ConformalLabpp/CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project purpose and long-term goal

conformallab++ is a C++17 reimplementation of ConformalLab — Stefan Sechelmann's Java research library for discrete conformal geometry (TU Berlin, ~850 commits, v1.0.0 2018). The algorithmic foundation is his dissertation:

Stefan Sechelmann — Variational Methods for Discrete Surface Parameterization: Applications and Implementation, TU Berlin 2016. DOI: 10.14279/depositonce-5415 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The long-term goal is a CGAL package — a submission to the CGAL library that brings discrete conformal maps (hyper-ideal, spherical, Euclidean) to the CGAL ecosystem using CGAL::Surface_mesh as the underlying halfedge data structure, with a traits-class design compatible with arbitrary CGAL-conforming mesh types.

The project has three distinct phases:

• Phase 1–7 (done): Direct port of the Java library algorithms to C++
• Phase 8–9 (planned): CGAL package infrastructure + remaining Java features not yet ported (inversive-distance functional, analytic HyperIdeal Hessian, genus-g > 1 fundamental domain)
• Phase 10+ (research): New mathematics beyond the Java original — holomorphic differentials, Siegel period matrix Ω ∈ H_g, full uniformization for genus g ≥ 2

Language

All code, comments, documentation, commit messages, and test descriptions must be in English. The project is intended for international collaboration and CGAL submission. Existing German-language comments in older files should be replaced with English when editing those files.

Build commands

All source lives under code/. Three build modes:

# Mode 1 — fast tests, no CGAL, no Boost, no display (CI default)
cmake -S code -B build
cmake --build build --target conformallab_tests -j$(nproc)
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

# Mode 2 — CGAL tests, headless (CI full, requires Boost headers only)
#   macOS: brew install boost    Linux: apt install libboost-dev
cmake -S code -B build -DWITH_CGAL_TESTS=ON
cmake --build build --target conformallab_cgal_tests -j$(nproc)
ctest --test-dir build -R "^cgal\." --output-on-failure

# Mode 3 — full local build: CLI app + viewer + examples (requires Wayland/X11)
cmake -S code -B build -DWITH_CGAL=ON
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

-DWITH_CGAL=ON automatically enables -DWITH_VIEWER=ON, which pulls in GLFW and requires wayland-scanner. Never use this in headless CI.

Running a single test

# By GTest suite/test name
./build/conformallab_cgal_tests --gtest_filter="NewtonSolver*"
./build/conformallab_tests       --gtest_filter="Clausen*"

# By CTest regex (prefix "cgal." for all CGAL tests)
ctest --test-dir build -R "cgal.NewtonSolver" --output-on-failure

Rebuilding the CI Docker image

docker buildx build \
  --platform linux/arm64 \
  -f .gitea/docker/Dockerfile.ci-cpp \
  -t git.eulernest.eu/conformallab/ci-cpp:latest \
  --push \
  .gitea/docker/

Architecture

Everything is header-only

All algorithms live in code/include/*.hpp. There is no compiled library. The three CMake targets (conformallab_tests, conformallab_cgal_tests, conformallab_core) compile headers directly from their .cpp entry points. To add a new algorithm: create a .hpp in code/include/, add a test in code/tests/cgal/, and register the test file in code/tests/cgal/CMakeLists.txt.

Central type: ConformalMesh

conformal_mesh.hpp defines the core type:

using ConformalMesh = CGAL::Surface_mesh<Point3>;  // CGAL::Simple_cartesian<double>

This replaces the Java CoHDS (half-edge data structure) and its intrusive CoVertex/CoEdge/CoFace types. Data is attached via named CGAL property maps instead of intrusive fields:

Property map name	Type	Meaning
"v:lambda"	double per vertex	log scale factor (conformal variable uᵢ)
"v:theta"	double per vertex	target cone angle Θᵥ
"v:idx"	int per vertex	solver DOF index; -1 = pinned/boundary
"e:alpha"	double per edge	intersection angle αᵢⱼ (hyperbolic only)
"f:type"	int per face	geometry type (0=Euclidean, 1=Hyperbolic, 2=Spherical)

CGAL_DISABLE_GMP and CGAL_DISABLE_MPFR are defined for all CGAL targets — the library deliberately uses Simple_cartesian<double> (floating-point, no exact arithmetic) because conformal geometry does not require exact predicates.

