Finalize ConfigKit design and implementation plan
This commit is contained in:
@@ -2,29 +2,119 @@
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**Base Policy Version:** 1.0
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**Last Updated**: 2026-09-06
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**Last Updated:** 2026-09-06
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## Base Policy Template
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## Purpose and applicability
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This document is the base template for the canonical architecture policy,. Repositories that implement this policy should:
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ConfigKit is an opinionated Go library for consistent YAML configuration loading
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and resolution across consuming applications. This policy governs contributions
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now; it does not claim that the target features are implemented. The
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[component overview](../internal/overview.md) owns implementation inventory and
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[initial roadmap](../roadmap/initial.md) owns unimplemented target behavior.
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1. Revise this document to include an architectural policy tailored to the implementing repository, including a description of the repository's purpose, overall intended system shape, and any architectural and/or engineering invariants that must be maintained during future development;
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2. Ensure that any supporting documents referenced in the architecture policy are present on the filesystem, even if the initial content is simply `TODO`;
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3. Update the `Last Updated` field to the current date; and
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4. Remove this heading (`Base Policy Template`) and the associated text.
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## Success criteria
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As compared to other base policy documents, the Architecture Policy is the document that should be most heavily customized and tailored to the intended architecture of a particular application.
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1. **Reduce application infrastructure:** Can applications delete substantial
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configuration infrastructure while retaining clear ownership of their domain
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rules?
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2. **Unify configuration conventions:** Do consumers adopt one consistent
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configuration model, with only the flexibility needed to express genuine
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application requirements?
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## Purpose
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Both criteria must hold. ConfigKit should not preserve divergent consumer
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conventions merely for compatibility, nor impose restrictions that prevent useful
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domain information from being expressed. Prefer a canonical representation using
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existing primitives before adding another mechanism. Extend the model when a
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concrete requirement cannot be accommodated cleanly, not simply because a
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consumer already implements a different convention.
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This policy defines the purpose of this repository and the architectural principles that contributors
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must follow during development.
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Use both criteria to evaluate public API changes and consumer adoption. Shared
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loading, presence tracking, source attribution, and diagnostic plumbing should
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move out of applications; application types, defaults, normalization, and semantic
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validation should remain recognizable application code. Replacing that plumbing
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with equally repetitive callback bookkeeping does not meet the first criterion.
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Offering alternate parsing, precedence, or composition conventions through escape
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hatches does not meet the second.
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TODO: Complete this document.
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Consumer migrations are expected and may intentionally change configuration
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syntax. Existing consumer code supplies implementation foundations and evidence
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of needs; it does not define ConfigKit's compatibility obligations. Once ConfigKit
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publishes its own contracts, changes to those contracts remain governed by the
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[release policy](release.md).
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Non-limiting examples of topics that may be addressed by an architectural policy include:
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- Adherence to a hexagonal architecture, including whether external integrations/APIs must be encapsulated within internal adapters (strongly recommended)
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- Whether a library is intended to provide a highly flexible API that supports a variety of downstream consumers, or a strongly opinionated API that is intended to enforce consistency across downstream consumers
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- Whether an application should support a full DAG, or alternatively a strongly ordered sequence of discrete stages
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- Whether the application should use specific external libraries to provide key functionality (e.g., FeedKit, ConfigKit, PromptKit)
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- Any explicit architectural non-goals
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Require representative simple and complex consumer examples to substantiate API
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designs. Proposed extensions must identify the domain requirement, explain why
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existing primitives cannot accommodate it cleanly, and show how the extension
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preserves a coherent model. Application-specific interpretation and validation
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remain appropriate. Reuse Narratio's applicable infrastructure under these
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boundaries, and keep simple consumers independent of optional composition
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features. The [consumer API design](../roadmap/initial.md#consumer-api-design)
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describes the proposed surface; this policy does not claim it is implemented.
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## Responsibility boundaries
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ConfigKit owns configuration input processing and the coordination of decoding,
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resolution, validation, and inspection. Applications own their configuration
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types, field meanings, defaults, normalization, semantic validation, and schema
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version policy. Applications also own main-file search conventions, CLI wiring,
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remote acquisition, runtime initialization, and resource checks.
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Library code must not depend on consuming applications or initialize their
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runtime resources. It must not perform implicit network access, discover
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application-specific paths, or change process-global state to load configuration.
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Remote data can enter through application-supplied input without introducing a
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network provider into the library.
