docs: Phase 38 animated stickers and v0.8.4 roadmap parity

Add STICKERS.md, mark Phase 38 and P5-4 partial complete, update parity
summary to v0.8.4, cross-link from EMOJI.md, and register pearcord-stickers
in GITEA_DEVELOPER.

EMOJI.md

@@ -77,7 +77,10 @@ cd apps/pearcord && npm run test:emoji
 npm run test:emoji-image   # EMOJI_IMAGE_SMOKE_OK
 ```
 
+## Stickers
+
+Animated GIF/WebP stickers live in **`pearcord-stickers`** — see [STICKERS.md](./STICKERS.md).
+
 ## Future
 
-- Animated stickers (APNG)
 - HyperDB `@pearcord/guild-emojis` collection

GITEA_DEVELOPER.md

@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ git remote -v
 | `pearcord-boosts` | Local guild cosmetic boosts + `GUILD_BOOST_UPDATE` gossip |
 | `pearcord-voice-capture` | Mic PCM feed from UI into voice media |
 | `pearcord-display-capture` | Display JPEG feed from UI into screen share |
+| `pearcord-stickers` | Guild animated stickers + `STICKER_UPSERT` gossip |
 | `pearcord-device-sync` | `pcdv_` multi-device pairing |
 | `pearcord-emoji` | Guild emoji registry + `EMOJI_UPSERT` gossip |
 | `pearcord-sync` | Planned Autobase bridge |

PEARCORD_PARITY.md

@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ Gap analysis between **Pearcord** (P2P Pear app) and a typical **centralized cha
 
 > This is the only doc that compares against an external reference product. All other docs use Pearcord naming only.
 
-## Summary (v0.8.3)
+## Summary (v0.8.4)
 
 | Area | Reference product | Pearcord | Gap |
 |------|-------------------|----------|-----|
 | Account | Email/OAuth, cloud profile | Local username + HyperDB + **`pcdv_` device link** | No cloud identity recovery |
 | Servers | Hosted guilds | P2P guild topic + local DB + **public discovery mesh** | No curated global index (fully P2P topic) |
-| Text chat | Full | … **announcement** follow/cross-post, **forum**, threads, typing, **guild emoji** | animated stickers |
+| Text chat | Full | … **announcement** follow/cross-post, **forum**, threads, typing, **guild emoji**, **animated stickers** | sticker packs / Lottie |
 | DMs | E2E optional | … **sidebar previews**, **group DM (3–10)**, read-on-open | Full E2E group vault |
 | Voice/video | WebRTC SFU | Voice + **stage** + **Opus audio** + **mic capture** + **P2P screen share** + **display capture** | HD video stream, SFU scale |
 | Moderation | Roles, bans, automod | Kick, ban, timeout, roles UI, slowmode, audit+gossip; **local automod** (keywords, mentions, invites); step-up PIN | ML/heuristic cloud automod |
@@ -110,8 +110,9 @@ Phases **0–2** and **4** are largely complete; **3** (live audio) and **5** (n
 | P35-1 | Guild cosmetic boosts (local Nitro-style) | [x] v0.8.1 |
 | P36-1 | Microphone capture bridge (Web Audio → P2P voice) | [x] v0.8.2 |
 | P37-1 | Display capture for screen share (getDisplayMedia → P2P frames) | [x] v0.8.3 |
+| P38-1 | Animated guild stickers (GIF/WebP, STICKER_UPSERT) | [x] v0.8.4 |
 
-**Next tranches:** Animated stickers · remote announcement hub · per-user boost ledger · onboarding smoke expansion.
+**Next tranches:** Remote announcement hub · per-user boost ledger · sticker packs · UI flow smoke.
 
 When Phase 5 checklist is `[x]`, copy open items here into tracked rows in `PLATFORM_ROADMAP.md`.
 

PLATFORM_ROADMAP.md

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ Track implementation status here. Update checkboxes as phases land.
 | P5-1 | Server discovery (P2P topic directory) | [~] public listings mesh + explore UI + filters + TTL prune |
 | P5-2 | Notifications + unread badges | [x] inbox + prefs + desktop + guild badges |
 | P5-3 | Search (hyperdb indexes) | [~] guild-wide local search + channel filter |
