| name | specx-add-core-use-case |
| description | Add or refactor a Specx core scope use case. Use when implementing an externally meaningful application action under a core scope use_cases package, adding same-file command/query inputs, result DTOs, coordinating services, opening a unit-of-work transaction, or moving behavior out of delivery or infrastructure into class-based application code. |
Specx Add Core Use Case
Use this skill for one application action at a time. Read
references/use-case.md before writing the use case.
Workflow
- Name the action directly, for example
CreateInvoiceUseCase.
- Put it under
core/<scope>/use_cases/<action>.py.
- Inherit
BaseUseCase from specx.core.foundation.use_case.
- Define exactly one same-file input class: a
Command for state-changing
use cases or a Query for read-only use cases. Even empty inputs are
explicit.
- Make commands inherit
specx.core.foundation.command.BaseCommand, queries inherit
specx.core.foundation.query.BaseQuery, and result DTOs inherit
specx.core.foundation.dto.BaseDTO. Prefer
@dataclass(frozen=True, kw_only=True, slots=True) for all of these core
data classes unless the user asks for another model type.
- Treat commands and queries as input contracts, not DTOs. Do not make
commands or queries inherit
BaseDTO, put them under dtos/, or add a
DTO suffix.
execute(...) accepts exactly one keyword-only argument named command or
query and returns DTOs, not entities.
- Inject services, capabilities, gateways, and UoW managers with
Injected[...]. Keep infrastructure/runtime settings out of core use cases;
expose required business policy as a typed core value or collaborator. For
transactional persistence, inject the scope
UnitOfWorkManager and open the active unit of work inside execute(...).
Do not inject repositories, SQLAlchemy sessions/engines/session factories,
or concrete infrastructure adapters directly into use cases.
- Keep framework schemas, routers, ORM models, Redis clients, HTTP clients,
and entity return types
out of the use case.
- Mark secret-bearing dataclass fields with
field(repr=False) and never log
whole commands, queries, or DTOs that may contain sensitive values.
- Add or update flat unit tests for the behavior. The test receives the
native pytest
container fixture, registers local doubles or inline mocks
before resolution, and resolves the use case with
container.resolve(UseCaseClass). If the use case injects a
UnitOfWorkManager, also add a core integration test under
tests/integration/core/... against the real persistence graph (and the
transactional database graph when database-backed).
CheckReadinessUseCase may live under core/health when readiness checks any
required external dependency or multiple delivery layers reuse the policy. Add
a core CheckLivenessUseCase only when framework-independent liveness policy
is genuinely reused across deliveries; keep a simple process-only liveness
response in delivery. HTTP paths, status codes, headers, and schemas always
stay in delivery.
Transaction Rule
A use case may open one unit-of-work scope inside execute(...) when database
work is part of the action. Inject the manager, not Provider[UnitOfWork] and
not an active UoW instance, repository, SQLAlchemy session/engine/session
factory, or concrete infrastructure adapter. Read/effect services may receive
the active unit_of_work, but services do not open transactions. Repository
calls from a use case stay rooted in the manager-owned unit_of_work variable.
Commands are allowed to change state. Queries are read-only and should not call
repository mutators such as add, save, create, update, or delete, or
invoke gateways with external write effects.
Code Style
Use blank lines as logical separators in all code. Keep related statements
together, but separate independent setup, action, assertion, response, branch,
and transformation groups so long blocks stay readable.
References
references/use-case.md - use-case class shape, DTO examples, UoW examples,
and test guidance.