edmund-build-and-env

name

edmund-build-and-env

description

Build, environment, and toolchain runbook for the Edmund repo (native macOS Markdown editor; AppKit + TextKit 2, SwiftPM). Load this skill when: setting up the environment from scratch (fresh clone, new machine, CI mirror); a build fails or a "successful" build behaves stale (change "doesn't take", old code runs, Build complete! but nothing changed); the app crashes on launch or the instant it renders LaTeX; you need to construct the debug bundle (EdmundDbg.app) for live runs; or BEFORE trusting any binary you just built for a visual check or repro run. Covers swift build/test, build-app.sh anatomy (codesign sealing order, SwiftMath bundle placement), the stale-build disease and its detection, safe launch/kill hygiene around the user's live instance, and the CI environment.

Edmund — build & environment runbook

All paths relative to the repo root. Facts date-stamped 2026-07-05 are volatile — re-verify per the last section.

When NOT to use this skill

You actually need	Go to
The storage==rawSource / TextKit-2-only invariants, render pipeline	edmund-architecture-contract
Branch/commit/PR rules, what you may touch	edmund-change-control
Diagnosing a bug (not the build)	edmund-debugging-playbook
ReproScript / CGEvent live-repro driving	edmund-live-repro-and-diagnostics
Launch flags, defaults keys, settings	edmund-config-and-flags
Cutting a release, DMG, Sparkle appcast	edmund-release-and-operate
Screencapture verification method, test policy	edmund-validation-and-qa

1. Environment from scratch

Requirements (verified 2026-07-05):

Tool	Version	Why	Check
macOS	14+	Package.swift platforms .macOS(.v14)	sw_vers
Xcode	16+ (full Xcode, not just CLT)	swift-tools-version: 6.0; build-app.sh needs actool	swift --version (local: Swift 6.0.3)
gh CLI	any recent	releases, PR ops	gh --version
Node	≥20	releases only	node --version
create-dmg	npm package	releases only	npm install --global create-dmg

create-dmg trap: install via npm, NOT Homebrew. brew install create-dmg is a different tool with an incompatible CLI. Not needed for dev work — only for cutting releases (see edmund-release-and-operate).

Dependencies are fetched by SPM on first build — nothing to install by hand (verified against Package.swift / Package.resolved, 2026-07-05):

• swift-markdown ≥0.5.0 (CommonMark/GFM parsing; pulls swift-cmark transitively)
• SwiftMath ≥1.7.0 (LaTeX rendering — its resource bundle is a launch-crash landmine, §3)
• Sparkle ≥2.6.0 (auto-update — its framework is a dyld-abort landmine, §4)

Two SPM targets: EdmundCore (library + all tests; most work happens here) and edmd (the app shell executable). The binary is named edmd even though the app presents as "Edmund" — deliberate, see the comment in Package.swift.

2. Core commands

swift build                    # debug build of both targets
swift test                     # full suite: ~750+ tests, ~10s (2026-07-05)
swift test --filter Callout    # one suite
./scripts/build-app.sh         # release build → build/Edmund.app

swift test also runs automatically as a Stop hook after code-touching turns.

3. What build-app.sh actually does (and why the order matters)

scripts/build-app.sh → build/Edmund.app. Steps, in order:

1. swift build -c release
2. Assemble build/Edmund.app/Contents/{MacOS,Resources}; copy .build/release/edmd, Info.plist, Resources/AppIcon.icns.
3. Compile Resources/Assets.xcassets with actool (falls back to /Applications/Xcode.app/.../actool if xcode-select points at the CLT).
4. Embed Sparkle.framework into Contents/Frameworks/ (found under .build/; SwiftPM links Sparkle but never copies the framework — without it the updater crashes on first check) and install_name_tool -add_rpath "@executable_path/../Frameworks" so @rpath resolves post-install.
5. Codesign inside-out: Sparkle.framework first (nested XPC helpers must be signed before macOS will launch them), then the whole .app (ad-hoc, --deep, identifier com.i7t5.edmd). Sealing the bundle — not just the binary — is what Sparkle's update validator requires.
6. Only after sealing: copy .build/release/*.bundle (SwiftMath's math fonts) into the .app root.

Why step 6 is last and at the root — two constraints collide:

• codesign refuses to seal a bundle with any extra item at the .app root ("unsealed contents present in the bundle root"), so the seal must happen while the root holds only Contents/.
• SwiftMath's generated Bundle.module accessor hardcodes Bundle.main.bundleURL — the .app root — with only a hardcoded absolute .build path as fallback. So the bundle must sit at the root.

Resolution: seal first, copy after. The one unsealed root item makes codesign --verify and --strict complain, but Sparkle's actual check is non-strict and tolerates it (verified end-to-end; details in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md §8).

Missing SwiftMath bundle = instant crash the moment the app renders any LaTeX. App launches fine, opens documents fine, dies on the first math block. If you see that crash, check ls build/Edmund.app/*.bundle first.

