mnt/d/FSS/KB/Core/Misc/Glossary.md' — CI-fragile (path only valid on dev machine)
No way for future components or MDX content to reference tooltip definitions without duplicating the Glossary reader logic

Options to evaluate

Option A: JSON/YAML file in `packages/glossary/`

packages/glossary/src/terms.en.json, terms.fr.json
Imported at build time by load-focus-content.ts — no filesystem path dependency
CI-safe (lives in the repo)
Authoring: edit JSON directly, or write a sync script that pulls from Glossary.md

Option B: Extend `packages/i18n/`

Add glossary namespace to the existing message catalogue
packages/i18n/src/en.ts already has message keys — add glossary.Cancer50Pledge, glossary.FAST, etc.
Consistent with existing i18n architecture
Downside: mixes tooltip copy with UI copy; Glossary terms and UI strings have different lifecycles

Option C: Keep Glossary.md but generate a JSON snapshot

Add a build script that reads Glossary.md → outputs packages/glossary/dist/terms.json
CI runs the generator; focus pages import from dist/terms.json
Preserves Obsidian as the authoring tool; adds CI-safe artifact

Option D: SQLite (Talbot’s original idea)

packages/glossary/glossary.db with (term, lang, definition) rows
Language-aware queries at build time
Overkill until there are >50 terms or actual multilingual content

Recommendation (deferred decision)

Evaluate when multilingual focus page work begins. At that point:

Start with Option B (extend i18n) if the term count stays small (<20) and i18n is actively being wired up
Use Option A (standalone JSON) if tooltip definitions need to stay separate from UI strings
Option C (Glossary.md → JSON generator) is attractive if Talbot wants to keep Obsidian as the authoring tool for multilingual definitions too
Defer Option D (SQLite) unless multilingual content explodes in volume

Do not start this work until: (a) a second language is actively being added to at least one site, OR (b) a non-focus-page component needs Glossary tooltips and the KB path dependency becomes a problem.

Tasks (when activated)

Decide data format (JSON/i18n/SQLite) based on active multilingual scope at that time
Create packages/glossary/ (or extend packages/i18n/) with en definitions from current Glossary.md
Add fr definitions for at least the terms used in Focus pages (F.A.S.T., Cancer50Pledge, $MART DEBT)
Update loadGlossaryTerms() in MBR + SDC to read from monorepo package instead of KB path
Update Glossary(term) resolution to accept a lang parameter
Update README Focus Pages section with new authoring workflow