Research Documentation
This directory contains research, analysis, and strategic insights generated during the development and improvement of Teams for Linux.
Research Context
These documents capture in-depth analysis and strategic insights that inform development decisions and provide context for major features.
Contents
Everything listed here describes work that has not fully shipped. Once a piece of research is fully implemented or rejected, its decision moves to an ADR and the research document is deleted, with git history preserving the investigation.
Open Work
No research is open at the moment. New investigations are added here while they are active.
Implemented Features (Research Removed)
Research documents are deleted once their decision has moved to an ADR, whether the feature shipped, was rejected, or has remaining phases tracked in the roadmap. The ADRs and git history preserve the decisions and context.
| Feature | Version | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Config Schema as Single Source of Truth | v2.12.0 onwards | Phases 0 to 2, 3a and 4 shipped (#2597); decision in ADR-029; the in-app settings window (3b) stays in the roadmap |
| Graph API Integration | v2.6.17 | Phase 1 shipped (PR #1958); token route recorded in ADR-030, implementation reference in app/graphApi/README.md; Phases 2 and 3 parked in the roadmap |
| Custom Stickers | v2.11.0 | Local-folder MVP plus HTTPS URL import and a one-level subfolder scan shipped (#2476, PR #2550); the closed Telegram and GIPHY attempts and the untried generation idea are recorded in the roadmap |
| FIDO2 Touch Prompt | v2.18.0 | Prompt shown around the security-key call, with a Cancel that aborts the fido2 child; decision folded into ADR-021 (#2631, PR #2779) |
| System Performance Audit | --- | Ten findings closed as fixed, fixed differently, or not planned. Decision in ADR-026 |
| Configuration Organization | --- | Decision-only closeout (no feature shipped): naming convention and the resolved flat-to-nested rename mapping now live in ADR-025; migration stays opportunistic, docs-site/static/config-schema.json is the live inventory |
| Smartcard / NSS PIN Dialog | v2.14.0 | Opt-in PIN dialog behind auth.clientCertificate.pinDialog.enabled, built on app/_shared/securePrompt.js. Decision in ADR-024 (#2639) |
| Custom Notification System | v2.6.16 | Phase 1 toast shipped, Phase 2 notification centre dropped as unverifiable. Decision in ADR-022 |
| Release Automation Tooling | --- | release-please adopted, release-it and Beads rejected. Decision in ADR-023 |
| WebAuthn / FIDO2 Hardware Keys | --- | Opt-in beta behind auth.webauthn.enabled; the implementation plan is superseded by ADR-021 |
| MQTT Extended Status | v2.10.0 onwards | Microphone, camera, screen-sharing and incoming-call topics plus Home Assistant auto-discovery all shipped; the roadmap carries the per-PR status |
| Join Meeting Window Takeover | --- | Same-origin navigation plus the Return to Teams menu item (app/menus/index.js) (#2322) |
| MQTT Microphone State | v2.10.0 | Speaking-indicator driven microphone state (speaking/silent/muted/off) published to MQTT. See PR #2497 |
Notification Sound Player (inline replacement for node-sound) | v2.7.10 | Phase 1 of the notification-sound research shipped — paplay/pw-play/aplay/afplay detection in app/audio/player.js. See PR #2306 |
| Cross-Distro CI Smoke Test | v2.7.x | Workflow .github/workflows/cross-distro-smoke.yml ships the design proposed in the original research. Umbrella decision in ADR-016 |
| Electron 41 Upgrade | v2.8.0 | Repo skipped Electron 40 entirely and jumped 39.8.2 → 41.x via dependabot PR #2347, with follow-up bumps to 41.5.0; the Electron 40 migration research is therefore obsolete |
| Issue-PR Release Linking | v2.7.11 | GraphQL closingIssuesReferences query; closes: metadata in changelog files. See PR #2317 |
| Codebase Review (March 2026) | v2.7.x | Code quality, maintainability, performance, and DX review; findings addressed incrementally |
| Issue Triage Bot | v2.7.x | All four phases implemented; migrated to standalone Go service. See ADR-018 and github-issue-triage-bot |
| Dependency Cleanup | v2.7.10 | Removed node-sound, lodash, electron-positioner; project now has 6 production deps |
| Speaking Indicator | v2.7.11 | WebRTC getStats() for three-state mute/speaking detection. See PR #2299 |
| Electron-Updater Auto-Update | v2.7.6 | ADR-011; research covered electron-updater integration |
| External Changelog Generation | v2.7.x | ADR-005; fork detection + release automation shipped |
| Screen Lock Media Privacy | --- | Closed (#2106); no user interest; work preserved in branch |
| Tray Icon Logout Indicator | --- | Archived (#1987); user not responding; work preserved in branch |
| External Browser Authentication | --- | Not feasible; Teams manages OAuth internally (#2017) |
| GNOME Search Provider | --- | Not recommended; latency too high for acceptable UX (#2075) |
| Code Quality Hardening (Phases 1-3) | v2.7.5 | Logging hygiene, resilience, input handling, IPC hardening, CI/CD gates |
| Wayland/X11 Ozone Platform | v2.7.4 | Force X11 by default due to Electron 38+ Wayland regressions; re-affirmed June 2026 after #2601 and #2508 were closed, decision now in ADR-031 |
| Quick Chat / Chat Modal | v2.7.4 | ADR-014, ADR-015 |
| PII Log Sanitization | v2.7.2 | ADR-013 |
| DOM Access Restoration | v2.5.2 | Hybrid API + DOM approach for React compatibility |
| Architecture Modernization | --- | Rejected (DDD too complex) --- incremental refactoring adopted instead |
| MQTT Commands | v2.6.x | Bidirectional MQTT support for toggle-mute, toggle-video, etc. |
| Calendar Data Export | v2.6.x | MQTT get-calendar command |
| useSystemPicker | --- | Rejected --- ADR-008 |
Purpose
These documents capture strategic insights, comprehensive analysis, research findings, and context that inform development decisions and provide rationale for major features.
Document Lifecycle
Research documents follow this lifecycle:
- Active Research Phase: Document findings, analysis, and recommendations
- Decision Phase: Use research to inform final decisions (implemented or rejected)
- Archive Phase: Move content to appropriate location after decision:
- Implemented features: Create ADR if significant, update feature docs, delete research
- Rejected features: Create/update ADR with concise decision record, delete research
- Superseded research: Close with reference to superseding document
- History: Git commit history preserves full investigation context
Contributing Research
When adding new research documents:
- Follow naming convention: Use descriptive, kebab-case filenames
- Include context: Date, scope, and purpose of analysis
- Link related documents: Cross-reference relevant files
- Update this index: Add entries for new research documents
- Provide actionable outcomes: Include clear recommendations or decisions
Related Documentation
- Configuration Options - Application configuration reference
- IPC API - Developer integration documentation
- Architecture Decision Records - Formal architectural decisions
- Development Roadmap - Future development plans