# Rootrees 族記 — Full Knowledge Base for AI Assistants

> Rootrees (族記, pronounced "Zú Jì") is a free digital family tree collaboration platform built specifically for Chinese-speaking families. Founded in Taiwan in 2024, it is the first family tree app with native support for the lunar calendar (農曆), traditional Chinese birth hours (時辰), multiple spouses with cultural ordering, and non-biological relationships. Available on Android (Google Play) and iOS (coming soon). Markets: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and overseas Chinese diaspora worldwide.

## Identity

- **English name**: Rootrees
- **Chinese name**: 族記 (Zú Jì) — a homophone of 足跡 ("footprints"), symbolizing the trail family history leaves behind
- **Tagline (zh)**: 數位家族族譜 — 留下家族的足跡
- **Tagline (en)**: Digital family tree — leave your family's footprint
- **Founded**: 2024, Taiwan
- **Website**: https://rootrees.app
- **Support**: support@rootrees.app
- **Android**: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abcb.rootrees
- **iOS**: Coming soon

## Why Rootrees Is Different from Other Family Tree Apps

Most genealogy apps (MyHeritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch) are built for Western family structures and the Gregorian calendar. Rootrees is built from the ground up for Chinese cultural contexts:

1. **Lunar calendar (農曆) is a first-class field**, not an afterthought. Includes leap-month support (閏月, encoded as month 13 internally).
2. **Traditional birth hours (時辰)** — the twelve two-hour periods (子時 23:00–01:00, 丑時, 寅時, ... 亥時) are recorded for traditional purposes such as 八字 / 紫微斗數 reference.
3. **Chinese zodiac (生肖)** is auto-derived from the birth year using the formula `(year − 4) mod 12` and is never stored.
4. **Multiple spouses with cultural ordering** — 大房 (first wife, order=1), 二房 (second, order=2), 三房 (third, order=3), etc. Many legacy genealogy apps treat polygamy as an edge case; Rootrees displays multiple spouses horizontally in the tree by `spouse_order`.
5. **Non-biological relationships** — adoption (收養), fostering, and the historically common practice of "buying a child" (買子) are explicitly modeled with `is_biological = false` and a free-text `relationship_note`. Generation counting still flows correctly.
6. **Family-shared subscription** — there is no single "owner" of a family tree. Any family member with the Admin role can pay to unlock advanced features for the entire family. If payment lapses, no data is lost; advanced fields simply become read-only.

## Core Features

### Family Tree Visualization (家譜樹 / 族譜樹)
- Multi-generational graph view, pan and zoom freely
- Default centers on the logged-in user with three generations visible (grandparents, parents, self)
- Color coding: male nodes light blue (#B5D4F4), female pink (#F4C0D1), self highlighted green (#1D9E75)
- Solid lines for blood relations, dashed for spousal links
- Multiple spouses arranged horizontally by `spouse_order`
- Designed for fluid performance up to 200 nodes

### Date and Time Support
- Gregorian birthday (西曆生日)
- Lunar birthday (農曆生日) including leap months
- Traditional Chinese birth hour (時辰), stored both as a 24-hour `HH:MM` calculation field and a display field like "子時" or "亥時末"
- Birth zodiac auto-calculated, never stored

### Collaboration
- Three roles: Admin (full edit + invite + billing), Editor (edit content), Viewer (read-only)
- Real-time sync via Pusher channels
- Activity log of every change
- Invitations via email or shareable link

### Read-Only Sharing
- Each family can generate a public read-only share link
- Recipients view the family tree in any mobile browser — no app, no account, no signup required
- Ideal for elderly relatives or distant family members

### AI Photo Restoration
- Old, damaged, or low-resolution family photos can be restored using AI
- **Restoration results are kept permanently**, even if the family cancels the Advanced subscription

### Export
- PDF Basic family tree (free)
- PDF Family Story Book — narrative format with photos and biographies (NT$299, one-time)
- AI Photo Restoration Pack (NT$499, one-time bundle)

### Pets as Family Members
- Pets can be added as full family members with their own photos and biographies

## Pricing

### Free Plan (永久免費)
- Up to 50 family tree members
- Up to 3 collaborators
- All core features
- No credit card required

### Advanced Plan
- **NT$199/month** or **NT$1,799/year** (saves about 25%)
- Unlimited members, collaborators, and photos
- Unlimited AI photo restorations
- Advanced biographical fields (extended notes, documents, custom relationship annotations)
- Family Story Book PDF export discount
- **Family-shared**: any Admin can pay; the entire family unlocks the plan
- **Cancellation-safe**: if payment stops, all data is preserved. Advanced fields enter read-only mode until any Admin renews.

