⚙️ Codebase Interface¶
🚀 Promoting Ease of Codebase Use for All Audiences¶
A comprehensive set of principles that promote ease of codebase use across platforms, languages and IDEs for multiple audiences.
📁 Interface Example¶
Here's what a codebase interface looks like in practice:
my-project/
├── 📖 README.md # User interface - how to use the project
├── 🤝 CONTRIBUTING.md # Contributor interface - how to contribute
├── 🖥️ RUNBOOK.md # Operator interface - how to deploy/operate
├── 🤖 AGENTS.md # AI Agent interface - how agents should interact
├── 📋 TODO.md # Outstanding tasks and roadmap
├── 📝 PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md # Pull request template
├── ⚙️ Taskfile.yml # Unified task automation interface
├── 🎨 .editorconfig # Code formatting standards
└── 📏 .gitattributes # Git handling rules
Key Benefits:
- ✅ Predictable - Same structure across all projects
- 🚀 Fast Onboarding - New team members know exactly where to look
- 🤖 AI-Friendly - Automated tools understand your project structure
- 🔄 Universal - Works with any programming language or framework
⭐ Key Principles¶
👤 Audience-Focused Interfaces¶
Every codebase should provide clear interfaces for its different audiences through standardized documentation files like CONTRIBUTING.md, RUNBOOK.md, and AGENTS.md.
📋 Technology Agnostic¶
The principles apply across programming languages and frameworks, promoting consistency whether you're working with Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, or any other technology.
🔧 Tool Integration¶
Leverage common tools like Taskfile, .editorconfig, and conventional commits for better developer experience and streamlined contributing methods.
🤖 Automation-Friendly¶
Designed with AI agents and build systems in mind, providing machine-readable interfaces for automated code analysis, generation, and deployment.
👥 Designed for Everyone Who Interacts with Your Codebase¶
A well-structured codebase serves diverse audiences with distinct needs. Adherence to the Codebase Interface ensures each group has clear, dedicated documentation and interfaces tailored to their role.
Contributors
💻 Developers who modify and extend
Clear contribution guidelines, development setup, and coding standards through standardized documentation files.
Consumers
👥 End consumers who consume functionality
Comprehensive user guides, API documentation, and getting started materials tailored for different skill levels.
Operators
🖥️ Anyone who runs a service in production
Operational runbooks contain monitoring guides and troubleshooting documentation for production environments.
AI Agents
🤖 Automated systems and tools
Machine-readable documentation, structured data formats, and clear interfaces for automated code analysis and generation.
📈 Benefits¶
Reduced Onboarding Time
New contributors can understand and start working with your codebase faster with standardized documentation and clear interfaces.
Better Collaboration
Universal standards mean teams can work across different projects and organizations with familiar patterns and expectations.
Enhanced Automation
AI-friendly documentation enables better code analysis, automated documentation generation, and intelligent development assistance.
Operational Excellence
Standardized runbooks and operational documentation reduce deployment errors and improve incident response times.
🚀 Get Started Today¶
📚 Explore the Documentation¶
Dive into the principles, audiences, interfaces and benefits of the codebase interface.
⚡ Try the CLI Tools¶
Automate compliance validation and project setup with our command-line tools.
💬 Join the Community¶
Help shape the future of codebase interfaces. Share your experiences, suggest improvements, and collaborate with other like minded developers.