Architecture

How conversion, acquisition and execution fit together.

Webfold has distinct conversion, acquisition and execution paths. Local HTML conversion needs no browser process.

Conversion

HTML string -> to_blocks -> Markdown blocks -> Template page counts
                                    \                    |
                                     +---- render <------+  -> Markdown string

to_blocks scans UTF-8 input into blocks (md, a 64-bit sig, and links). norm_sig normalises whitespace and case before a non-cryptographic 64-bit fold. Template::fold counts each signature at most once per page. render walks blocks in source order and omits those whose frequency meets the threshold.

Tables are accumulated as a single block. Rectangular output, including generated header and separator cells, is allowed only when its cell slots fit a bound relative to the source cells and maximum width. Otherwise source rows become unpadded pipe lines.

Acquisition

Webfold::scrape calls a FetchBackend. scrape_tiered adds three acquisition actions under a budget. scrape --render connects to a Chromium you run and observes computed CSS visibility and same-origin frames, behind a validating proxy. See Scraping and Rendered pages.

Execution

• An in-process DOM and JavaScript engine lifts and runs a supported script fragment. It is not V8.
• A CDP subset server exposes that engine over WebSockets. Every method is implemented, a named no-op, or unsupported.
• Screenshots use Webfold’s own layout and paint pipeline rather than Chrome’s.

Layers

The full description, including known limits of each path, is in ARCHITECTURE.md and docs/EXTRACTION-PIPELINE.md in the repository.