Core Developer Setup

March 6, 2026 · View on GitHub

This document describes additional setup steps for core FieldWorks developers. Unless you are a core team member, you should follow the steps in CONTRIBUTING.md instead.

Note: Core developers have direct commit access to the main repository and additional responsibilities for code review and release management.

Prerequisites

Complete all steps in CONTRIBUTING.md first:

  1. Install required software (Git, Visual Studio 2022)
  2. Clone the repository
  3. Verify you can build successfully

Required Software

The following tools are required for FieldWorks development:

Visual Studio 2022

Install with these workloads:

  • .NET desktop development
  • Desktop development with C++ (including ATL/MFC components)

See Visual Studio Setup for detailed component list.

WiX Toolset (v6 via NuGet restore)

Installer builds use SDK-style .wixproj projects and restore WiX v6 tools via NuGet during the build. No separate WiX 3.x installation is required.

# Standard developer machine setup
.\Setup-Developer-Machine.ps1

# Optional: set up installer helper repositories
.\Setup-Developer-Machine.ps1 -InstallerDeps

Environment Variables

No WiX-specific environment variables are required for WiX v6 SDK builds.

Verification

Run these commands to verify your environment:

# Check Visual Studio
& "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe" -latest

# Check Git
git --version

# Verify installer build prerequisites
.\Build\Agent\Setup-InstallerBuild.ps1 -ValidateOnly

# Compact dependency preflight summary
.\Build\Agent\Verify-FwDependencies.ps1

# Include optional Serena-related tools with detailed per-check output
.\Build\Agent\Verify-FwDependencies.ps1 -IncludeOptional -Detailed

For automation or scripted setup checks, add -PassThru to return structured dependency results instead of relying only on console output.

Additional Setup

1. Register with Services

GitHub

Ensure your GitHub account has the correct permissions:

  • You should be a member of the sillsdev organization
  • Request access to the FieldWorks repository with write permissions

Contact the team lead to request permissions if needed.

For streamlined pushing and pulling, set up an SSH key:

  1. Generate an SSH key if you don't have one:

    ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

  2. Add the key to your GitHub account:

    • Go to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key
    • Paste your public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub)

  3. Test the connection:

    ssh -T git@github.com

  4. Update your remote to use SSH:

    git remote set-url origin git@github.com:sillsdev/FieldWorks.git

2. Configure Git for the Project

Set Identity

git config user.name "Your Name"
git config user.email "your.email@example.com"

Increase Rename Limits

git config diff.renameLimit 10000
git config merge.renameLimit 10000

Configure Branch Tracking

Set up tracking for release branches you'll be working on:

# Fetch all branches
git fetch --all

# Track a specific release branch
git checkout release/9.3

3. Development Environment

IDE Extensions

Recommended VS Code extensions for daily development:

  • ReSharper for VS Code (jetbrains.resharper-code) for C# editing, navigation, refactoring, and test explorer
  • C# Dev Kit (ms-dotnettools.csdevkit) and C# (ms-dotnettools.csharp) are discouraged in this workspace
  • C/C++ (ms-vscode.cpptools) for native editing/debugging
  • PowerShell (ms-vscode.powershell) for build/test scripts

Use Visual Studio 2022 when working on:

  • WinForms designer changes
  • Mixed managed/native debugging across interop boundaries
  • Complex legacy .NET Framework project-system issues

Optional Visual Studio extension:

  • ReSharper (if you have a license) for advanced refactoring/navigation

Git GUI Tools

Recommended Git tools:

  • Git GUI (included with Git) - For commits and basic operations
  • GitKraken or SourceTree - For visual branch management
  • VS Code - Has excellent Git integration

4. Working with Branches

Branch Naming Conventions

  • feature/<name> - New features
  • bugfix/<issue-number>-<description> - Bug fixes
  • hotfix/<version> - Emergency fixes for released versions
  • release/<version> - Release preparation branches

Creating Feature Branches

# Create a new feature branch from the default branch
git checkout release/9.3
git pull
git checkout -b feature/my-feature-name

Submitting Changes

  1. Push your branch to origin:

    git push -u origin feature/my-feature-name

  2. Create a Pull Request on GitHub

  3. Request review from team members

  4. After approval and CI passes, merge the PR

See Pull Request Workflow for detailed guidelines.

5. Release Management

If you are a release manager, additional setup may be required. Contact Jason Naylor for:

  • Access to release automation scripts
  • Build server access
  • Installer signing certificates

Git Configuration Reference

# Use rebase by default when pulling
git config --global pull.rebase true

# Prune deleted remote branches on fetch
git config --global fetch.prune true

# Use diff3 conflict style for better merge conflict resolution
git config --global merge.conflictstyle diff3

# Enable helpful coloring
git config --global color.ui auto

Repository-Specific Settings

These are set in the FieldWorks repository:

# Increase rename detection limits
git config diff.renameLimit 10000
git config merge.renameLimit 10000

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied on Push

If you get "Permission denied" when pushing:

  1. Verify you have write access to the repository
  2. Check your SSH key is properly configured
  3. Ensure you're not pushing to a protected branch directly

Branch Not Found

If a branch you're looking for isn't available:

git fetch --all
git branch -a  # List all branches including remote

See Also