Release 0.14.0: public /docs user guide (DOCS.md served at /docs)

Ships DOCS.md and the /docs route — a plain-prose translation of
SPEC.md for users, distinct from the binding spec. Originating need
was the admin-vs-owner role distinction on /admin/users (§6.1);
response is a single guide that covers the framework's user-facing
surfaces end-to-end (roles, proposing, branches, PRs, graduation,
notifications). Mirrors /philosophy: markdown file at repo root +
sibling backend loader + MarkdownPreview render. No schema migration.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

backend/app/api.py

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ from . import (
     api_prs,
     auth,
     db,
+    docs as docs_mod,
     entry as entry_mod,
     cache,
     funder,
@@ -122,6 +123,17 @@ def make_router(
         payload = philosophy.load()
         return {"body": payload["body"]}
 
+    # ---------------------------------------------------------------
+    # /api/docs — DOCS.md served verbatim. Sibling of /api/philosophy:
+    # no auth gate, same disk-first load + cache shape, same intent —
+    # public read surface for a markdown file checked into the repo.
+    # ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    @router.get("/api/docs")
+    async def get_docs() -> dict[str, Any]:
+        payload = docs_mod.load()
+        return {"body": payload["body"]}
+
     # ---------------------------------------------------------------
     # Auth surface — reads role from our users table per §6.
     # ---------------------------------------------------------------

backend/app/docs.py

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+"""User-facing docs source.
+
+Mirrors `philosophy.py` shape. Serves `DOCS.md` from the repo root —
+the framework's plain-prose user guide to roles, contribution flow,
+and notification surfaces, distinct from the binding `SPEC.md`. Read
+from disk on first call and cached in-process; the periodic
+reconciler can call `refresh()` to pick up out-of-band edits.
+
+`DOCS_PATH` overrides the default location if a deployment hosts the
+file elsewhere (a meta-repo working-tree clone, a sync target, etc.).
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+import os
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+_DEFAULT_PATH = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "DOCS.md"
+
+_lock = threading.Lock()
+_cache: dict | None = None
+
+
+def _resolved_path() -> Path:
+    override = os.environ.get("DOCS_PATH", "").strip()
+    if override:
+        return Path(override).expanduser().resolve()
+    return _DEFAULT_PATH
+
+
+def load(force: bool = False) -> dict:
+    """Return the cached `{body, path, mtime}` payload, reading from disk
+    on first call or when `force=True`.
+    """
+    global _cache
+    with _lock:
+        if _cache is not None and not force:
+            return _cache
+        path = _resolved_path()
+        try:
+            text = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+            mtime = path.stat().st_mtime
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            log.warning("DOCS.md not found at %s — serving placeholder", path)
+            text = (
+                "# DOCS.md not found\n\n"
+                "The deployment is missing its user guide. Set "
+                "DOCS_PATH or place DOCS.md at the project root."
+            )
+            mtime = 0.0
+        _cache = {"body": text, "path": str(path), "mtime": mtime}
+        return _cache
+
+
+def refresh() -> dict:
+    """Force-reread from disk. Returns the new payload."""
+    return load(force=True)