commandkit/docs/development.md

# Developing CommandKit

CommandKit is distributed as a core Go module and two optional integration
modules. Core owns captured declarations, typed input preparation, installation,
dispatch, outcomes, help, and version. `integrations/ckconfig` owns ConfigKit
scope adaptation and reports; `integrations/ckprompt` owns PromptKit engine and
definition inspection adapters. The maintained
[consumer guide](consumers/guide.md) links to the three maintained consumers.
The [README](../README.md) provides project orientation; the
[documentation policy](policy/documentation.md#canonical-ownership) assigns
canonical documentation owners.

## Initial orientation

1. Inspect the worktree and preserve unrelated staged and unstaged changes.
2. Read the [agent policy](policy/agents.md) and select other applicable policies
   using the guide below.
3. Read the owning roadmap for proposals and implementation status, and the
   applicable ADR for accepted decisions and rationale.
4. Inspect implementation and relevant consumer contracts when they exist.

## Policy Reading Guide

| Policy | Read before… |
| --- | --- |
| [Policy set provenance](policy/meta.md) | Adopting policies, checking upstream revisions, or updating the adopted policy set. |
| [Agents](policy/agents.md) | Recommending, planning, or implementing repository changes. |
| [Architecture](policy/architecture.md) | Planning or changing Go library code or its structure. |
| [Testing](policy/testing.md) | Selecting validation for code changes, or adding, changing, removing, or evaluating tests. |
| [Documentation](policy/documentation.md) | Writing, revising, or reorganizing documentation. |
| [OSS](policy/oss.md) | Adding or updating dependencies or incorporated third-party material, or changing licensing or attribution. |
| [Release](policy/release.md) | Preparing or publishing a release, changing release procedures, or making versioning and compatibility decisions. |

- Read applicable policies before making decisions they govern; multiple policies
  may apply.
- Select policies using the task triggers above. Follow cross-references to
  relevant sections when needed to resolve a concrete question.
- Reuse policies already available in context; reread when changed or no longer
  available.
- Expand reading when the task's scope expands.
- When revising a policy itself, read that policy and any provisions elsewhere
  affected by the revision.

## Task-specific reading guide

| Task | Read |
| --- | --- |
| Implemented CLI behavior | [CLI reference](cli.md) |
| Public API usage and standard-suite wiring | [Consumer guide](consumers/guide.md), [ckconfig package](../integrations/ckconfig/doc.go), [ckprompt package](../integrations/ckprompt/doc.go), and applicable ADRs |
| Dispatcher, registration, or typed inputs | [Command declarations](../command.go), [bindings](../binding.go), [invocation](../execute.go), and [ADR 0001](adr/0001-command-dispatch-and-inputs.md), refined by [ADR 0011](adr/0011-captured-declarations-and-installation.md) |
| Backend integration | [Internal overview](internal/overview.md), [adapter implementation](../internal/cobra/parse.go), and [ADR 0002](adr/0002-cobra-backend.md) |
| Public facade or adapter boundaries | [Internal overview](internal/overview.md), [ADR 0003](adr/0003-public-facade.md) as scoped by [ADR 0010](adr/0010-optional-integration-modules.md), and the architecture policy |
| Module ownership and public contracts | [Consumer guide](consumers/guide.md), [internal overview](internal/overview.md), [core GoDoc](../doc.go), [ckconfig GoDoc](../integrations/ckconfig/doc.go), [ckprompt GoDoc](../integrations/ckprompt/doc.go), and applicable ADRs |
| Deferred capabilities and proposals | [Deferred work](roadmap/deferred.md) |
| Completed planning and implementation history | [Earlier retired records](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/CommandKit/src/commit/6bc37e7ba64ca0920b4d0cc77039a18d4006b24e/docs/roadmap) and [completed module implementation and remediation](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/CommandKit/src/commit/bb2528532b78d30e52f5082e491a5e1fd9b0fb99/docs/roadmap) in Git history |
| Release tooling | [Maintainer release procedure](release.md) |
| Performance maintenance | [Internal overview](internal/overview.md), existing benchmarks, and [deferred efficiency work](roadmap/deferred.md#possible-further-efficiency-work) |
| Licensing or incorporated material | [Project grant](../COPYRIGHT), [license texts](../LICENSE), and [attribution](oss/attribution.md) |
| Policy provenance | [Policy provenance](policy/meta.md) |

