prompts/docs/EXISTING_REPO_CHECKLIST.md

Existing Repo Checklist

Use this checklist when beginning work in a repo that may not yet conform to our development policies.

Work on a feature branch. Check each item and fix any gaps before proceeding with your task.

Formatting (do this first)

• If the repo has never been formatted to our standards, run make fmt and commit the result as a standalone branch/commit/PR before any other changes. Formatting diffs can be large and should not be mixed with functional changes.

Required Files

• README.md exists with all required sections (Description, Getting Started, Rationale, Design, TODO, License, Author)
• LICENSE file exists and matches the README
• REPO_POLICIES.md exists and version date is current with the authoritative source
• .gitignore is comprehensive (OS, editor, language artifacts, secrets) — fetch from https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/raw/branch/main/.gitignore if missing
• .editorconfig exists
• Dockerfile and .dockerignore exist
• Language-specific config:
  • Go: go.mod, go.sum, .golangci.yml
  • JS: package.json, yarn.lock, .prettierrc, .prettierignore
  • Python: pyproject.toml
  • Docs/writing: .prettierrc, .prettierignore

Makefile

• Makefile exists in root — reference the model Makefile
• Has targets: test, lint, fmt, fmt-check, check, docker, hooks
• make check does not modify any files in the repo
• make test has a 30-second timeout
• make check passes on current branch

Formatting

• Platform-standard formatter is configured (black, prettier, go fmt)
• Default formatter config, only exception: four-space indents (except Go)
• All files pass make fmt-check

Git Hygiene

• Pre-commit hook is installed (make hooks)
• No secrets in the repo (.env, keys, credentials)
• No mutable references in Dockerfiles or scripts (tags, @latest) — all pinned by cryptographic hash with version/date comment
• Using yarn, not npm (JS projects)

Directory Structure

• No unnecessary files in repo root
• Files organized into canonical subdirectories (bin/, cmd/, docs/, internal/, static/, etc.)
• Go migrations in internal/db/migrations/ and embedded in binary

Final

• make check passes
• docker build succeeds
• Commit and merge fixes before starting your actual task