Using Tidyjs

Before writing any tidyjs code, you MUST read the relevant docs. tidyjs has a distinctive pipeline pattern and function taxonomy that differs from pandas, SQL, and lodash. Pre-training knowledge is often wrong for this library — always prefer the docs.

Locating the docs

The genai-docs should be found at one of these locations. Check in order:

1. npm package: node_modules/@tidyjs/tidy/genai-docs/

If found, use that path as DOCS_ROOT below and proceed to How to navigate.

If docs are not found locally

Fetch them from the public docs site. The AI-optimized docs are available at:

https://pbeshai.github.io/tidy/genai-docs/

The site also has llms.txt at https://pbeshai.github.io/tidy/llms.txt with a full index.

Key files to fetch:

• https://pbeshai.github.io/tidy/genai-docs/mental-model.md — start here
• https://pbeshai.github.io/tidy/genai-docs/quick-reference.md — task-to-function lookup
• https://pbeshai.github.io/tidy/genai-docs/gotchas.md — common mistakes
• Then fetch specific api-*.md files as needed

How to navigate

1. Start: Read DOCS_ROOT/mental-model.md for the pipeline pattern, accessor conventions, and function taxonomy. This is essential before writing any code.
2. Quick lookup: Read DOCS_ROOT/quick-reference.md to find which function to use for a given task.
3. API details: Read the relevant api-*.md file for function signatures, parameters, and examples:
   • Core verbs (tidy, filter, mutate, arrange, select, etc.): api-core.md
   • Grouping: api-grouping.md
   • Summarize + aggregation functions: api-summarize.md
   • Vector/cross-item operations: api-vector.md
   • Joins: api-joins.md
   • Pivoting: api-pivot.md
   • Slicing: api-slice.md
   • Column selectors: api-selectors.md
   • Sequences: api-sequences.md
   • Other (complete, expand, fill, TMath, etc.): api-other.md
4. Recipes: Read DOCS_ROOT/patterns.md for multi-verb composition patterns.
5. Avoid mistakes: Read DOCS_ROOT/gotchas.md before finalizing code.

Key principles

• Always read before writing: Read the relevant api doc for every function you use.
• Pipeline pattern: All transformations flow through tidy(data, verb1(), verb2()). Verbs are curried functions.
• Accessor functions, not strings: Use (d) => d.column for field access, not string column names (except in summary functions like sum('key') and sort helpers like desc('key')).
• mutate vs mutateWithSummary: mutate is per-item (item, index, array) => value. mutateWithSummary receives the full array (items[]) => value[] | value. Using summary/vector functions inside mutate() is a silent bug. Always check gotchas.md if unsure.
• groupBy export modes: Without an export option, groupBy returns a flat array. With groupBy.object(), .entries(), .map(), etc., the output shape changes. Export modes must be the last pipeline step.
• Check the function taxonomy: Summary functions go inside summarize(). Vector functions go inside mutateWithSummary(). Item functions go inside mutate(). Selectors go inside select(). Getting this wrong produces incorrect results.