Packaging/readiness pass — documentation only, no feature or behavior change. - REPO_STRUCTURE.md, CONTRIBUTING.md: corrected test counts (156 integration, 133 unit, 151 CLI), local-first setup flow (make setup-local / dev-local), command count, new routes/types/test files. - README.md: refreshed dogfood metrics, added Project Current State and smriti doctor to the surfaces, SQLite to the tech stack. - cli/README.md: MCP tool count 17 -> 21 (added the four worktree tools), documented the smriti worktree commands. - ARCHITECTURE.md: API table now lists the Project Current State and metrics endpoints; new Database modes section (local SQLite / Postgres). - DECISIONS.md: recorded the local-first SQLite mode and Project Current State surface decisions. - AGENTS.md: regenerated from skill pack template v2.3 (was a stale v1.5 render); the .claude/ claude-code render was likewise refreshed locally. .env.example, docs/DEMO_SCRIPT.md, and CLAUDE.md were reviewed and left as-is.
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Contributing to Smriti
Thanks for your interest in contributing. This document covers how to get the dev environment running, how to run tests, and how to propose changes.
Dev environment
Prerequisites: Python 3.11+, Node 18+. Docker is optional — needed only for Postgres (shared/team) mode.
git clone https://github.com/himanshudongre/smriti
cd smriti
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env to add your API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, or both).
# Leave keys commented out to use mock mode (no real LLM calls).
make setup-local # backend venv + deps + CLI + frontend (no Docker)
# Start backend (terminal 1)
make dev-local
# Start frontend (terminal 2)
make dev-frontend
make setup-local runs Smriti in local-first SQLite mode — no Docker, no
Postgres; state lives in ~/.smriti/smriti.db. It installs the backend, the
CLI (smriti + smriti-mcp), and the frontend. For Postgres-backed
shared/team mode, use make setup-postgres + make dev-postgres instead. The
CLI is installed into the backend venv at backend/.venv/bin/.
Activate the venv to use it from your shell:
source backend/.venv/bin/activate
Open http://localhost:5173 for the chat UI.
Running tests
# All backend tests (uses mock provider — no API key required)
make test
# CLI + MCP tests (CLI is already installed by make setup)
cd cli && pytest
# TypeScript typecheck
cd frontend && npx tsc --noEmit
# Frontend production build
cd frontend && npm run build
The backend integration test suite uses the deterministic mock adapter and an
in-memory SQLite database (via conftest.py). No live API keys are needed.
The CLI test suite (cli/tests/) covers MCP tool handlers, skill pack
rendering and installation, multi-branch state formatting, and content-integrity
guards for the skill pack template. CLI tests use MagicMock(spec=SmritiClient)
fixtures — no running backend required.
When to run which tests:
| Changed area | Run |
|---|---|
backend/app/ |
make test (156 integration + 133 unit tests) |
cli/smriti_cli/ |
cd cli && pytest (151 tests) |
cli/smriti_cli/skill_pack/template.md |
cd cli && pytest tests/test_skill_pack.py — content-integrity tests catch dropped sections |
frontend/src/ |
cd frontend && npx tsc --noEmit |
| Both backend + CLI | Both suites — they share no test infrastructure but both call the same backend API |
Code style
Backend: Python code is formatted and linted with ruff.
make lint # Check
make format # Fix in place
Frontend: TypeScript with strict type checking. ESLint is configured but not enforced in CI yet.
There are no hard style rules beyond what ruff and tsc enforce. Prefer clarity over brevity. Keep functions short. Do not add comments that restate the code — only comment non-obvious decisions.
Making changes
- Fork the repo and create a feature branch.
- Make your changes. Keep commits focused: one logical change per commit.
- Run backend tests and frontend typecheck before opening a PR.
- Open a PR against
main. Describe what changed and why.
For larger changes (new feature, API change, refactor), open an issue first to discuss scope before writing code.
Reporting bugs
Open a GitHub issue. Include:
- What you expected to happen
- What actually happened
- Steps to reproduce (minimal, if possible)
- Relevant log output (
make logsfor Docker, or terminal output) - Backend version (git hash or tag)
Contributing demos and docs
Docs live in docs/ and at the repo root (README.md, ARCHITECTURE.md,
DECISIONS.md). Demo scenarios live in demos/.
For doc fixes: open a PR directly. For new demo scenarios: follow the structure in
demos/branching-reasoning-demo/ — a README, RUNBOOK, DEMO_SCRIPT, and
EXPECTED_OUTCOMES at minimum.
Agent-facing surfaces
Smriti has three agent-facing surfaces beyond the chat UI:
- CLI (
cli/smriti_cli/main.py) —smriticommand, 14 commands - MCP server (
cli/smriti_cli/mcp_server.py) —smriti-mcpcommand, 21 tools - Skill pack (
cli/smriti_cli/skill_pack/) — versioned instruction files for Claude Code and Codex
Changes to any of these should include corresponding test coverage in cli/tests/.
Skill pack content changes should pass the content-integrity tests in
test_skill_pack.py — these assert that critical sections (anti-patterns, signal
test, drift detection, work claims) cannot be silently dropped by template edits.
What we are not looking for
- Automatic checkpointing logic — Checkpoints are intentionally manual.
- Authentication / multi-user support — deferred by design.
- Generic orchestration or task management — work claims are advisory and narrow.
- Changes to legacy V1 endpoints — these are retained for compatibility only.
If you want to work on something that falls outside normal scope, open an issue first.