Swe Programming Elixir

Elixir Stack Coding Standards

Purpose

Progressive disclosure of Elixir stack coding standards for agents writing Elixir code.

Coverage: Elixir language → Phoenix Framework → Phoenix LiveView (full technology stack)

Usage: Auto-loaded for agents when writing any Elixir/Phoenix code. Provides quick reference to idioms, best practices, and antipatterns across the full stack.

Elixir Language Standards

Authoritative Source: docs/explanation/software-engineering/programming-languages/elixir/README.md

Naming Conventions

Modules: PascalCase

• UserAccount, PaymentProcessor

Functions and Variables: snake_case

• Functions: calculate_total/1, find_user_by_id/1
• Variables: user_name, total_amount

Atoms: lowercase with underscores

• :ok, :error, :not_found

Private Functions: Prefix with def (not defp for documentation)

• Use @doc false for private but need to document

Modern Elixir Features (1.14+)

Pattern Matching: Use extensively

case result do
  {:ok, value} -> process_value(value)
  {:error, reason} -> handle_error(reason)
  _ -> :unknown
end

Pipe Operator: Chain transformations

data
|> parse()
|> validate()
|> process()
|> format()

With Statement: Handle multiple operations

with {:ok, user} <- find_user(id),
     {:ok, account} <- find_account(user.account_id),
     {:ok, balance} <- get_balance(account) do
  {:ok, balance}
end

Protocols: Use for polymorphism

defprotocol Validator do
  def validate(data)
end

Error Handling

Tagged Tuples: Use for results

{:ok, result} | {:error, reason}

Exceptions: Only for exceptional cases

raise ArgumentError, "invalid input"

With Else: Handle error cases

with {:ok, result} <- do_something() do
  result
else
  {:error, :not_found} -> default_value()
  error -> handle_error(error)
end

Concurrency

GenServer: Use for stateful processes

defmodule Counter do
  use GenServer

  def init(initial_value) do
    {:ok, initial_value}
  end

  def handle_call(:get, _from, state) do
    {:reply, state, state}
  end
end

Task: Use for async operations

task = Task.async(fn -> expensive_operation() end)
result = Task.await(task)

Supervision: Always supervise processes

children = [
  {Counter, 0},
  {Worker, []}
]

Supervisor.start_link(children, strategy: :one_for_one)

Testing Standards

ExUnit: Built-in testing framework

defmodule UserTest do
  use ExUnit.Case

  test "creates user with valid data" do
    assert {:ok, user} = User.create(%{name: "John"})
    assert user.name == "John"
  end
end

Doctests: Test examples in documentation

@doc """
Doubles a number.

## Examples

    iex> double(5)
    10
"""
def double(n), do: n * 2

Security Practices

Input Validation: Validate all external input

• Use Ecto changesets for data validation
• Check types and formats

SQL Injection: Use Ecto queries

from(u in User, where: u.id == ^user_id)

Secrets Management: Use runtime configuration

# config/runtime.exs
config :my_app, api_key: System.get_env("API_KEY")

Elixir Comprehensive Documentation

• Elixir README
• Functional Programming

Phoenix Framework Standards

Authoritative Source: docs/explanation/software-engineering/platform-web/tools/elixir-phoenix/README.md

Foundation: Builds on Elixir language standards above.

Context Patterns

• Use contexts to group related functionality
• Keep contexts focused and bounded
• Contexts expose public API, hide implementation
• Use schemas within contexts for data structures

Controllers and Views

• Keep controllers thin, delegate to contexts
• Use action fallback for error handling
• Render JSON with Jason for APIs
• Use Phoenix.HTML helpers for templates

Routing

• Use resources for RESTful routes
• Scope routes by authentication requirements
• Use plugs for request pipeline customization
• Apply rate limiting at router level

Channels and PubSub

• Use channels for real-time bidirectional communication
• Leverage Phoenix.PubSub for process communication
• Implement presence tracking for user activity
• Handle channel errors gracefully

Data Access with Ecto

• Use Ecto schemas for data modeling
• Apply changesets for data validation
• Write composable Ecto queries
• Use Repo for database operations
• Apply database transactions for consistency

REST API Design

• Use JSON:API or GraphQL conventions
• Implement proper HTTP status codes
• Apply authentication with Guardian or Pow
• Version APIs with URL prefixes or headers
• Document APIs with ExDoc

Phoenix Comprehensive Documentation

Core Patterns:

• Idioms
• Best Practices
• Anti-Patterns

Architecture & Configuration:

• Configuration
• Contexts
• Channels

Data & Web:

• Data Access
• REST APIs

Quality & Operations:

• Security
• Testing
• Performance
• Observability
• Deployment
• Version Migration

Phoenix LiveView Standards

Authoritative Source: docs/explanation/software-engineering/platform-web/tools/elixir-phoenix/liveview.md

Foundation: Builds on Phoenix Framework standards above.

LiveView Lifecycle

• mount/3 — Initialize socket state on first load
• handle_params/3 — Handle URL parameter changes
• handle_event/3 — Process client events
• handle_info/2 — Handle process messages
• render/1 — Generate HTML template

State Management

• Use assign/3 to update socket state
• Keep state minimal and normalized
• Use temporary assigns for one-time data
• Apply Phoenix.Component.update/2 for derived state

Event Handling

• Use phx-click, phx-submit, phx-change for user events
• Implement debouncing with phx-debounce
• Apply throttling with phx-throttle
• Use phx-hook for JavaScript interop

Components

• Use function components for stateless UI
• Apply LiveComponent for stateful isolated components
• Keep components focused and reusable
• Pass assigns explicitly, avoid global state

Real-time Updates

• Use Phoenix.PubSub for broadcasting updates
• Subscribe in mount/3, unsubscribe automatically
• Apply push_event/3 for client-side JavaScript
• Use streams for efficient list updates

Form Handling

• Use Phoenix.Component.form/1 for forms
• Apply Ecto changesets for validation
• Implement inline validation with phx-change
• Handle file uploads with allow_upload/3

Performance

• Use temporary_assigns for large datasets
• Apply pagination for long lists
• Implement lazy loading for images
• Use Phoenix.LiveView.JS for client-side DOM manipulation

LiveView Testing

• Use Phoenix.LiveViewTest for integration tests
• Test lifecycle callbacks explicitly
• Verify events trigger expected state changes
• Test component rendering and interactions

LiveView Comprehensive Documentation

• Phoenix LiveView — Complete LiveView patterns, lifecycle, components, testing

Related Skills

• docs-applying-content-quality
• repo-practicing-trunk-based-development