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## Public API and dependency direction
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Keep one small, coherent public surface for the supported lifecycle. Simple
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single-document consumers must not need import, profile, or provider machinery.
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Do not expose parser-specific nodes, errors, or extension hooks through the
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public API. Parser integration belongs behind a private boundary, as recorded
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in [ADR 0002](../adr/0002-own-yaml-semantics.md).
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Separate input access, document processing, composition, decoding, metadata, and
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rendering responsibilities without prescribing an interface or package for each.
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Dependencies must preserve those boundaries; package splits and abstractions
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must earn their complexity. Do not impose a full application or hexagonal
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framework on this library.
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## Configuration integrity
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Composition and intentional overlay are distinct operations. Composition must
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not silently become last-wins override through file ordering. The decision and
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alternatives are recorded in [ADR 0001](../adr/0001-separate-composition-and-overlay.md).
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ConfigKit must define supported YAML semantics explicitly rather than inherit
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parser defaults. Processing order and diagnostics must be deterministic for the
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same inputs and options. Invalid input must not produce a successful usable
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configuration. Do not run application hooks on invalid typed configuration.
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Preserve presence and source information through processing. Ordinary Go zero
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values must not be used to infer whether input was absent. Final configuration,
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metadata, and effective inspection must agree, including application resolution
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changes; see [ADR 0003](../adr/0003-preserve-presence-and-resolution-history.md).
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Detailed syntax and operation tables belong to the target roadmap until their
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current configuration contract is implemented.
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## Ownership and confidentiality
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Returned configuration and metadata must not share mutable state across loads.
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ConfigKit must not mutate a result after returning it. Ordinary exported Go
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values are not language-enforced immutable objects; document caller ownership
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and the lifetime of captured metadata without promising otherwise.
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Secrets must be considered throughout error handling and inspection. Library
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renderers must apply secret classification, and parser errors must not be
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forwarded blindly when they can include raw input. Do not log configuration
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implicitly. Applications remain responsible for classifying their secrets and
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for safe messages supplied by their hooks.
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## Scope boundaries
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Do not introduce automatic directory discovery, network providers, arbitrary
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merge strategies, additional configuration languages, or application runtime
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management without concrete consumer evidence and an explicit design decision.
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The roadmap owns the complete deferred-feature inventory. Significant boundary
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changes require an ADR and corresponding policy/contract updates; implementation
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convenience alone is not a reason to broaden the public API.
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@@ -2,170 +2,126 @@
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**Base Policy Version:** 1.0
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**Last Updated**: 2026-09-06
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## Base Policy Template
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This document is the base template for the canonical documentation policy. Repositories that implement this policy should:
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1. Review the list of documents under the `Canonical Ownership` heading, remove any entries that do not currently apply and are not expected to apply to the current project, and add any additional entries that may be required by the current project;
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2. Ensure that each referenced document is present on the filesystem, even if the initial content is simply `TODO`;
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3. Update the `Last Updated` field to the current date; and
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4. Remove this heading (`Base Policy Template`) and the associated text.
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**Last Updated:** 2026-09-06
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## Purpose
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This policy assigns each documentation topic to one canonical owner. Its goal is
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to keep this application's documentation accurate, concise, discoverable, and resistant
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to drift for users, operators, developers, integrators, and LLM coding agents.
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Assign each documentation topic one canonical owner so ConfigKit's documentation
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remains accurate and useful to consumers, maintainers, and implementation agents.
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## Core Rules
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## Core rules
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### One Canonical Owner
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### One canonical owner
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Each authoritative fact belongs in one document. A non-owning document may give
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a short, stable summary for orientation, but it must link to the canonical owner
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instead of repeating volatile details.
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Each authoritative fact belongs in one owning document or Go declaration's
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reference documentation. Other documents may summarize and link to that owner;
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they must not maintain competing definitions of commands, API contracts, YAML
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semantics, defaults, paths, diagnostics, or compatibility guarantees.
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Volatile details include commands, flags, configuration fields and defaults,
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module keys, schemas, file names, paths, status codes, retry behavior, and
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runtime guarantees. If readers could reasonably treat a statement as a
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contract, maintain it only in the owning document.
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### Policies, current behavior, and future work
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### Current And Future Behavior
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- Policies state currently binding contributor rules, including constraints on
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future implementation. They do not imply that features already exist.
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- Current API/configuration contracts, consumer guidance, and component
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documentation describe implemented behavior only, including partial boundaries.
