Module Detect On The Fly

module-detect-on-the-fly

When to use

Fires the first time the agent edits, reads, or references a file inside a module-shaped path while the project has not yet opted into the module config. Goal: catch projects with real module structure that never ran /agents init or the GUI wizard, and offer to enable the config — once, without nagging.

Trigger heuristic (any one):

• The agent is about to edit a path matching */Modules/*, */app/Modules/*, */packages/*/<non-noise>, */apps/*/<non-noise>, */src/Module*/*, or */internal/*/<non-noise>.
• The user names such a path in their request.
• A /module * command runs while modules.enabled is false.

Hard gate — skip the skill entirely when any of these hold:

1. modules.enabled is true (already configured — use module-management).
2. modules.detection_acknowledged is true (user already answered).
3. The path matches a _NOISE_SEGMENTS entry (vendor, node_modules, dist, build, etc.) — see scripts/_lib/module_detection.ts.

Confirm both flags via get_modules_config() before running detection.

Procedure

1. Detect — call detect_module_roots(project_root) from scripts/_lib/module_detection.ts. Returns a list of ModuleCandidate ordered high → medium confidence.

2. Bail early — if the list is empty OR every candidate has confidence: "medium" AND no candidate matches the path the agent is currently working on, skip silently. (False positives nag worse than missed detections.)

3. Surface once — present a single numbered-options block:

   Detected module-shaped structure not yet in config:
   - app/Modules/  (laravel-hmvc, high confidence, 4 modules)
   - packages/     (node-monorepo, medium confidence, 2 candidates)
   
   1. Enable modules config — add detected paths to
      `.agent-project-settings.yml` so module-aware skills activate.
   2. Not now — silence this prompt for the project (you can revisit
      via `/agents init` later).
   3. Show details first — list the candidates with their stack guess
      and per-module subdirs before deciding.
   
   Recommendation: 1 when the high-confidence list matches your
   intent. 2 when the layout is intentionally flat.
   

4. Persist the choice:

   • Option 1 — build the payload (matches propose_modules_config.ts --json shape, includes detection_acknowledged: true), pipe into ./scripts-run src/scripts/apply_modules_config --project <root>.
   • Option 2 — run ./scripts-run src/scripts/apply_modules_config --project <root> --acknowledge-only. Flips only the ack flag; every other modules.* key stays untouched.
   • Option 3 — list candidates, then loop back to step 3.

5. Resume the original task — never block work on the prompt. If the user picks 2, treat the project as flat for the rest of the session.

Output format

1. One-paragraph note naming the detected paths + stack guess + confidence per row.
2. Single numbered-options block (1 = enable, 2 = silence, 3 = show details).
3. After the user picks: the apply-script invocation that was run, then resume the original task on the next turn.

Gotcha

• False positives nag worse than misses. Only fire when is_module_like_path() matches AND detect_module_roots() returns a high-confidence candidate that overlaps the path the agent is touching. Pure medium-only hits on unrelated paths → skip silently.
• Vendored trees mimic module shape. vendor/foo/Modules/Bar, node_modules/*/packages/*, dist/Modules/* — the noise filter in is_module_like_path() already drops these, but never call detect_module_roots() against a vendored sub-root.
• Maintainer dogfooding. This repo (event4u/agent-config) ships packages/*/agents/ that look module-shaped. The repo's own .agent-project-settings.yml sets detection_acknowledged: true to silence the skill here.
• Intentional flat monorepos. When packages/* is just a vendoring directory for unrelated tools, option 2 is the right answer and the skill must respect it permanently.

Do NOT

• Do NOT background-scan. Detection only runs when the trigger heuristic fires on a path the agent is actively touching.
• Do NOT re-prompt once modules.detection_acknowledged is true. Re-entry goes through /agents init, never automatic.
• Do NOT auto-enable on a high-confidence match. The user has to pick option 1 — the whole point is one explicit decision.
• Do NOT commit or push the patched .agent-project-settings.yml. Persistence writes the file only; staging is the user's call per commit-policy.
• Do NOT block the original task on the prompt. If the user ignores the options block, continue the work and treat the project as flat for the rest of the session.

Project & module detection reference

Origin: migrated from src/rules/architecture.md per the P4 pattern of road-to-kernel-and-router.md. The rule keeps the Iron-Law block, General Principles, and the ADR paragraph; the detection mechanics live here.

Project detection

Detect the current project type from the Git remote URL, directory name, or project files:

• PHP — composer.json (framework slot: Laravel via artisan, Symfony via bin/console, standalone otherwise).
• JS / TS — package.json (framework slot: Next.js via next dep, Nuxt via nuxt, Express / Fastify / NestJS via deps; plain Node otherwise).
• Python — pyproject.toml / requirements.txt (framework slot: Django via django, FastAPI via fastapi, Flask via flask).
• Go — go.mod (framework slot: gin, echo, fiber, stdlib net/http).
• Ruby — Gemfile (framework slot: Rails via rails gem, Sinatra otherwise).
• Rust — Cargo.toml (framework slot: axum, actix-web, rocket).
• Check AGENTS.md or agents/ for project-specific documentation.

Tooling lives in a runner file at the project root — detect once and reuse the result: Taskfile.yml → task, Makefile → make, package.json scripts: → npm / pnpm / yarn, pyproject.toml [tool.poetry.scripts] or [project.scripts] → poetry / uv, framework CLIs (artisan, bin/console, manage.py, bin/rails) when the matching manifest is present.

Project-specific architecture docs

Each project documents its own architecture in ./agents/ and/or AGENTS.md. Always read those files before making structural decisions. Do not rely on generic rules for project-specific directory layouts, database conventions, or module systems.

Module-level documentation

Some projects use a module system (e.g. app/Modules/ in Laravel, apps//packages/ in a Turborepo, src/modules/ in NestJS, internal/ in Go). Module roots and the per-module agent-docs folder are configured via modules.root_paths and modules.agent_folder in .agent-settings.yml (resolve at runtime via scripts/_lib/agent_settings.ts::enumerate_modules()). Modules may have their own agent docs under {module_root}/*/{agent_folder}/ (Laravel shape: app/Modules/*/agents/) with:

• Module descriptions and feature docs
• Module-specific roadmaps (agents/roadmaps/)
• Module-specific documentation (Docs/)

When working on a module, always check for module-level agent docs first.

Packages

Packages (Composer, npm, etc.) may also use ./agents/ in their root for package-specific docs and roadmaps. Treat them the same way as projects.

Build / task runner detection

Projects use either Makefile or Taskfile.yml (or both) for common commands. Always check which one exists and read it to discover available targets for testing, quality checks, container access, migrations, etc.

• Makefile → use make <target>
• Taskfile.yml → use task <target>

Prefer these targets over raw docker compose exec commands when available.

See also

• module-management — the active skill once modules are configured.
• scripts/_lib/module_detection.ts — detect_module_roots() + is_module_like_path() helpers.
• scripts/apply_modules_config.ts — persistence with --acknowledge-only for option 2.
• commands/agents/init.md — the explicit re-entry point if the user wants to revisit detection later.