AI Assistant Development Workflow

Step-by-step workflows for hpcc-systems/hpcc-js-wasm development

This guide provides step-by-step workflows for common development tasks when working with the HPCC-JS-WASM repository.

Initial Setup and Assessment

1. Fresh Repository Assessment

# Check repository state
git status
git log --oneline -5

# Check if dependencies are installed
ls node_modules/ || echo "Dependencies not installed"

# Check if packages are built
ls packages/*/dist/ || echo "Packages not built"

# Install dependencies if needed
npm ci

2. Quick Health Check

# Test linting (should work without builds)
npm run lint

# Try building TypeScript only (may fail without WASM)
npm run build-ws

# Check individual package status
cd packages/graphviz && npm run gen-types

Development Workflows

Workflow 1: TypeScript-Only Changes

For changes to TypeScript code, tests, or documentation:

# 1. Install dependencies
npm ci

# 2. Build TypeScript packages
npm run build-ws

# 3. Run linting
npm run lint

# 4. Test specific package
cd packages/[package-name]
npm test

# 5. Fix any linting issues
npm run lint-fix

Workflow 2: Full Development Setup

For comprehensive development including C++ changes:

# 1. Install all dependencies
npm ci

# 2. Install build tools (requires system dependencies)
npm run install-build-deps  # Installs emsdk, vcpkg, playwright, bundler test deps

# 3. Build C++ to WASM
npm run build-cpp

# 4. Build TypeScript packages
npm run build-ws

# 5. Run full test suite
npm run test

Workflow 3: Docker-Based Development

For consistent environment without local setup:

# Build and test in Docker
npm run build-docker

Common Development Tasks

Adding a New Method to a Package

1. Identify the target package

cd packages/[package-name]

2. Understand the current API

// Look at src/index.ts and main class file
cat src/index.ts
cat src/[package-name].ts

3. Add the new method

// In src/[package-name].ts
export class PackageName {
    // ... existing methods

    newMethod(input: string): string {
        // Implementation
        return this._wasmInstance.callMethod(input);
    }
}

4. Add TypeScript types if needed

// Add to type definitions
export interface NewMethodOptions {
    option1?: string;
    option2?: number;
}

5. Add tests

// In tests/[package-name].spec.ts
it("new method works", async () => {
    const lib = await PackageName.load();
    const result = lib.newMethod("test");
    expect(result).toBeDefined();
});

6. Build and test

npm run build
npm test

Fixing a Bug

1. Reproduce the issue

# Write a failing test first
npm test -- --reporter=verbose

2. Identify the root cause

// Add debug logging
console.log("Debug info:", variable);

3. Make minimal fix

// Fix the specific issue
if (condition) {
    // Handle edge case
}

4. Verify fix

npm test
npm run lint

Adding New Tests

1. Identify test type needed

• Unit tests: tests/[package].spec.ts
• Browser tests: tests/[package].browser.spec.ts
• Worker tests: tests/worker.*.spec.ts

2. Follow existing patterns

import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
import { PackageName } from "@hpcc-js/wasm-packagename";

describe("Feature", () => {
    it("should do something", async () => {
        const lib = await PackageName.load();
        // Test implementation
    });
});

3. Run tests

npm test

Troubleshooting Workflows

Build Failures

1. Clean and rebuild

npm run clean-all
npm ci
npm run build-ws

2. Check specific package

cd packages/[failing-package]
npm run clean
npm run build

3. Check dependencies

npm ls
lerna ls

Test Failures

1. Run specific test

cd packages/[package]
npm test -- --reporter=verbose

2. Check if WASM files exist

ls build/packages/*/src-cpp/*.wasm

3. Run without browser tests

npm run test-node

Import/Export Issues

1. Check package exports

cat packages/[package]/package.json | grep -A 10 '"exports"'

2. Verify built files exist

ls packages/[package]/dist/
ls packages/[package]/types/

3. Check TypeScript compilation

cd packages/[package]
npm run gen-types

Code Quality Workflows

Before Committing Changes

1. Run linting

npm run lint
npm run lint-fix

2. Build all packages

npm run build-ws

3. Test affected packages

# Test specific packages
cd packages/[modified-package]
npm test

4. Check types

npx tsc --noEmit

Documentation Updates

1. Update TypeDoc comments

/**
 * Description of the method
 * @param input - Description of parameter
 * @returns Description of return value
 * @example
 * ```ts
 * const result = lib.method("example");
 * ```
 */
method(input: string): string { ... }

2. Update README if needed

# Check if package README needs updates
cat packages/[package]/README.md

3. Generate documentation

npm run gen-docs

Release Workflow

Version Bumping

# Update dependencies
npm run update

# Use lerna for version management
lerna version --conventional-commits

Publishing

# Build everything
npm run build

# Publish via lerna
lerna publish from-package

Emergency Fixes

Reverting Changes

# Revert specific files
git checkout HEAD -- packages/[package]/src/[file].ts

# Revert last commit
git revert HEAD

Quick Package Fix

# Fix specific package quickly
cd packages/[package]
npm run clean
npm run build
npm test

Performance Considerations

Memory Usage

• Large WASM files consume significant memory
• Test with realistic data sizes
• Monitor memory usage in browser dev tools

Build Time

• C++ compilation is slowest part
• TypeScript builds are relatively fast
• Use watch modes for development

Testing Speed

• Browser tests are slower than Node.js tests
• Run specific test suites during development
• Use CI for comprehensive testing

AI Assistant Best Practices

1. Always check current state before making changes
2. Test incrementally after each change
3. Follow existing patterns rather than creating new ones
4. Keep changes minimal and focused
5. Update documentation when changing APIs
6. Consider backward compatibility for public APIs
7. Test in both browser and Node.js environments when applicable