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- ADRs record accepted decisions and rationale. Acceptance is not evidence of
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implementation; execution status belongs in roadmaps.
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- Roadmaps own unimplemented targets, deferred work, and execution status.
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Outside `docs/roadmap/`, documentation describes implemented behavior only.
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Partial features may be described only to their implemented boundary.
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The initial target and implementation plan have separate owners. Do not put
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staged steps or progress in `docs/roadmap/initial.md`. The future
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`docs/roadmap/implementation.md` will own those details when it is created.
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As behavior lands, move its normative definition into the current contract and
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replace the roadmap definition with a link. Retire completed roadmap material
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as part of release preparation; ADRs preserve significant decision history.
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ADRs are the narrow exception: an ADR may record an accepted architectural
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decision before implementation, but acceptance must not be presented as proof
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that the behavior exists. The roadmap owns implementation status and sequencing
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until the decision is implemented. Current architecture, user, operator,
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integration, and internal documentation are updated when the behavior lands.
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### Audience and examples
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### Audience And Detail
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Consumer documentation explains how to use the library and what consumers own.
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Internal documents explain mechanisms and dependencies. Keep implementation
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mechanics out of consumer guidance unless they affect a meaningful choice.
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Write for the document's stated audience and include only the detail needed for
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its owned topic. User and operator docs should not expose implementation detail.
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Developer docs should link to user-facing and external contracts rather than
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restate them.
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Complete copyable artifacts belong in `examples/`; Go API examples may live in
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executable Go example tests beside the relevant package. Prose should use the
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smallest useful excerpt and link to the maintained artifact. Examples must be
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secret-free and checked against implemented behavior. Clearly label illustrative
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future syntax in roadmaps; do not present it as a runnable current example.
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### Examples
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### Security and privacy
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Complete copyable files belong in `examples/`. Documentation may use the
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smallest illustrative snippet needed to explain its owned topic, but should link
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to maintained examples instead of embedding a second complete copy.
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Do not include real credentials, private keys, environment dumps, sensitive input,
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or private infrastructure details unless intentionally public. Document secret
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handling, not secret values.
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Examples must be valid, secret-free, and tested where practical. Commands and
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configuration used in documentation should match the application.
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## Canonical ownership
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### Security And Privacy
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| Topic | Owner | Boundary |
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| --- | --- | --- |
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| Product orientation | `README.md` | Current status, purpose, navigation, and a minimal working example once available |
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| Contributor entry point | `docs/development.md` | Reading guide and actual baseline validation commands |
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| Architecture rules | `docs/policy/architecture.md` | Responsibilities, dependency constraints, invariants, and scope boundaries |
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| Documentation rules | `docs/policy/documentation.md` | Ownership and document lifecycle |
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| Testing rules | `docs/policy/testing.md` | Risk-based sufficiency, test boundaries, and maintenance principles |
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| Release rules | `docs/policy/release.md` | Compatibility, integrity, gates, immutability, and exceptions |
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| Release procedure | `docs/release.md`, when operational | Exact maintainer commands, prerequisites, supported targets, and verification |
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| Exported Go API | Go documentation beside declarations | Symbol contracts, errors, ownership, and lifecycle API behavior |
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| YAML and resolution semantics | `docs/config.md`, as behavior lands | Syntax, composition, precedence, conversion, and metadata semantics; Go reference docs link here for shared rules |
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| Consumer walkthroughs | `docs/consumers/`, when useful | Task-oriented usage and consumer responsibilities, not duplicate API reference |
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| Component inventory | `docs/internal/overview.md` | Implemented components and links to their owners |
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| Component mechanics | Other `docs/internal/` files, when needed | Detailed implementation behavior and change recipes |
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| Architectural decisions | `docs/adr/` | Context, decisions, alternatives, consequences, and supersession history |
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| Initial target | `docs/roadmap/initial.md` | Unimplemented end-state and deferred feature scope |
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| Implementation plan | Future `docs/roadmap/implementation.md` | Stages, dependencies, acceptance gates, and progress |
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| Release readiness gaps | `docs/roadmap/release-readiness.md` | Outstanding release prerequisites and closure evidence |
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| Historical release notes | `docs/releases/` | Version-specific historical summaries required by release policy |
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| Complete examples | `examples/` and executable Go examples | Maintained artifacts; prose links instead of duplicating full examples |
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Documentation and examples must not contain real credentials, private keys,
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private environment dumps, sensitive source material, or private infrastructure
|
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details unless intentionally public. Document secret-handling mechanisms, not
|
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secret values.
|
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A listed future owner is not a requirement to create an empty file now. Create
|
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API, consumer, example, and component documents when the corresponding behavior
|
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exists and there is useful content to own. Link only to existing files; use plain
|
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code paths for planned files. Release prerequisites have the explicit temporary
|
||||
exception recorded in the release policy.