Read all applicable rows for cross-cutting work. Go declarations and GoDoc own
current exported contracts; the CLI reference owns operator behavior. The
[maintainer release procedure](release.md) owns current release operations.
Completed roadmaps and implementation evidence remain available in Git history;
they are not assignments to restart completed work. The
[deferred-work record](roadmap/deferred.md) preserves future capability targets
and unselected proposals separately from current contracts.

## Documentation validation

For current prose work, inspect relevant diffs, check local links and fragment
destinations, check provenance and template residue, and confirm that statements
about current behavior match the repository. Include intended new files in that
review. Preserve supplied license-text formatting and compare copied texts with
their pinned source.

For tracked and staged prose, run from the repository root:

```sh
git diff --check -- '*.md' COPYRIGHT
git diff --cached --check -- '*.md' COPYRIGHT
```

These commands do not cover untracked files. Review their contents and whitespace
before staging, or use the staged check after staging only the intended files.
Sibling-checkout references in retired planning records are historical review
evidence, not build dependencies. Implemented contracts belong in CommandKit
under their canonical owners.

The root module does not traverse nested modules. During development, use a
local workspace for all three modules; it is ignored and must not be committed.
If a local `go.work` already exists, preserve it and add these module directories:

```sh
if [ -f go.work ]; then
    go work use . ./integrations/ckconfig ./integrations/ckprompt
else
    go work init . ./integrations/ckconfig ./integrations/ckprompt
fi
go test ./...
(cd integrations/ckconfig && go test ./...)
(cd integrations/ckprompt && go test ./...)
```

The workspace checks package behavior. Workspace-off checks with each module's
own dependency graph are separate evidence. For unpublished CommandKit dependency
versions, the [completed sprint's validation record](https://gitea.maximumdirect.net/eric/CommandKit/src/commit/bb2528532b78d30e52f5082e491a5e1fd9b0fb99/docs/roadmap/implementation.md#stage-16-validate-the-complete-end-state-and-finish-the-sprint)
describes the disposable module-file procedure used during implementation.
Format changed Go files with `gofmt`. The
[maintainer release procedure](release.md) owns candidate preparation and
publication commands.

## Release tooling development

The local publication exercise is opt-in and uses disposable Git repositories.
Prepare the module cache before running it; ordinary tests do not bootstrap or
publish a release:

```sh
GOWORK=off GOTOOLCHAIN=local go mod download
COMMANDKIT_RELEASE_INTEGRATION=1 GOWORK=off GOTOOLCHAIN=local GOPROXY=off GONOPROXY=none GOSUMDB=off go test -mod=readonly -count=1 ./scripts -run '^TestReleaseIntegration$'
```

Follow the [local commit policy](policy/agents.md#git-commit-policy). Completed
units receive local commits by default, subject to explicit user instructions.
Preserve unrelated work; default commit authorization does not authorize pushing
or publishing.

## Current public examples

The maintained consumers compile with their owning module suites and run without
external services:

```sh
go run ./examples/core workspace greet --count=0 --tag=first --tag second
(cd integrations/ckconfig/examples/simple && go run . config show)
(cd integrations/ckconfig/examples/simple && go run . config diff --config fixtures/before.yml --against-config fixtures/after.yml)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . config validate --scope all --campaign spring --limit=0)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . config diff --scope app --config fixtures/before.yml --against-config fixtures/after.yml)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . config diff --scope promptkit --config fixtures/before.yml --against-config fixtures/after.yml --campaign spring)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . promptkit list prompts --config fixtures/before.yml --campaign spring)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . promptkit list profiles --config fixtures/after.yml --campaign autumn --format yaml)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . promptkit show prompt briefing --campaign spring --format yaml)
(cd integrations/ckprompt/examples/composed && go run . session restore session-42 --campaign spring)
```

The [consumer guide](consumers/guide.md) explains how their public API usage
fits together.