4. Debug bundle fast path (EdmundDbg.app)

For live runs of a debug build, skip build-app.sh and hand-assemble (from docs/dev-guides/live-repro-guide.md §4):

swift build
mkdir -p build/EdmundDbg.app/Contents/MacOS
cp Info.plist build/EdmundDbg.app/Contents/
cp .build/arm64-apple-macosx/debug/edmd build/EdmundDbg.app/Contents/MacOS/
cp -R .build/arm64-apple-macosx/debug/Sparkle.framework build/EdmundDbg.app/Contents/MacOS/

• Sparkle.framework must sit next to the binary — dyld aborts without it.
• A bare .build/debug/edmd runs but never creates a window. It needs the bundle (Info.plist) around it.
• Launch by direct exec of the bundle binary, never open -a:

build/EdmundDbg.app/Contents/MacOS/edmd /path/to/test.md \
  -ApplePersistenceIgnoreState YES &

LaunchServices (open -a) can silently run a stale cached/translocated copy — you'd be executing last hour's code. Direct exec runs exactly the binary you just copied. -ApplePersistenceIgnoreState YES stops state restoration from reopening previous (possibly mutated) documents.

• Recreate the test document fresh before every run — autosave mutates it.

5. THE STALE BUILD DISEASE

The single most expensive trap in this repo: it has produced entire wrong debugging conclusions ("my fix doesn't work" when the fix was never in the binary).

Symptom: swift build prints Build complete! having compiled a changed file but not relinked edmd. The app then runs old code. Release builds (swift build -c release / build-app.sh) reuse stale objects too.

Detection — before trusting ANY binary you just built:

# 1. Grep for a LONG string literal unique to your new code:
strings .build/arm64-apple-macosx/debug/edmd | grep 'your long unique literal'
# 2. Hash before/after the build:
shasum .build/arm64-apple-macosx/debug/edmd

Literal length matters: string literals ≤15 bytes are stored inline in the Mach-O on arm64 and never appear in strings output. A short probe literal gives a false "stale" verdict. Use a long one (a distinctive log message works well).

Cure:

swift package clean          # first resort
rm -rf .build                # visual change "doesn't take" → nuke it all

Never hand-delete .build/…/edmd.build/ — that corrupts SwiftPM's output-file-map and wedges the target until a full clean anyway.

6. Running for visual checks — launch/kill hygiene

The user's daily-driver app has the same binary name (edmd). A blanket pkill -x edmd kills their live session. Always, in order:

# 1. Who is running, and since when?
pgrep -lx edmd
ps -o lstart=,command= -p <pid>
# 2. Kill ONLY your own PID — or, if you launched the debug bundle:
pkill -f EdmundDbg

Other run gotchas:

• open Edmund.app foregrounds a running instance instead of relaunching — you'll be looking at the old binary. Kill your instance first or direct-exec the binary.
• Always pass -ApplePersistenceIgnoreState YES (see §4).
• After many rapid launch/kill cycles the window server can glitch (tiny windows, broken state restoration): rm -rf ~/Library/"Saved Application State"/com.i7t5.edmund.savedState and relaunch.
• Verification method (window-id screencapture, offscreen render fallback): edmund-validation-and-qa and docs/ARCHITECTURE.md §8.

7. CI environment

.github/workflows/ci.yml (verified 2026-07-05): runs swift test on macos-14 with latest-stable Xcode (Swift 6.0 needs Xcode 16+), triggered on PRs and pushes to main.

• SPM cache: .build is cached keyed on spm-v2-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('Package.resolved') }}. The v2 token exists because the repo rename md → Edmund changed the checkout path and invalidated absolute paths baked into the cached module cache — bump the token to discard a poisoned cache.
• Concurrency: cancel-in-progress: true per branch/PR — private-repo macOS minutes bill at 10x, so superseded commits' runs are cancelled.
• Release pipeline (release.yml, tag-triggered) is a separate beast: edmund-release-and-operate / docs/ARCHITECTURE.md §13.

8. Checklists

Fresh clone to green

• sw_vers — macOS 14+; swift --version — Swift 6.x (Xcode 16+)
• git clone + cd Edmund
• swift build — SPM fetches swift-markdown, SwiftMath, Sparkle
• swift test — ~750+ tests green in ~10s
• Read docs/ARCHITECTURE.md (mandated by AGENTS.md before non-trivial work)
• Visual work planned? ./scripts/build-app.sh, confirm build/Edmund.app exists and ls build/Edmund.app/*.bundle shows the SwiftMath bundle
• Releases planned? node --version ≥20, npm install --global create-dmg

Before trusting any run

• Binary is fresh: strings <binary> | grep '<long unique literal>' and/or shasum changed since the edit (§5)
• pgrep -lx edmd — user's live instance identified; you will kill only your own PID (§6)
• Launched by direct exec, not open -a (§4)
• -ApplePersistenceIgnoreState YES passed
• Test document recreated fresh (autosave mutated the last one)
• Debug bundle: Sparkle.framework sits next to the binary
• Release bundle: SwiftMath *.bundle at the .app root (or the first LaTeX render crashes)

Provenance and maintenance

Every claim above was read from the files below on 2026-07-05. Re-verify:

• Toolchain/deps: cat Package.swift (tools-version, platforms, dep versions); grep identity Package.resolved
• Build anatomy: cat scripts/build-app.sh (step order, sealing comments)
• Test count/time: swift test 2>&1 | tail -3
• Debug bundle recipe: docs/dev-guides/live-repro-guide.md §4
• Stale-build disease, launch gotchas: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md §8 ("Stale release builds", "open Edmund.app", savedState)
• CI facts: cat .github/workflows/ci.yml (cache key comment, concurrency)
• create-dmg quirks: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md §8 ("create-dmg — npm only")

If a command here disagrees with those files, the files win — update this skill.