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## Canonical Ownership
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ConfigKit has no owned HTTP service, application CLI, or runtime operations
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interface. Do not create those reference documents for consuming applications.
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| Topic | Canonical owner | Owned content | Content owned elsewhere |
|
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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|
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| Product orientation and minimal end-to-end quickstart | `README.md` | What this application is, why it is useful, one shortest successful invocation, and links onward. | Complete command reference, configuration reference, operational procedures, implementation detail. |
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| Contributor entry point | `docs/development.md` | Task-oriented reading guide, minimal contributor orientation, baseline validation commands, and links to canonical docs. | Package inventory, architecture rules, subsystem behavior, detailed change recipes. |
|
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| Application architecture policy | `docs/policy/architecture.md` | System shape, normative ownership, dependency direction, architectural boundaries, invariants, safety properties, and non-goals. | Concrete package inventory, implementation mechanics, contributor procedures, decision history, future work. |
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| Documentation policy | `docs/policy/documentation.md` | Documentation ownership, audience boundaries, maintenance rules, and ADR/document lifecycle. | Application architecture or product behavior. |
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| Testing policy | `docs/policy/testing.md` | Test philosophy, risk-based sufficiency, test boundaries, doubles, coverage guidance, regression-test policy, and criteria for adding, rewriting, or deleting tests. | Subsystem behavior, application contracts, subsystem-specific test inventories, and implementation plans. |
|
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| Release policy | `docs/policy/release.md` | Versioning and compatibility rules, release integrity and immutability requirements, release-documentation policy, required gates, publication controls, verification requirements, and exception policy. | Repository-specific commands, product installation guidance, CLI version semantics, historical release summaries, and CI implementation detail. |
|
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| Repository-specific release procedure | `docs/release.md` | Maintainer prerequisites, candidate preparation, concrete validation and publication commands, repository and registry guards, deliverable publication, consumer-facing verification, and failure recovery. | General release requirements, product installation guidance, historical release summaries, and current compatibility contracts. |
|
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| CLI contract (if applicable) | `docs/cli.md` | Commands, arguments, flags, invocation semantics, and exit codes. | End-to-end operating procedures, configuration field definitions, runtime filesystem layout, module implementation details. |
|
||||
| Configuration contract (if applicable) | `docs/config.md` | Discovery and precedence, file schema, fields, defaults, environment overrides, validation rules, and user-selectable module or validator keys. | Complete example files, CLI syntax, runtime state lifecycle, module implementation details. |
|
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| Operations (if applicable) | `docs/operations.md` | Runtime workflows, physical filesystem and state layout, output, cache, and debug handling, resume, cleanup, permissions, recovery, and operational limits. | CLI flag syntax, configuration field definitions, logical output schemas, implementation mechanics. |
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| Public HTTP contract (if applicable) | `docs/api.md` | Routes, authentication, media types, request and response schemas, status codes, pagination, caching, idempotency, rate limits, and HTTP retry semantics. | Client walkthroughs, upstream or downstream integration internals, implementation detail. |
|
||||
| Consumer guidance for the public Go API (if applicable) | `docs/consumers/` | Task-oriented use of the public interface, minimal client examples, and consumer responsibilities. | HTTP wire semantics, external protocol contracts, internal implementation detail. |
|
||||
| Integration contracts for external components (if applicable) | `docs/integrations/` | External file formats and protocols, upstream and downstream contracts, logical output bundle paths and schemas, media types, and compatibility behavior. | Physical runtime placement and lifecycle, internal transformations, CLI syntax, configuration defaults. |
|
||||
| Inventory of implemented internal packages | `docs/internal/overview.md` | Current packages and components, their implemented responsibilities, and links to focused internal docs. | Normative architecture, contributor reading policy, external contracts. |
|
||||
| Behavior and architecture of internal packages | Other files under `docs/internal/` | Implementation flow, internal collaborators and state transitions, package-local guarantees and failures, and relevant tests. | Global architecture invariants, configuration definitions and defaults, external schemas, operator procedures. |
|
||||
| Architectural decision records | `docs/adr/` | Significant decisions, context, alternatives, rationale, consequences, and supersession history. | Current behavior reference, implementation status, task sequencing. |
|
||||
| Future work and implementation status | `docs/roadmap/` | Proposed, accepted, deferred, or rejected work; implementation status; sequencing; and task breakdowns. | Implemented behavior reference and architectural decision rationale. |
|
||||
| Release-note history | `docs/releases/` | One checked-in historical summary for each source release made under the procedure. The note at the immutable tag is that release's record. | Current commands, behavior, contracts, and compatibility definitions. |
|
||||
| Complete copyable artifacts | `examples/` | Maintained configuration, inputs, and other files intended to be copied or run. | Field-by-field reference, command reference, prose explanation. |
|
||||
## Boundary rules
|
||||
|
||||
Documents that do not exist are required only when the corresponding interface
|
||||
or responsibility exists. Do not create placeholder API, consumer, integration,
|
||||
or operations documents for behavior the application does not have.