-| P5-4 | Emoji/sticker packs (hyperdrive) | [~] unicode + image emoji on drive |
+| P5-4 | Emoji/sticker packs (hyperdrive) | [~] unicode + image emoji + animated stickers |
 | P5-5 | User settings sync (hyperconf) | [~] notification + appearance prefs topics |
 | P5-6 | Mobile companion (future) | [ ] |
 | P5-7 | Nitro-equivalent local boosts (cosmetic) | [x] |
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ See [PEARCORD_PARITY.md](./PEARCORD_PARITY.md) for full gap analysis and Phases
 | `pearcord-boosts` | Local guild cosmetic boosts + `GUILD_BOOST_UPDATE` gossip |
 | `pearcord-voice-capture` | Mic PCM bridge from UI into voice media |
 | `pearcord-display-capture` | Display JPEG feed from UI into screen share |
+| `pearcord-stickers` | Guild animated stickers + `STICKER_UPSERT` gossip |
 
 ---
 
@@ -241,6 +242,16 @@ When completing work, change `[ ]` → `[x]` and add a one-line note under **Cha
 
 ---
 
+### Phase 38 — Animated stickers (v0.8.4)
+
+| ID | Item | Status |
+|----|------|--------|
+| P38-1 | `pearcord-stickers` module + `STICKER_UPSERT` RPC 49 | [x] |
+| P38-2 | Platform APIs + picker tabs + inline animated render | [x] |
+| P38-3 | smoke-stickers + STICKERS.md + onboarding emoji asserts | [x] |
+
+---
+
 ### Phase 37 — Display capture for screen share (v0.8.3)
 
 | ID | Item | Status |
@@ -464,6 +475,7 @@ When completing work, change `[ ]` → `[x]` and add a one-line note under **Cha
 
 ### Changelog
 
+- **2026-05-21** — v0.8.4: animated guild stickers (`pearcord-stickers`, STICKER_UPSERT RPC 49, picker tabs, smoke-stickers, STICKERS.md).
 - **2026-05-21** — v0.8.3: display capture for screen share (`pearcord-display-capture`, getDisplayMedia JPEG @ 2 fps, smoke-display-capture, DISPLAY_CAPTURE.md).
 - **2026-05-21** — v0.8.2: microphone capture (`pearcord-voice-capture`, UI Web Audio → IPC, mic/synthetic indicator, smoke-voice-capture, VOICE_CAPTURE.md).
 - **2026-05-21** — v0.8.1: guild cosmetic boosts (`pearcord-boosts`, RPC 48, levels 0–3, server settings + UI accents, smoke-boosts, GUILD_BOOSTS.md).

STICKERS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# Guild animated stickers (v0.8.4+)
+
+P2P **animated stickers** (GIF/WebP/PNG up to 512 KB) — separate from unicode/image emoji, synced via `STICKER_UPSERT` (RPC 49).
+
+## Module
+
+`pearcord-stickers` — `PearcordStickerRegistry` (JsonStore per guild).
+
+## Upload
+
+Mods with **Manage Server** add stickers from the composer **😀** picker → **Stickers** tab → **+ Sticker**.
+
+| Field | Rule |
+|-------|------|
+| Name | `a-z`, `0-9`, `_` (2–32 chars) |
+| File | GIF, WebP, or PNG — max **512 KB** |
+| Mesh | `STICKER_UPSERT` + `ATTACHMENT_META` on Hyperdrive |
+
+## Messages
+
+Type `:sticker_name:` in chat — renders as an animated `<img class="inline-sticker">` when the blob is cached locally.
+
+## Gossip
+
+| RPC | ID | Payload |
+|-----|-----|---------|
+| `STICKER_UPSERT` | 49 | Full sticker row (`guildId`, `name`, `attachmentId`, `mimeType`, `animated`, …) |
+
+## Platform API
+
+| Method | Description |
+|--------|-------------|
+| `upsertGuildSticker({ name, description?, image? })` | Mod only |
+| `listGuildStickers()` | List for active guild |
+| `readStickerImage(nameOrAttachmentId)` | Preview bytes |
+
+View: `guildStickers`.
+
+## IPC
+
+| type | fields |
+|------|--------|
+| `upsert-guild-sticker` | `name`, `description?`, `image?` (`dataBase64`, `filename`, `mimeType`) |
+| `request-emoji-image` | Reused for sticker attachment previews |
+
+## Tests
+
+```bash
+cd apps/pearcord
+npm run test:stickers      # STICKERS_SMOKE_OK
+npm run test:emoji-image
+npm run test:boot
+```
+
+## Future
+
+- Sticker packs / categories
+- Sticker-only message type (no `:name:` token)
+- Lottie / APNG first-class