Development Philosophy

Development Philosophy

Core Principle: Less is more

Keep every implementation as small and obvious as possible.

Guidelines

• Simplicity first – Prefer the simplest data structures and APIs that work
• Avoid needless abstractions – Refactor only when duplication hurts
• Remove dead code early – pnpm tidy scans for unused files/deps and lets you delete them in one command
• Minimize dependencies – Before adding a dependency, ask "Can we do this with what we already have?"
• Consistency wins – Follow existing naming and file-layout patterns; if you must diverge, document why
• Explicit over implicit – Favor clear, descriptive names and type annotations over clever tricks
• Fail fast – Validate inputs, throw early, and surface actionable errors
• Let the code speak – If you need a multi-paragraph comment, refactor until intent is obvious

REQUIRED COMMANDS AFTER CODE CHANGES

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED: After using edit_file tool:

1. Run pnpm format
2. Run pnpm build-sdk
3. Run pnpm check-types
4. Run pnpm tidy
5. Run pnpm test

These commands are part of the edit_file operation itself.

(CI also runs these steps; your PR will fail if any step fails.)

Pull Request Guidelines

When to Create a Pull Request

• Create PRs in meaningful minimum units - even 1 commit or ~20 lines of diff is fine
• Feature Flags protect unreleased features, so submit PRs for any meaningful unit of work
• After PR submission, create a new branch from the current branch and continue development

What Constitutes a "Meaningful Unit"

• Any UI change (border color, text color, size, etc.)
• Function renames or folder structure changes
• Any self-contained improvement or fix

Size Guidelines

• ~500 lines: Consider wrapping up current work for a PR
• 1000 lines: Maximum threshold - avoid exceeding this
• Large diffs are acceptable when API + UI changes are coupled, but still aim to break down when possible

Bash commands

• pnpm build-sdk: build the SDK packages
• pnpm -F playground build: build the playground app
• pnpm -F studio.giselles.ai build: build Giselle Cloud
• pnpm check-types: type‑check the project
• pnpm format: format code
• pnpm tidy --fix: delete unused files/dependencies
• pnpm tidy: diagnose unused files/dependencies
• pnpm test: run tests

Language Support

• Some core members are non‑native English speakers.
• Please correct grammar in commit messages, code comments, and PR discussions.
• Rewrite unclear user input when necessary to ensure smooth communication.