|
||||
Architecture owns governing constraints; ADRs explain why; contracts describe
|
||||
implemented semantics; internal documentation explains how. A roadmap may link
|
||||
to all of them but must not become a second current reference.
|
||||
|
||||
## Boundary Rules
|
||||
Release policy owns guarantees; the release procedure owns commands. A release
|
||||
note cannot redefine a compatibility contract or replace a current-documentation
|
||||
update. The note at an immutable tag is that release's historical record.
|
||||
|
||||
### Orientation
|
||||
This policy owns what documentation may disclose. Architecture owns security
|
||||
invariants. Current configuration and Go API contracts own secret-classification
|
||||
and rendering behavior when implemented; internal docs own their mechanisms.
|
||||
|
||||
The README owns product orientation. The developer guide routes contributors.
|
||||
Architecture owns normative structure. Internal overview owns the current
|
||||
concrete component map. These documents may link to one another but should not
|
||||
maintain parallel package or behavior descriptions.
|
||||
## Architectural decision records
|
||||
|
||||
### Commands, Configuration, And Operations
|
||||
Use sequential filenames, such as `0001-separate-composition-and-overlay.md`,
|
||||
and the lightweight Nygard structure: title, status, date, context, decision,
|
||||
alternatives considered, and consequences.
|
||||
|
||||
CLI documentation answers how to invoke the application. Configuration
|
||||
documentation answers what settings mean. Operations answers what happens to
|
||||
runtime state and how to operate or recover the application. When a workflow
|
||||
crosses these topics, choose the document that owns the task and link to the
|
||||
other contracts.
|
||||
Accepted decision content is immutable. A changed decision requires a new ADR
|
||||
and a superseded status/link in the old one. Navigation links may be repaired
|
||||
when specification ownership moves without rewriting historical rationale.
|
||||
Rejected architectural alternatives belong in ADRs; deferred or rejected product
|
||||
features belong in roadmaps. Do not create an ADR for every routine choice.
|
||||
|
||||
### Releases
|
||||
## Maintenance and verification
|
||||
|
||||
The release policy defines requirements and invariants that every release must
|
||||
satisfy. The repository-specific release procedure defines the commands and
|
||||
workflow maintainers use to satisfy that policy. Release notes are immutable
|
||||
historical summaries, not current-state contract owners: the checked-in note at
|
||||
an immutable tag records that release, while current canonical documentation
|
||||
must change with the behavior it describes. Do not use a release procedure or
|
||||
release note to weaken policy, redefine current behavior, or defer required
|
||||
documentation updates.
|
||||
|
||||
### Contracts And Implementation
|
||||
|
||||
Integration and API documents define externally observable shapes and
|
||||
semantics. Internal documents explain how this application implements or consumes those
|
||||
contracts. Internal docs may name a field, file, or protocol to identify a
|
||||
dependency, but must link to its canonical contract for the definition.
|
||||
|
||||
### Security Topics
|
||||
|
||||
This policy owns what documentation and examples may contain. Architecture owns
|
||||
application security invariants. Configuration owns credential-supply
|
||||
mechanisms. Operations owns permissions and handling of sensitive runtime
|
||||
artifacts. Internal docs own implementation mechanisms only.
|
||||
|
||||
## Architecture Decision Records
|
||||
|
||||
Use sequentially numbered ADR filenames such as
|
||||
`0001-record-architecture-decisions.md`. Follow the lightweight Nygard format:
|
||||
|
||||
1. title;
|
||||
2. status;
|
||||
3. date;
|
||||
4. context;
|
||||
5. decision;
|
||||
6. alternatives considered;
|
||||
7. consequences.