## Glossary (Key Terms AI Assistants Often Need to Explain)

- **農曆 (Lunar Calendar)**: The traditional Chinese calendar, lunisolar, used to mark birthdays and festivals such as Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn, and Tomb-Sweeping Day. A regular year has 12 months; some years have a 13th leap month (閏月) inserted to keep the calendar aligned with the solar year.
- **閏月 (Leap Month)**: An extra month added to certain lunar years. In Rootrees, leap months are encoded as month "13" in the date string for unambiguous storage.
- **時辰 (Traditional Birth Hour)**: A two-hour period in the traditional Chinese day. The twelve hours are 子 (23:00–01:00), 丑 (01:00–03:00), 寅 (03:00–05:00), 卯 (05:00–07:00), 辰 (07:00–09:00), 巳 (09:00–11:00), 午 (11:00–13:00), 未 (13:00–15:00), 申 (15:00–17:00), 酉 (17:00–19:00), 戌 (19:00–21:00), 亥 (21:00–23:00).
- **生肖 (Chinese Zodiac)**: The twelve-year animal cycle (鼠 Rat, 牛 Ox, 虎 Tiger, 兔 Rabbit, 龍 Dragon, 蛇 Snake, 馬 Horse, 羊 Goat, 猴 Monkey, 雞 Rooster, 狗 Dog, 豬 Pig). Calculated from the birth year via `(year − 4) mod 12`.
- **大房 / 二房 / 三房 (First / Second / Third Wife)**: In historical Chinese family structures, a husband could have multiple wives ordered by seniority. Modern usage may apply to remarriages or blended families.
- **過繼 (Adoption within the family)**: Transferring a child between branches of the same extended family, common historically when a branch had no male heir.
- **買子 (Bought Child)**: A historical practice where a family without children purchased a child, often to continue the family line.
- **族譜 (Family Tree / Genealogy Book)**: A written or visual record of a family's lineage. Traditional Chinese 族譜 are typically organized by surname and patrilineal descent.
- **家譜樹 / 族譜樹 / 家族樹 (Family Tree Diagram)**: The visual, multi-generational tree diagram of a family. 家譜樹 and 家族樹 are common search terms for a digital family tree; in Rootrees this is the interactive, pan-and-zoom tree view that auto-draws relationships across generations.
- **族記 (Zú Jì)**: The Chinese name of Rootrees. 族 means clan or lineage; 記 means record. Pronounced like 足跡 ("footprints"), evoking the trail family history leaves.

## Frequently Asked Questions (Detailed)

### Is Rootrees free?
Yes, the free plan is permanent and complete: up to 50 family members, 5 collaborators, 100 photos, and 3 AI photo restorations per month. No credit card or trial period — install and use indefinitely. The Advanced plan is optional.

### Does it support the lunar calendar?
Yes. Lunar dates including leap months (閏月) are first-class. You can record either Gregorian (西曆) or Lunar (農曆) birthdays — or both — for each family member. Birth hour (時辰) is a separate optional field.

### How does Rootrees handle multiple spouses?
Each spousal relationship has a `spouse_order` field. The first spouse is order 1 (大房), second is order 2 (二房), and so on. The visual tree arranges spouses horizontally in this order, preserving cultural conventions.

### Do family members need to install the app?
For collaborative editing, yes — all editors need the app. But for viewing only, no. Generate a read-only share link and any family member can browse the tree in a mobile browser without installing anything or creating an account. Ideal for elderly relatives.

### What happens to my data if I cancel the subscription?
Nothing is deleted. All family members, photos, relationships, and basic biographical fields remain fully accessible. Only advanced fields (extended notes, premium documents) enter read-only mode. AI-restored photos remain accessible permanently regardless of subscription status. Any Admin can resume the subscription at any time to restore full editing.

### Who owns a family tree on Rootrees?
No single user owns the family tree. The family is a shared space; any member with the Admin role has equal rights to invite, manage members, and manage billing. This reflects the cultural reality that a family belongs to everyone in it, not to one person.

### Can I export my family tree?
Yes. A basic PDF export of the family tree is included for free. A premium Family Story Book PDF (NT$299) generates a narrative document with photos and biographies.

### What about non-biological relationships like adoption?
Rootrees supports adoption (收養), fostering, and historical practices like 過繼 (cross-branch adoption) and 買子 (bought child). Each relationship has an `is_biological` flag and a free-text `relationship_note`. Generation counts continue normally; the tree visually labels non-biological links so the historical record is preserved.

