Playbook for adding a new BarefootJS template adapter package (IR → target template language + native runtime). Use when: adding an adapter for a new template engine or backend language, porting the bf helpers / ParsedExpr evaluator to a new language, or wiring an adapter into conformance, compat, CI, release, and docs.
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Playbook for adding a new BarefootJS template adapter package (IR → target template language + native runtime). Use when: adding an adapter for a new template engine or backend language, porting the bf helpers / ParsedExpr evaluator to a new language, or wiring an adapter into conformance, compat, CI, release, and docs.
metadata
{"short-description":"Add a new BarefootJS adapter end-to-end"}
Add a New Adapter
This is the end-to-end playbook for adding a packages/adapter-<name> package. It exists
because the task is long (a full adapter lands ~30 files, ~6k lines) and the failure mode is
predictable: writing lots of adapter code before the conformance loop is running, or finishing
the package but missing the repo-wide integration points. Follow the phases in order — each
one ends with something that compiles and a test loop that stays green.
Read first (in this order, before writing any code)
spec/compiler.md — "Adapter API" and "Implementing a New Adapter" sections (the
TemplateAdapter contract, TemplateSections, per-kind emitter pattern, capability flags).
spec/adapter-architecture.md — the constitution: IR carries semantics, adapters never
parse/regex expression strings, thin adapter object + pure domain modules over EmitContext.
docs/core/adapters/custom-adapter.md — step-by-step coding walkthrough of each render method.
spec/template-helpers.md — the bf helper catalogue the native runtime must implement.
Skim the newest comparable adapter's initial commit for the authoritative file list:
git log --oneline --grep 'adapter' -- packages/adapter-blade packages/adapter-rust
(e.g. 9da1880 blade, 0e6aeeb rust — both land nearly self-contained in one package).
Phase 0 — Scoping decisions (write these down before coding)
Pick the closest existing adapter and copy its skeleton; do not design from scratch:
Runtime model: JS-engine (clientShimSource, acceptsTemplateCall) vs DSL
(templatePrimitives map only, both others undefined).
importMapInjection: 'html-snippet' for DSL/string-template targets, 'component' for
JS-runtime targets. Required for shipping adapters (#1644).
templatesPerComponent and the template file extension.
Where the native runtime lives: in-package (like adapter-erb/lib, adapter-go-template/runtime)
or shared with a sibling (like blade reusing adapter-php's runtime).
Helper naming convention for lowering-node dispatch (bf_* Go, bf->* Perl/Mojo,
$bf.* Xslate, bf.* Ruby/Jinja-family) — stay consistent with the language's idiom.
Create packages/adapter-<name>/ by copying the chosen reference. The invariant shape:
package.json # exports: "." , "./adapter" (src), "./build", "./test-render" ("bun" condition ONLY)
tsconfig.json
src/index.ts # re-exports adapter + conformancePins
src/build.ts # createConfig() consumed by the user's barefoot.config.ts (bf build has NO registry)
src/conformance-pins.ts # ConformancePins — per-fixture BF101/BF103 refusals (also consumed by bf compat)
src/test-render.ts # spawns the REAL backend toolchain; Bun-only, behind the "bun" export condition
src/__tests__/<name>-adapter.test.ts # the single runAdapterConformanceTests(...) call
src/adapter/
<name>-adapter.ts # thin orchestrator: TemplateAdapter impl, CompileState, dispatch methods
emit-context.ts # the seam domain modules depend on (never the concrete class)
analysis/component-tree.ts
expr/{emitters,array-method,operand}.ts # ParsedExpr → target language
lib/{constants,ir-scope,<lang>-naming,types}.ts
memo/seed.ts props/… spread/spread-codegen.ts value/…
<native runtime dir> # lib/ (gem), runtime/ (go module), php/, … with its own tests
The workspace glob (packages/*) picks the package up automatically. Deps: @barefootjs/shared
as dependency, @barefootjs/jsx as peer + dev, @barefootjs/adapter-tests as dev.
Checkpoint: bun install && tsgo --noEmit -p packages/adapter-<name> passes.
Emit via the shared dispatchers — implement ParsedExprEmitter / IRNodeEmitter<Ctx> /
AttrValueEmitter visitor interfaces. Never write your own switch (kind) with a permissive
default: the shared dispatchers' assertNever is the drift-defence that turns a new IR kind
into a compile error in your adapter.
No expression parsing.parseExpression, ts.createSourceFile, and regex over expression
strings are forbidden in adapter code — the IR supplies ParsedExpr (MemoInfo.parsed,
IRExpression.parsed, parsedCondition, ExpressionAttr.parsed). If a field you need isn't
carried yet, extend the shared layer per "How to add a unit" in spec/adapter-architecture.md.
Sections, not post-processing: return AdapterOutput.sections (imports/types/component/ defaultExport/moduleConstants); the compiler concatenates and never parses your template.
Hydration markers: renderScopeMarker / renderSlotMarker / renderCondMarker emit
bf-s / bf / bf-c; the marker-conformance suite asserts the ids match the IR's.
Lowering nodes (packages/jsx/src/lowering-registry.ts): in generate() bind matchers once
with prepareLoweringMatchers(ir.metadata) and store them in CompileState. When lowering a
call, try the matchers; render a LoweringNode with one renderer per node kind, dispatching on
the helper id (guarded by isValidHelperId) mapped to your runtime naming (e.g. query →
bf_query). Reference: packages/adapter-go-template/src/adapter/expr/url-builder.ts. Never
render an unmapped helper verbatim, and never special-case a built-in like queryHref outside
this path (see CLAUDE.md "Structural lowering registration").