|
||||
|
||||
Treat the decision content of an accepted ADR as immutable. When a decision
|
||||
changes, create a new ADR and update the earlier ADR's status to superseded.
|
||||
Rejected architectural alternatives belong in the ADR; rejected product ideas
|
||||
belong in the roadmap.
|
||||
|
||||
## Maintenance
|
||||
|
||||
When behavior changes, update its canonical owner in the same change. If
|
||||
ownership moves, remove the old definition and replace it with a link where
|
||||
navigation remains useful.
|
||||
Update the owning current documentation in the same change that implements or
|
||||
changes behavior. When ownership moves, remove the old definition and preserve
|
||||
useful navigation links.
|
||||
|
||||
Before completing documentation work:
|
||||
|
||||
- verify affected behavior and examples;
|
||||
- check commands, flags, fields, defaults, schemas, and paths against their
|
||||
implementation;
|
||||
- keep unimplemented behavior in the roadmap, subject to the ADR exception;
|
||||
- remove stale references and validate links;
|
||||
- confirm that non-owning documents summarize and link rather than redefine;
|
||||
- confirm that no secrets or sensitive private data were added.
|
||||
- verify claims against the implementation or clearly identify future design;
|
||||
- check changed local links, paths, fragments, examples, and commands;
|
||||
- preserve the distinction between policy, decisions, target behavior, and status;
|
||||
- check canonical ownership and remove stale or duplicate definitions;
|
||||
- inspect formatting and whitespace;
|
||||
- ensure no sensitive data was introduced.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -2,30 +2,7 @@
|
||||
|
||||
**Base Policy Version:** 0.1.0
|
||||
|
||||
**Last Updated**: 2026-09-06
|
||||
|
||||
## Base Policy Template
|
||||
|
||||
This document is the base template for the canonical release policy.
|
||||
Repositories that implement this policy should:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Retain the substantive requirements of this policy unless a documented
|
||||
repository constraint requires an exception;
|
||||
2. Define the repository-specific release procedure, validation commands,
|
||||
supported deliverables, and verification commands in `docs/release.md`;
|
||||
3. Ensure that every document and script required by the adopted policy and
|
||||
procedure is present on the filesystem;
|
||||
4. Add stricter repository-specific requirements where the product, delivery
|
||||
channels, or threat model require them;
|
||||
5. Record every exception under `Policy Exceptions`, including its rationale
|
||||
and compensating controls;
|
||||
6. Update the `Last Updated` field to the current date; and
|
||||
7. Remove this heading (`Base Policy Template`) and the associated text.
|
||||
|
||||
The base policy is a standard, not a collection of optional recommendations.
|
||||
An implementing repository should customize its release mechanics without
|
||||
silently weakening the common integrity, validation, documentation,
|
||||
verification, or immutability guarantees below.
|
||||
**Last Updated:** 2026-09-06
|
||||
|
||||
## Purpose
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -38,6 +15,26 @@ The repository-specific commands that implement these requirements belong in
|
||||
`docs/release.md`. Historical release summaries belong in `docs/releases/`.
|
||||
Neither document may weaken this policy.
|
||||
|
||||
## ConfigKit applicability
|
||||
|
||||
ConfigKit adopts a source-only Go module release model. The source tag and
|
||||
version-matched release note are the declared deliverables. Standalone binaries,
|
||||
container images, and separate binary/package-registry publication are not
|
||||
required. This does not waive source compilation, module hygiene, testing, or
|
||||
consumer-facing module retrieval and build verification.
|
||||
|
||||
The release procedure must define the module path, authoritative remote,
|
||||
supported Go versions and operating-system/architecture targets, prerequisite
|
||||
dependency acquisition, and the exact verification commands once established.
|
||||
The default tests themselves remain deterministic and offline. Additional
|
||||
publication channels require documented deliverables and verification before use.
|
||||
|
||||
The Go API, documented YAML/resolution semantics, and structured diagnostic
|
||||
contracts all participate in compatibility review. A signature-preserving change
|
||||
can still break consumers. Human diagnostic wording is stable only where a
|
||||
contract expressly promises it. Minimum Go version and platform support changes
|
||||
also require an explicit compatibility assessment.
|
||||
|
||||
## Release Model
|
||||
|
||||
A release consists of:
|
||||
@@ -111,7 +108,7 @@ This release ...
