Installation Guides (Mechanics)

Paid pluginsize Mplanned, not built

Indicative price, not an offer: €29/mo; 10k+ video guides, categorized by part type

Generated from docs/plan/paid/installation-guides/PLAN.md in the AstroBaaS repository. Nothing described below is implemented — it is the written plan for it.

Library of 10k+ installation videos and step-by-step guides for mechanical parts. Search by vehicle make/model/year and part type. Each guide includes difficulty rating, time estimate, tool list, and downloadable PDF. Link guides to products in catalog so customers see instructions before buying. Reduces returns 30% by building confidence.

The problem

Customers lack confidence buying unfamiliar parts (alternators, fuel pumps, brake calipers). They want to know how hard the install is before checkout. Without guides, return rate stays high because customers didn’t realize it needed a lift or special tools. Custom video production is €100-500 per part.

What it does

• Library of 10k+ installation guides indexed by part type and vehicle
• Search + filter by vehicle make/model/year range
• Video hosting (YouTube embed or S3 URL)
• Step-by-step text instructions (markdown formatting)
• Tool list (required tools for installation)
• Parts required (other items needed, e.g., gaskets, bolts)
• Difficulty rating (easy/medium/hard)
• Time estimate (in minutes)
• Guide images per step (uploaded by admin)
• PDF download (printable guide with all steps + images)
• Link guides to products (many-to-many)
• Analytics (views, downloads, engagement per guide)

What it deliberately does NOT do

Each boundary carries its reason. A boundary without a reason gets crossed by the next person who reads this.

• Video production — we do not produce guides; merchant provides YouTube URLs or uploads. Reason: €100-500/video is outside scope.
• Technical support during installation — chat support is different system. Reason: requires expert mechanics, liability.
• Vehicle data API integration (NHTSA, manufacturer) — licensing + sync complexity. Reason: each vendor has different API, support burden.

Data model

New tables: installation_guides (guideId, partTypeId, videoUrl, title, steps (array of {step_number, title, description, image_url}), tools_required (array), parts_required (array), difficulty, time_estimate_minutes, vehicle_make, vehicle_model, vehicle_year_min, vehicle_year_max, created_at, updated_at). guide_analytics (guideId, views, downloads, month, year). Product schema: add installationGuideIds array. Migration: add tables + denormalized search index.

API

• GET /api/installation-guides
• GET /api/installation-guides/{guideId}
• GET /api/installation-guides/{guideId}/pdf
• GET /api/products/{productId}/installation-guides
• POST /api/admin/installation-guides
• PUT /api/admin/installation-guides/{guideId}
• POST /api/admin/installation-guides/{guideId}/steps
• DELETE /api/admin/installation-guides/{guideId}

Every route added here must also appear in src/pages/openapi.json.ts — a test fails the build if it does not.

Admin

Guide editor (create/edit title, description, steps). Step editor (text + image uploader). Video link input (YouTube URL or S3). Vehicle selector (make/model/year picker). Guide preview (see what customer sees). Analytics dashboard (views by month, downloads, engagement). Part-to-guide linker (assign guide to products).

The seam — why this is paid

Core owns: generic guide schema, search UI, PDF generation, file storage. Paid pack owns: 10k+ guide library, part-type categorization, vehicle coverage, analytics.

Support commitment: guide library curation, video hosting, technical accuracy review

Dependencies

• Product catalog
• File storage (S3 or equivalent)
• PDF generation library
• Search index

Acceptance checks

Each of these must be able to fail. Before claiming this is done, break the code deliberately and watch each one go red.

• Search ‘Brake Pads - Honda Civic 2015-2020’ finds guide for that vehicle + part type
• Guide displays 6 steps: remove wheel, remove caliper, remove pads, inspect rotor, install, reassemble
• Each step shows image + text instructions
• Difficulty shown as ‘Medium’; time estimate ‘45 minutes’
• Customer downloads guide as PDF; contains all steps + images, printable
• Tool list shows ‘Socket wrench 10mm, jack, jack stands’
• Admin uploads YouTube URL; video embeds in guide
• Search ‘brake’ returns 12 guides (brake pads, rotors, bleeding)
• Analytics show 234 views last month, 12 downloads, peak day
• Product ‘Front Brake Pads’ linked to guide; guide visible on product page

Risks

Guide steps show incorrect procedure: customer damages part, needs support (liability). Video removed on YouTube: guide breaks. PDF generation fails silently: customer downloads blank PDF. Search index out of sync: customer can’t find guide. Admin uploads 100MB video: slow load kills UX.

Commercial context

The anchor is what the nearest equivalent charges on Shopify or Magento today. It is context for a pricing decision, not the decision.

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Generated from the commerce plan. See docs/COMMERCE-PLAN.md for the full catalogue and ../../AI-GUIDE.md for how to work on this repository.