Files
scylladb/.github/copilot-instructions.md
Piotr Szymaniak 378bcd69e3 tree: add AGENTS.md router and improve AI instruction files
Add AGENTS.md as a minimal router that directs AI agents to the
relevant instruction files based on what they are editing.

Improve the instruction files:

- cpp.instructions.md: clarify seastarx.hh scope (headers, not
  "many files"), explain std::atomic restriction (single-shard
  model, not "blocking"), scope macros prohibition to new ad-hoc
  only, add coroutine exception propagation pattern, add invariant
  checking section preferring throwing_assert() over SCYLLA_ASSERT
  (issue #7871)
- python.instructions.md: demote PEP 8 to fallback after local
  style, clarify that only wildcard imports are prohibited
- copilot-instructions.md: show configure.py defaults to dev mode,
  add frozen toolchain section, clarify --no-gather-metrics applies
  to test.py, fix Python test paths to use .py extension, add
  license header guidance for new files

Closes scylladb/scylladb#29023
2026-04-19 21:59:52 +03:00

105 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown

# ScyllaDB Development Instructions
## Project Context
High-performance distributed NoSQL database. Core values: performance, correctness, readability.
## Build System
### Using native OS environment
```bash
# Configure (run once)
./configure.py
# Build everything
ninja <mode>-build # modes: dev, debug, release, sanitize
# dev is recommended for development (fastest compilation)
# Build Scylla binary only (sufficient for Python integration tests)
ninja build/<mode>/scylla
# Build specific test
ninja build/<mode>/test/boost/<test_name>
```
### Using frozen toolchain (Docker)
Prefix any build command with `./tools/toolchain/dbuild`.
## Running Tests
### C++ Unit Tests
```bash
# Run all tests in a file
./test.py --mode=<mode> test/<suite>/<test_name>.cc
# Run a single test case from a file
./test.py --mode=<mode> test/<suite>/<test_name>.cc::<test_case_name>
# Examples
./test.py --mode=dev test/boost/memtable_test.cc
./test.py --mode=dev test/raft/raft_server_test.cc::test_check_abort_on_client_api
```
**Important:**
- Use full path with `.cc` extension (e.g., `test/boost/memtable_test.cc`)
- To run a single test case, append `::<test_case_name>` to the file path
- If you encounter permission issues with cgroup metrics, add `--no-gather-metrics` to the `./test.py` command
**Rebuilding Tests:**
- test.py does NOT automatically rebuild when test source files are modified
- Many tests are part of composite binaries (e.g., `combined_tests` in test/boost contains multiple test files)
- To find which binary contains a test, check `configure.py` in the repository root (primary source) or `test/<suite>/CMakeLists.txt`
- To rebuild a specific test binary: `ninja build/<mode>/test/<suite>/<binary_name>`
- Examples:
- `ninja build/dev/test/boost/combined_tests` (contains group0_voter_calculator_test.cc and others)
- `ninja build/dev/test/raft/replication_test` (standalone Raft test)
### Python Integration Tests
```bash
# Only requires Scylla binary (full build usually not needed)
ninja build/<mode>/scylla
# Run all tests in a file
./test.py --mode=<mode> test/<suite>/<test_name>.py
# Run a single test case from a file
./test.py --mode=<mode> test/<suite>/<test_name>.py::<test_function_name>
# Examples
./test.py --mode=dev test/alternator/
./test.py --mode=dev test/cqlpy/test_json.py
./test.py --mode=dev test/cluster/test_raft_voters.py::test_raft_limited_voters_retain_coordinator
# Optional flags
./test.py --mode=dev test/cluster/test_raft_no_quorum.py -v --repeat 5
```
**Important:**
- Use full path with `.py` extension
- To run a single test case, append `::<test_function_name>` to the file path
- Add `-v` for verbose output
- Add `--repeat <num>` to repeat a test multiple times
- After modifying C++ source files, only rebuild the Scylla binary for Python tests
## Code Philosophy
- Performance matters in hot paths (data read/write, inner loops)
- Self-documenting code through clear naming
- Comments explain "why", not "what"
- Prefer standard library over custom implementations
- Strive for simplicity and clarity, add complexity only when clearly justified
- Question requests: don't blindly implement requests - evaluate trade-offs, identify issues, and suggest better alternatives when appropriate
- Consider different approaches, weigh pros and cons, and recommend the best fit for the specific context
## Test Philosophy
- Performance matters. Tests should run as quickly as possible. Sleeps in the code are highly discouraged and should be avoided, to reduce run time and flakiness.
- Stability matters. Tests should be stable. New tests should be executed 100 times at least to ensure they pass 100 out of 100 times. (use --repeat 100 --max-failures 1 when running it)
- Unit tests should ideally test one thing only.
- Tests for bug fixes should run before the fix - and show the failure and after the fix - and show they now pass.
- Tests for bug fixes should have in their comments which bug fixes (GitHub or JIRA issue) they test.
- Tests in debug are always slower, so if needed, reduce number of iterations, rows, data used, cycles, etc. in debug mode.
- Tests should strive to be repeatable, and not use random input that will make their results unpredictable.
- Tests should consume as little resources as possible. Prefer running tests on a single node if it is sufficient, for example.
## New Files
- Include `LicenseRef-ScyllaDB-Source-Available-1.1` in the SPDX header
- Use the current year for new files; for existing code keep the year as is