|
||||
## Changes
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
Use an explicit statement such as "No action required" when a section has no
|
||||
Use an explicit statement such as "No action required" when a section has no
|
||||
substantive content.
|
||||
|
||||
Release notes are immutable historical summaries. They should link to current
|
||||
@@ -138,7 +135,7 @@ The required gates are:
|
||||
- validation of maintained examples, configuration, schemas, generated
|
||||
sources, and documentation commands where applicable;
|
||||
- review of changed local documentation links;
|
||||
- removal of obsolute roadmap documents under `docs/roadmap/` that describe
|
||||
- removal of obsolete roadmap documents under `docs/roadmap/` that describe
|
||||
completed work included in the release;
|
||||
- review for unintended files, generated output, credentials, private data,
|
||||
and unrelated changes; and
|
||||
@@ -220,3 +217,22 @@ name the primary branch, authoritative remote, tag form, published
|
||||
deliverables, supported build targets, release automation responsibilities,
|
||||
and consumer verification path. It must link to this policy instead of
|
||||
restating or redefining its requirements.
|
||||
|
||||
## Policy Exceptions
|
||||
|
||||
### Temporary bootstrap deferral
|
||||
|
||||
The release procedure (`docs/release.md`) and complete release-check command are
|
||||
not yet present because ConfigKit has no Go module or implementation to validate.
|
||||
Their creation is temporarily deferred during initial development. This exception
|
||||
permits implementation work; it does not permit publishing a release without
|
||||
any gate required above.
|
||||
|
||||
Compensating controls: no release may be published until the
|
||||
[release-readiness gaps](../roadmap/release-readiness.md) are closed, the runbook
|
||||
and checker exist, and the exact candidate passes all applicable gates. The
|
||||
maintainer preparing the first release owns closure. Remove this temporary
|
||||
exception when readiness is verified. Any other exception requires a documented repository constraint, rationale,
|
||||
compensating controls, scope, and closure condition here; none is currently
|
||||
adopted. Do not silently weaken the base integrity, validation, documentation,
|
||||
verification, or immutability guarantees.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -2,17 +2,7 @@
|
||||
|
||||
**Base Policy Version:** 1.0
|
||||
|
||||
**Last Updated**: 2026-09-06
|
||||
|
||||
## Base Policy Template
|
||||
|
||||
This document is the base template for the canonical testing policy,. Repositories that implement this policy should:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Review the policy, remove any rules that must not apply to the current project, and add any additional rules that are required by the current project;
|
||||
2. Update the `Last Updated` field to the current date; and
|
||||
3. Remove this heading (`Base Policy Template`) and the associated text.
|
||||
|
||||
Most projects will not require any revisions to the substantive testing policy rules as written below.
|
||||
**Last Updated:** 2026-09-06
|
||||
|
||||
## Purpose
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -20,6 +10,29 @@ Our tests exist to make **incorrect changes expensive and correct changes cheap*
|
||||
|
||||
We do not optimize for test count, line coverage, exhaustive isolation, or the fewest possible tests. We optimize for sufficient confidence in important behavior while imposing as little unnecessary friction as possible on future development.
|
||||
|
||||
## ConfigKit-specific priorities
|
||||
|
||||
Configuration semantics are compatibility contracts, even when Go signatures do
|
||||
not change. Apply the risk rules below especially to presence/default behavior,
|
||||
composition, provenance, and error classification. Keep detailed behavior cases
|
||||
with their owning contracts and tests rather than duplicating them in this policy.
|
||||
|
||||
Use real temporary files for import traversal, symlinks, and source identity.
|
||||
Document platform prerequisites for filesystem cases and make any unsupported
|
||||
case explicit rather than silently dropping its coverage. Use labeled in-memory
|
||||
input where filesystem behavior is irrelevant.
|
||||
|
||||
Verify agreement among final resolved values, presence, provenance, and effective
|
||||
rendering. Protect against secret disclosure on both successful inspection and
|
||||
failure paths, and against mutable defaults or results leaking across loads.
|
||||
Use focused fuzzing for parser boundaries and semantic/filesystem path handling;
|
||||
keep deterministic seed regressions in the ordinary suite. Extended fuzz runs
|
||||
need a documented bounded invocation when introduced.
|
||||
|
||||
Baseline commands belong in the [development guide](../development.md). Release
|
||||
gates belong in the [release policy](release.md) and its eventual runbook. This
|
||||
policy does not imply that those tools or tests already exist.