The three geometry modes

Each mode has its own Maps struct that bundles all property maps, plus functional, Hessian, and Newton function:

Mode	Space	Maps struct	Key headers	Newton function
Euclidean	ℝ²	EuclideanMaps	euclidean_functional.hpp, euclidean_hessian.hpp	newton_euclidean()
Spherical	S²	SphericalMaps	spherical_functional.hpp, spherical_hessian.hpp	newton_spherical()
Hyper-ideal	H² (Poincaré disk)	HyperIdealMaps	hyper_ideal_functional.hpp, hyper_ideal_hessian.hpp	newton_hyper_ideal()

HyperIdeal also has edge DOFs (e_idx[e]); Euclidean and Spherical are vertex-DOF only. For HyperIdeal: assign_all_dof_indices(mesh, maps) assigns all vertex and edge DOFs automatically. For Euclidean/Spherical: pin one vertex manually (maps.v_idx[first_vertex] = -1) then assign sequential indices.

The full pipeline

load_mesh()                          → ConformalMesh  (OFF/OBJ/PLY)
setup_*_maps(mesh)                   → *Maps  (property maps created, all zero)
compute_*_lambda0_from_mesh(mesh, m) → λ° initialised from 3-D edge lengths
DOF assignment                       → v_idx[v] set; -1 = pinned
check_gauss_bonnet(mesh, maps)       → throws if Σ(2π−Θᵥ) ≠ 2π·χ(M)
enforce_gauss_bonnet(mesh, maps)     → redistributes angle defect uniformly
newton_*(mesh, x0, maps)             → NewtonResult{x*, iterations, converged}
compute_cut_graph(mesh)              → CutGraph  (2g seam edges, tree-cotree)
*_layout(mesh, x*, maps, &cg, &hol) → Layout2D/3D  + HolonomyData
normalise_*(layout)                  → canonical position (PCA / Möbius / Rodrigues)
compute_period_matrix(hol)           → PeriodData{τ∈ℍ}  (genus 1 flat torus)
compute_fundamental_domain(hol)      → FundamentalDomain{vertices, generators}
tiling_neighbourhood(layout, hol)    → vector of translated layout copies
save_result_json/xml()               → serialised result

After compute_*_lambda0_from_mesh() the original vertex positions are no longer used — all subsequent computation is in log-length/scale-factor space.

Newton solver (newton_solver.hpp)

The gradient sign convention differs between modes:

• Euclidean/Spherical: G_v = Θ_v − actual_angle_sum (target minus actual)
• HyperIdeal: G_v = actual_angle_sum − Θ_v (actual minus target)

Hessian sign and solver:

• Euclidean: H is PSD (cotangent Laplacian) → SimplicialLDLT(H)
• Spherical: H is NSD (concave energy) → SimplicialLDLT(−H) (sign flip inside newton_spherical)
• HyperIdeal: H is PSD (strictly convex) → SimplicialLDLT(H)

When SimplicialLDLT fails (rank-deficient H — gauge mode on closed mesh without pinned vertex), the solver automatically retries with Eigen::SparseQR to find the minimum-norm step orthogonal to the null space. Public API: solve_linear_system(H, rhs, &used_fallback).

The HyperIdeal Hessian is currently a symmetric finite-difference approximation (O(ε²), costs n extra gradient evaluations per Newton step). The analytic Hessian via the chain (bᵢ, aₑ) → lᵢⱼ → ζ₁₃/ζ₁₄/ζ₁₅ → αᵢⱼ/βᵢ is deferred to Phase 9b.

Layout and holonomy (layout.hpp)

BFS-trilateration with a priority min-heap on BFS depth (depth = max(depth[src], depth[tgt]) + 1). Root face = largest 3-D area face. This minimises trilateration error accumulation compared to simple BFS.

