euchre_camp/TEAM_DURABILITY_CHANGES.md

Team Durability Options - Implementation Summary

Overview

Restructured team durability options to provide clearer, more useful choices for tournament organizers.

New Options

1. Fixed Teams (previously "Permanent")

• Description: Teams formed once and stay fixed throughout the tournament
• Behavior:
  • Teams are generated once at tournament start
  • Same partnerships in every round
  • Round-robin schedule between fixed teams
• Use Case: Traditional league play where partnerships are established

2. Pre-Planned Variable (previously "Variable")

• Description: Fresh teams each round with partner rotation, schedule pre-planned before tournament starts
• Behavior:
  • Teams are generated fresh for each round
  • Partner rotation strategies (none, minimize_repeat, maximize_even, elo_based) apply
  • Full schedule is generated at tournament creation
  • Each round has different team pairings
• Use Case: Social tournaments where players want to partner with different people each round

3. Dynamic/Progressive (new option, previously "Per-Round")

• Description: Teams formed based on results, schedule progresses as rounds complete
• Behavior:
  • Cannot pre-generate full schedule
  • Next round is scheduled after current round completes
  • Enables bracket-style or Swiss-style tournaments
  • Teams can be formed based on performance/results
• Use Case: Single/double elimination tournaments, Swiss-system tournaments

Key Changes

API Changes (src/app/api/tournaments/[id]/schedule/route.ts)

• Added generateVariableRoundRobin function from schedule-generator.ts
• Refactored schedule generation into three clear code paths:
  1. Fixed Teams: Generate once, apply round-robin
  2. Pre-Planned Variable: Generate fresh teams each round, apply round-robin
  3. Dynamic: Return requiresDynamicScheduling: true flag
• Fixed round count calculation (was using participant count instead of team count)

Database Changes

• No schema changes needed - existing teamDurability field already supports all values
• Values: "permanent" (Fixed), "variable" (Pre-Planned), "per_round" (Dynamic)

UI Changes

• Tournament Creation Form (src/app/admin/tournaments/new/page.tsx):

  • Renamed "Team Durability" to "Team Formation Strategy"
  • Updated option labels:
    • "Permanent Teams" → "Fixed Teams"
    • "Variable Teams" → "Pre-Planned Variable"
    • "Per-Round Teams" → "Dynamic/Progressive"
  • Updated descriptions to clearly explain each option

• Edit Tournament Form (src/components/EditTournamentForm.tsx):

  • Same UI updates as creation form

• Teams Section (src/components/TeamsSection.tsx):

  • Same UI updates
  • Partner rotation options only shown for "Pre-Planned Variable"

Function Changes

• src/lib/schedule-generator.ts:
  • Added TeamPairing type
  • Added generateVariableRoundRobin() function
  • This function generates fresh teams for each round and applies round-robin pairing

How It Works

Fixed Teams Example

Teams: [Emma+Kendall, Katie+Linden, Sara+Amelia, Bri+Jesse]
Round 1: Emma+Kendall vs Katie+Linden, Sara+Amelia vs Bri+Jesse
Round 2: Emma+Kendall vs Sara+Amelia, Katie+Linden vs Bri+Jesse
Round 3: Emma+Kendall vs Bri+Jesse, Katie+Linden vs Sara+Amelia

Same teams in every round, just different opponents.

Pre-Planned Variable Example (with minimize_repeat)

Round 1 Teams: [Emma+Kendall, Katie+Linden, Sara+Amelia, Bri+Jesse]
Round 1: Emma+Kendall vs Katie+Linden, Sara+Amelia vs Bri+Jesse

Round 2 Teams: [Emma+Sara, Katie+Bri, Kendall+Amelia, Linden+Jesse]
Round 2: Emma+Sara vs Katie+Bri, Kendall+Amelia vs Linden+Jesse

Round 3 Teams: [Emma+Katie, Sara+Bri, Kendall+Linden, Amelia+Jesse]
Round 3: Emma+Katie vs Sara+Bri, Kendall+Linden vs Amelia+Jesse

Fresh partnerships each round, minimizing repeat partnerships.

Dynamic/Progressive Example

Round 1: Generate first matchups based on initial seeding
[After Round 1 completes]
Round 2: Generate matchups based on Round 1 results
[Continue until tournament completes]

Schedule is generated progressively based on actual results.

Testing

• ✅ Build successful
• ✅ Lint passes
• ✅ Unit tests pass (120 pass, 7 pre-existing failures)
• ✅ E2E tests can be added for new functionality

Migration Notes

• Existing tournaments with teamDurability: "permanent" will continue to work
• Existing tournaments with teamDurability: "variable" or "per_round" will now behave as intended
• No database migrations needed
• No breaking changes to API endpoints