|
||||
|
||||
## Every test has a cost
|
||||
|
||||
Testing is not an unqualified good. Every test imposes both an immediate cost and a continuing lifetime cost.
|
||||
@@ -59,7 +72,8 @@ Use a **classical/Detroit-style** approach:
|
||||
- Prefer package-level behavioral tests over tests coupled to private helpers or internal call sequences.
|
||||
- Treat exact collaborator interactions as testable behavior only when the interaction itself is a requirement.
|
||||
|
||||
Examples of appropriate seams include clocks, randomness, subprocesses, remote APIs, object storage, email, and paid LLM calls.
|
||||
For ConfigKit, controlled input readers and filesystem failures are useful seams.
|
||||
Prefer actual parsing, composition, and decoding over mocks of their call order.
|
||||
|
||||
## Test execution requirements
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -176,13 +190,15 @@ Use a test-controlled limit and measure the behavior relative to that limit. Do
|
||||
|
||||
Each behavior should have a clear test owner.
|
||||
|
||||
- Parser tests own parsing cases.
|
||||
- Validator tests own validation rules.
|
||||
- Domain tests own transformations and invariants.
|
||||
- Adapter tests own external integration behavior.
|
||||
- Orchestrator tests own coordination and failure propagation.
|
||||
- CLI tests own argument and configuration mapping.
|
||||
- End-to-end tests prove that representative assembled workflows work.
|
||||
- YAML boundary tests own syntax and policy enforcement.
|
||||
- Composition and overlay tests own their operation semantics.
|
||||
- Decoding tests own type binding, defaults, and strictness.
|
||||
- Metadata and rendering tests own provenance queries and safe inspection.
|
||||
- Filesystem tests own source access and import identity behavior.
|
||||
- Lifecycle tests own hook ordering, failure propagation, and representative
|
||||
agreement across the assembled configuration pipeline.
|
||||
|
||||
These are responsibility boundaries, not a required package layout.
|
||||
|
||||
Higher-level tests should not repeat every lower-level case. A single intentional policy change should not require unrelated edits across many test files.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -215,7 +231,6 @@ Use:
|
||||
|
||||
- table-driven tests for meaningful behavioral categories and boundaries;
|
||||
- `t.TempDir()` for real filesystem behavior;
|
||||
- `httptest.Server` for realistic HTTP interactions;
|
||||
- fuzz tests for parsers, normalization, path handling, and broad input spaces;
|
||||
- golden files only when the complete output is intentionally stable;
|
||||
- integration tests where correctness depends on component interaction; and
|
||||
@@ -223,7 +238,8 @@ Use:
|
||||
|
||||
Avoid exact error-string assertions unless the wording is itself contractual. Prefer `errors.Is`, `errors.As`, typed errors, or structured error fields.
|
||||
|
||||
At CLI boundaries, prefer exit classifications, structured output, and the smallest stable semantic fragment needed to identify the error. Do not snapshot complete diagnostic wording unless it is contractual.
|
||||
At the public library boundary, prefer diagnostic codes, paths, and source
|
||||
locations over complete message snapshots. Assert wording only when contractual.
|
||||
|
||||
Golden-file updates must require an explicit local flag. CI must not update golden files automatically, and reviewers must inspect the semantic diff before accepting an update.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -235,7 +251,7 @@ Coverage is a diagnostic, not a target.
|
||||
|
||||
Use it to find untested critical branches and unexpectedly weak packages. Do not write low-value tests solely to increase a percentage, and do not infer test quality from coverage alone.
|
||||
|
||||
Pure domain logic will often warrant higher coverage than CLI wiring or external adapters. Uneven coverage is acceptable when it reflects risk.
|
||||
Dense configuration semantics will often warrant higher coverage than simple input wiring. Uneven coverage is acceptable when it reflects risk.
|
||||
|
||||
Increasing coverage is valuable only when the newly covered behavior protects a meaningful risk at an acceptable cost.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -303,7 +319,7 @@ A test suite is sufficient when:
|
||||
- legitimate internal changes usually do not require test edits; and
|
||||
- additional tests would mostly repeat existing protection or preserve inconsequential implementation details.
|
||||
|
||||
Sufficiency is a risk judgment, not a coverage percentage or test count. Reassess it as the application, its users, and the consequences of failure evolve.
|
||||
Sufficiency is a risk judgment, not a coverage percentage or test count. Reassess it as the library, its consumers, and the consequences of failure evolve.
|
||||
|
||||
The governing rule is:
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user