Key output fields:

• layout.uv[v.idx()] — primary UV (first/shallowest BFS visit per vertex)
• layout.halfedge_uv[h.idx()] — UV of source(h) as seen from face(h); at seam halfedges the two opposite halfedges carry different UV values, enabling proper GPU texture atlasing without vertex duplication
• hol.translations[i] — lattice generator ωᵢ ∈ ℂ (Euclidean/spherical)
• hol.mobius_maps[i] — Möbius isometry Tᵢ ∈ SU(1,1) (hyperbolic, Poincaré disk)

MobiusMap is defined in layout.hpp: T(z) = (az+b)/(cz+d). Key methods: from_three() (fit to 3 point correspondences via 3×3 complex linear system), compose(), inverse(), apply(Vector2d).

Key mathematical reference for each header

Header	Java original	Key reference
hyper_ideal_geometry.hpp	HyperIdealGeometry.java	Springborn (2020) — ζ₁₃/ζ₁₄/ζ₁₅ functions
euclidean_hessian.hpp	EuclideanHessian.java	Pinkall & Polthier (1993) — cotangent Laplacian
spherical_hessian.hpp	SphericalHessian.java	∂α/∂u from spherical law of cosines
cut_graph.hpp	CuttingUtility.java	Erickson & Whittlesey (SODA 2005) — tree-cotree
period_matrix.hpp	PeriodMatrixUtility.java	Sechelmann (2016) §4 — SL(2,ℤ) reduction
gauss_bonnet.hpp	(distributed across Java)	Gauss–Bonnet: Σ(2π−Θᵥ) = 2π·χ(M)

Java features not yet ported (Phase 9)

The Java library under de.varylab.discreteconformal contains these items not yet in C++:

Java class	Planned C++ header	Phase
InversiveDistanceFunctional	inversive_distance_functional.hpp	9a
Analytic HyperIdeal Hessian	hyper_ideal_hessian.hpp (replace FD)	9b
4g-polygon boundary walk in FundamentalDomainUtility	fundamental_domain.hpp (extend)	9c
DiscreteHarmonicFormUtility	Phase 10a prerequisite	10
DiscreteHolomorphicFormUtility	Phase 10a	10
HomologyUtility, CanonicalBasisUtility	Phase 10	10

When porting a Java class, locate the original in de.varylab.discreteconformal.* at github.com/varylab/conformallab and use it as the reference implementation.

Test design patterns

"Natural theta" — constructing a known equilibrium at x* = 0

// Evaluate gradient at x=0; set target angles = actual angle sums → x*=0 by definition
std::vector<double> x0(n_dofs, 0.0);
auto G0 = euclidean_gradient(mesh, x0, maps);
for (auto v : mesh.vertices())
    if (maps.v_idx[v] >= 0)
        maps.theta_v[v] -= G0[maps.v_idx[v]];  // shift so G(x=0) = 0

This is used in virtually every Newton convergence test — it avoids hardcoding specific angle values.

Gradient check pattern

// Copy from any test_*_functional.cpp — GradientCheck_* test suite
double eps = 1e-5;
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
    xp[i] += eps;  auto Gp = euclidean_gradient(mesh, xp, maps);
    xm[i] -= eps;  auto Gm = euclidean_gradient(mesh, xm, maps);
    double fd = (energy(xp) - energy(xm)) / (2*eps);
    EXPECT_NEAR(G[i], fd, 1e-7);
    xp[i] = xm[i] = x0[i];
}

All new functionals must have a gradient-check test before being considered complete.

