Local Project Runtime

Local Project Runtime

Use this skill to turn an unknown repository into a locally manageable project with predictable build, start, test, logs, health, and cleanup commands.

Core Workflow

1. Inspect first:

   • Read root docs and manifests: README*, AGENTS.md, package.json, lockfiles, Dockerfile, Compose files, Makefile, task runner configs, CI workflows.
   • Identify the package manager, runtime, service entrypoint, frontend directories, backend directories, DB/external dependencies, default ports, and health endpoints.
   • Check current worktree state before editing.

2. Reproduce narrowly:

   • Run the smallest relevant command for the reported failure.
   • Capture the exact failing phase: dependency install, typecheck/compile, frontend bundle, Docker image build, container boot, health probe, migration, or test runner.
   • Prefer targeted checks before repo-wide verification.

3. Fix architecture, not symptoms:

   • Keep build/start/test contracts in one local runtime surface, normally deploy/local/.
   • Avoid one-off shell notes that cannot be rerun.
   • Make generated scripts explicit, idempotent, and safe when services are absent.

4. Add or repair a lifecycle manager:

   • Required commands: init, deps, build, test, image, start, apply, restart, stop, status, logs, ps, clean, doctor.
   • start creates services and waits for health.
   • apply rebuilds the image and force-recreates the service.
   • restart restarts an existing container; if none exists, it must start instead of doing an empty restart.
   • status must show Compose state and HTTP health.
   • clean must stop services and remove local runtime data only.

5. Add build acceleration where justified:

   • For Node/monorepos, add a local build wrapper that hashes frontend inputs and skips frontend production bundling when unchanged.
   • Preserve correctness by hashing lockfiles, frontend source/config/public assets, and shared packages imported by the frontend.
   • For Docker, split frontend build into its own layer before backend/application COPY . . so backend-only changes reuse frontend layers.
   • Update .dockerignore to exclude local build artifacts and caches.

6. Add port and health decisions:

   • Keep host port in deploy/local/.env; generate it from .env.example or defaults.
   • For a new lifecycle manager, do not default to port 3000. Allocate a random free host port from [30-300] * 100 while excluding 3000, effectively 3100, 3200, ... 30000.
   • If deploy/local/runtime/control.sh already exists and deploy/local/.env or .env.example already contains a host port, keep that port and do not allocate a new one.
   • If the configured host port is occupied and the project service is not already running, auto-select another free port from the same [30-300] * 100 pool and update public URL.
   • Probe health with a bounded retry loop and print recent service logs on failure.
   • Use concrete URLs in handoff.

7. Verify end to end:

   • Syntax-check generated scripts.
   • Validate Compose config.
   • Run first build and a second build to prove cache behavior if caching was added.
   • Start or apply the service and verify HTTP health.
   • Run relevant tests or report why tests were not run.