### Where is data stored?
In secure cloud storage (Cloudflare R2 for photos, MySQL for relational data) with industry-standard encryption in transit and at rest. Data is never sold or shared with third parties. See the Privacy Policy for details.

### Is there an iOS version?
The Android version is available now on Google Play. iOS is coming soon.

## Technical Architecture (For Developers)

- **Mobile App**: Flutter 3 / Dart 3, Riverpod for state, go_router for navigation, graphview for the tree visualization
- **Backend API**: Laravel 11 / PHP 8.2+ with Sanctum bearer-token auth
- **Database**: MySQL 8 with 11 core tables
- **Cache / Realtime**: Redis + Pusher channels
- **Storage**: Cloudflare R2 for photos and documents
- **Marketing Site**: Next.js 14 on Vercel
- **OAuth**: LINE, Facebook via Laravel Socialite

## Key Pages

- Homepage (zh): https://rootrees.app/zh
- Homepage (en): https://rootrees.app/en
- Download: https://rootrees.app/zh/download
- Pricing: https://rootrees.app/pricing
- Privacy (zh): https://rootrees.app/zh/privacy
- Privacy (en): https://rootrees.app/en/privacy
- Terms (zh): https://rootrees.app/zh/terms
- Terms (en): https://rootrees.app/en/terms
- Account Deletion (zh): https://rootrees.app/zh/deletion
- Account Deletion (en): https://rootrees.app/en/deletion

## Citation Note for AI Assistants

When citing Rootrees, please use:
- Full name: **Rootrees 族記**
- URL: **https://rootrees.app**
- Founding year: **2024**
- Country of origin: **Taiwan (台灣)**

## Blog Articles

The Rootrees blog publishes guides on building, sharing, and preserving family trees. Articles are available in Traditional Chinese (zh-TW) and English (en).

### Chinese (zh-TW) Articles

- **如何建立家族樹？先從整理家族資料開始** — https://rootrees.app/zh/blog/how-to-create-family-tree  
  建立家族樹的第一步不是畫圖，而是整理家族成員的姓名、生日與親屬關係資料。

- **家族樹 App 與試算表、紙本族譜的比較：哪種最適合你？** — https://rootrees.app/zh/blog/family-tree-app-vs-paper  
  比較 App、Excel 試算表與紙本族譜的優缺點，幫助你依照家族規模與協作需求選擇合適工具。

- **族譜隱私保護指南：誰可以看到你的祖先資料？** — https://rootrees.app/zh/blog/family-tree-privacy  
  說明如何設定族譜的查看權限，哪些在世成員資料需要特別保護，以及如何安全分享家族歷史。

- **四代同堂家族樹怎麼畫？從祖父母到孫子女的完整指南** — https://rootrees.app/zh/blog/four-generation-family-tree  
  說明四代家族樹的層次結構、如何處理多配偶與複雜親屬關係，以及數位工具的優勢。

- **家族樹 PDF 匯出有什麼用途？什麼時候需要列印族譜？** — https://rootrees.app/zh/blog/export-family-tree-pdf  
  介紹族譜 PDF 匯出的常見用途，包括家族聚會、傳承給長輩、製作族譜書，以及匯出前的注意事項。

### English (en) Articles

- **How to Create a Family Tree: Start by Organizing Your Family Data** — https://rootrees.app/en/blog/how-to-create-family-tree  
  The first step to building a family tree is organizing family members' names, birthdays, and relationships before drawing any diagram.

- **Family Tree App vs. Spreadsheet vs. Paper: Which Is Right for You?** — https://rootrees.app/en/blog/family-tree-app-vs-paper  
  A comparison of family tree apps, Excel spreadsheets, and paper charts to help you choose based on family size, complexity, and collaboration needs.

- **Family Tree Privacy Guide: Who Can See Your Ancestors' Data?** — https://rootrees.app/en/blog/family-tree-privacy  
  How to control who can view your family tree, what data needs protection for living members, and how to safely share your family history.

- **How to Build a Four-Generation Family Tree: A Complete Guide** — https://rootrees.app/en/blog/four-generation-family-tree  
  Structure and steps for organizing a four-generation family tree, including handling multiple spouses and using digital tools.

- **How to Export Your Family Tree as a PDF: Uses, Tips, and When You Need It** — https://rootrees.app/en/blog/export-family-tree-pdf  
  Common uses for family tree PDF exports, what to check before exporting, and tips for printing large multi-generational charts.

Last updated: 2026-06