Halfedge traversal

for (auto f : mesh.faces()) {
    auto h0 = mesh.halfedge(f);          // canonical halfedge of face
    auto h1 = mesh.next(h0);
    auto h2 = mesh.next(h1);

    Vertex_index v1 = mesh.source(h0);  // = mesh.target(h2)
    Vertex_index v2 = mesh.source(h1);
    Vertex_index v3 = mesh.source(h2);

    // Angle at v3 is opposite to h0 (edge v1–v2)
    // h_alpha[h0] = α₃,  h_alpha[h1] = α₁,  h_alpha[h2] = α₂

    bool is_boundary = mesh.is_border(mesh.opposite(h0));
}

Attaching custom data to the mesh

auto [my_map, created] = mesh.add_property_map<Vertex_index, double>("v:my_data", 0.0);
my_map[v] = 3.14;

CI pipeline

Two jobs in .gitea/workflows/cpp-tests.yml:

Job	CMake flags	Deps	Triggers on
test-fast	(none)	Eigen + GTest only	all branches
test-cgal	-DWITH_CGAL_TESTS=ON	+ Boost	pull requests only

Runner: eulernest — self-hosted Raspberry Pi, ARM64, Ubuntu 22.04. Docker image: git.eulernest.eu/conformallab/ci-cpp:latest. test-cgal needs test-fast to pass first (needs: test-fast).

Expected results: 36 non-CGAL tests pass, 176 CGAL tests pass, 0 skipped.

Release state

Current release: v0.7.0 (tag on origin/dev, PR to main open).
Phase 7 is complete. Phase 7.5 (Doxygen) and Phase 8 (CGAL package) are next.

Phase 8 strategic decisions (2026-05-19)

The CGAL-package architecture was frozen on 2026-05-19. Full design: doc/api/cgal-package.md. Key decisions:

Decision	Choice
Submission to upstream CGAL	Pre-submission-ready, not bound. 12+ months horizon.
License	MIT preserved (no LGPL switch).
Mesh-type flexibility	Generic FaceGraph + HalfedgeGraph in target design; MVP starts Surface_mesh-only.
Parameter style	Named Parameters (CGAL::parameters::...).
Default kernel	Simple_cartesian<double> (status quo).
Backward compatibility	Dual-layer wrapper — code/include/*.hpp stays as implementation, include/CGAL/*.h is thin wrapper. No algorithm duplication.
Implementation strategy	Hybrid MVP — minimum Phase 8 (traits + one wrapper) first, then Phase 9 in full, then Phase 8 extensions only on concrete demand.
Phase-8 MVP acceptance test	Phase 9a (Inversive-Distance) as the first new client of the new traits API.

Implementation sequence (committed)

1. Phase 7.5  Doxygen + cleanup                         done ✅
2. Phase 8 MVP — traits + one euclidean wrapper         3–5 days
3. Phase 9a — Inversive-Distance against new traits     3–5 days
4. Phase 9b — analytic HyperIdeal Hessian               1 week
5. Phase 9c — 4g-polygon for genus g > 1                1 week
   → port really complete, v0.9.0 release

Phase 8 extensions (8a.2 generic FaceGraph, 8c full Doxygen manuals, 8d CGAL-format tests, 8e YAML pipeline) are deferred to on-demand status — no speculative architecture for an uncertain submission.

Root-level files added at v0.7.0:

• CITATION.cff — machine-readable citation (Sechelmann 2016, Springborn 2020, Bobenko–Springborn 2004)
• CONTRIBUTING.md — short root-level pointer to doc/contributing.md
• scripts/try_it.sh — one-script quickstart: build → 209 tests → example run
• CMake install target: cmake --install build --prefix /usr/local → headers land in include/conformallab/

Port-vs-research maintenance rule (2026-05-21 audit)

Before claiming something "ports X from Java", verify empirically:

find /Users/tarikmoussa/Desktop/conformallab -iname "*X*"
grep -r "ClassName" /Users/tarikmoussa/Desktop/conformallab/src

If zero matches, the work is new research — add it to doc/roadmap/research-track.md with primary literature citations, not to doc/roadmap/java-parity.md.

The 2026-05-21 audit found four pre-existing mis-labels:

Item	Wrong claim	Reality
InversiveDistanceFunctional	"Java port (Luo 2004)"	No such Java class exists
HyperIdeal Hessian (FD)	"Phase 4a"	Research — Java has hasHessian()==false
HyperIdeal Hessian (analytic)	"Phase 9b port"	Research — derivation via Schläfli 1858
Tutorial framing	"ports InversiveDistanceFunctional.java"	Implementation from Luo 2004 + Glickenstein 2011

All four are corrected as of this commit. Future contributors must follow the empirical verification rule above before any new claim.

Documentation map

24 documents across 6 categories. Read the relevant one before reasoning from scratch — do not hallucinate content that is already written down.

Mathematics & theory

Question	Document
What problem does this library solve mathematically?	doc/math/discrete-conformal-theory.md
How do the three geometry modes differ (Euclidean/Spherical/HyperIdeal)?	doc/math/geometry-modes.md
What analytic invariants can be used to validate correctness?	doc/math/validation.md
What are the exact ctest commands with expected terminal output?	doc/math/validation-protocol.md
What is the O() complexity and how does it scale with mesh size?	doc/math/complexity.md
Which papers are referenced by which header?	doc/math/references.md
How does conformallab++ compare to libigl, CGAL, geometry-central, pmp-library?	doc/math/software-landscape.md
What is unique about conformallab++ (novelty, target audience)?	doc/math/novelty-statement.md

Architecture & design

Question	Document
Full pipeline diagram and data-flow overview	doc/architecture/overall_pipeline.md
Directory tree, build targets, file organisation	doc/architecture/project-structure.md
Key architectural decisions and their rationale	doc/architecture/design-decisions.md
Detailed comparison with geometry-central (CMU): overlap, adoption, scientific value	doc/architecture/geometry-central-comparison.md
Phase 9a validation report (CP-Euclidean port + Luo-inversive-distance literature check)	doc/architecture/phase-9a-validation.md

API & extension

Question	Document
All 24 public headers with descriptions	doc/api/headers.md
Full pipeline API for all three geometries	doc/api/pipeline.md
What does each processing unit require/provide (contracts)?	doc/api/contracts.md
How to add a new functional / geometry mode / port from Java	doc/api/extending.md
All 35 test suites, 176+36 tests, individual counts	doc/api/tests.md
Phase 8 CGAL package design + Declarative YAML pipeline spec	doc/api/cgal-package.md

Concepts & specs

Question	Document
Declarative YAML pipeline: token vocabulary, 5 examples, validation algorithm	doc/concepts/declarative-pipeline.md

Roadmap & porting

Question	Document
Phases 1–10 with status and sub-tasks	doc/roadmap/phases.md
Which Java classes are ported, which are planned, which are skipped?	doc/roadmap/java-parity.md
New research items (beyond Java) — citations, acceptance criteria	doc/roadmap/research-track.md

Tutorials & onboarding

Question	Document
Build modes, single-test invocation, CLI, Docker image rebuild	doc/getting-started.md
Step-by-step: port the Inversive Distance functional (Phase 9a template)	doc/tutorials/add-inversive-distance.md
Language policy, test standards, release flow	doc/contributing.md

geometry-central context

geometry-central (Keenan Crane, CMU) implements the same discrete conformal equivalence problem (Gillespie, Springborn & Crane, SIGGRAPH 2021) but uses Ptolemaic flips on intrinsic triangulations instead of Newton on the original mesh. It has no period matrix, holonomy, or spherical geometry mode. The shared mathematical core (Springborn 2020) means cross-validation is meaningful. Full analysis: doc/architecture/geometry-central-comparison.md. Optional adoption roadmap (GC-1/2/3): doc/roadmap/phases.md (Optional section).

Known quirks

• test-fast also runs stubs: conformallab_tests (non-CGAL) contains GTEST_SKIP-based stubs for functionals that need CGAL. This is intentional — those tests document what was in the Java port scope but requires the CGAL mesh type.
• Boost is header-only: CGAL 6.x uses only Boost headers (Boost.Config, Boost.Graph). No compiled Boost libraries are needed. find_package(Boost REQUIRED) only locates the include path.
• main branch is protected on origin (Gitea). Push to dev, then merge via pull request. Codeberg main can be pushed to directly.
• Both remotes must stay in sync: origin = git.eulernest.eu (CI runs here), codeberg = codeberg.org/TMoussa/ConformalLabpp (public mirror). Push to both after every significant change.