Keep the object thin: per-compile state in CompileState reset per generate(), logic in pure
functions over emit-context.ts, stateless helpers in lib/.
Checkpoint: the simplest shared fixture compiles to a plausible template (drive it from a
scratch test before wiring the full suite).
Phase 3 — Native runtime + golden vectors
The target language needs a runtime package shipping:
The bftemplate helpers per spec/template-helpers.md (incl. the query helper matching
client queryHref semantics exactly — guards, emptiness, array append).
A ParsedExpr evaluator porting packages/adapter-tests/vectors/eval-reference.ts semantics.
Golden-vector replay tests in the target language for both
packages/adapter-tests/vectors/vectors.json and eval-vectors.json, plus a hand-maintained
vector-divergences.json in your package (auto-discovered by
packages/adapter-tests/src/__tests__/divergences.test.ts — and note its EXPECTED_BACKENDS
list must gain your language).
Dev-reload support if the scaffold story needs it (pattern: lib/barefoot_js/dev_reload.rb,
runtime/bfdev/).
Follow packages/adapter-tests/vectors/README.md "Adding a new backend".
Checkpoint: native-language test suite green locally (skip gracefully when the toolchain is
missing — see onRenderError in existing conformance tests).
Phase 4 — The conformance loop (this is most of the work)
Wire runAdapterConformanceTests (packages/adapter-tests/src/run-adapter-conformance.ts) in
your src/__tests__/ with: name, factory, render (your test-render.ts spawning the real
backend), onRenderError, expectedDiagnostics: conformancePins, and initially-broad skipJsx.
Then iterate: pick one failing fixture at a time, make it pass, shrink the skip list, commit.
~190 shared fixtures exist; do not try to clear them in one pass and do not edit shared fixtures
to fit your adapter. Rules for what remains skipped/pinned at the end:
A genuine capability refusal (target language can't express it) becomes an
expectedDiagnostics pin in conformance-pins.ts, with a docstring pointing at a
known-limitation issue URL.
skipJsx / skipTemplatePrimitives / skipMarkerConformance entries likewise each carry an
issue pointer. An unexplained skip is a review blocker.
Also verify: no-bun-coupling.test.ts (published sources Bun-free except the "bun"-gated
./test-render), marker conformance, and the CSR conformance suite (adapter-independent — you
should never need to touch csr-conformance.test.ts).
Checkpoint: bun test packages/adapter-<name> and bun test packages/adapter-tests green;
tsgo --noEmit and bun run lint (biome) clean.
Phase 5 — Repo integration checklist (every line, in this order)
The initial package commit is nearly self-contained, but these cross-cutting registrations are
easy to miss — check off each one:
packages/adapter-tests/src/__tests__/divergences.test.ts — add the language to
EXPECTED_BACKENDS (only if this is a new backend language).
packages/adapter-tests/src/__tests__/import-map-injection.contract.test.ts — add the
adapter to ADAPTERS.
packages/compat/src/adapter-registry.ts — add { pkg, className } to COMPAT_ADAPTERS
(the ONE enumeration of TemplateAdapter packages); add the workspace devDependency in
packages/compat/package.json; regenerate ui/compat.lock.json via bun run compat:lock
(CI fails on drift).
scripts/changeset-publish.ts — insert the package in the ordered publish list.
.github/workflows/ci-<name>.yml — new workflow, path-filtered on
packages/{client,shared,jsx,adapter-<name>,adapter-tests}/**, installing the language
toolchain, running native runtime tests then bun test packages/adapter-<name>
(copy the closest ci-*.yml).
.github/workflows/release.yml — per-language registry publish job (gem/crates/PyPI/CPAN/
Packagist…), following the existing Trusted-Publishing patterns.
Add a changeset (.changeset/) — CI enforces it.
Optional, separate PRs: bf init scaffold (ADAPTERS map in
packages/cli/src/lib/templates.ts + packages/cli/src/lib/adapters/<name>.ts +
scaffold/dev-reload contract tests), an integrations/<framework>/ example app
(+ integrations/README.md, docker-compose.yml mounts), site landing demo backends
(site/core/landing/generate-demo-outputs.tsBACKENDS — every demo must compile there).
Working discipline (how to run this as a long task)
One phase per commit (minimum). Within Phase 4, commit every time the skip list shrinks.
Each commit message states which fixtures went green.
Keep a scratch checklist of the Phase 5/6 boxes from the start; tick them as you go rather
than reconstructing at the end.
Verify with the suite, not by eye: the conformance runner comparing against the reference
adapter's frozen snapshots is the ground truth. When output differs, diff the emitted template
against the closest sibling adapter's output for the same fixture before touching code.
When blocked on a fixture: check the
known-limitation label
first — a sibling adapter may already have pinned the same case; mirror its pin and issue link.
Never edit shared fixtures, frozen snapshots, or the shared dispatchers to make your
adapter pass; if the shared layer genuinely needs a new IR-carried field, that is its own
stacked, byte-identical-for-existing-adapters PR (spec/adapter-architecture.md "How to add a unit").
Final gate before the PR: bun run build, bun test, tsgo --noEmit, bun run lint,
bun run compat:lock drift check, and re-read this checklist top to bottom.
Kickoff prompt template
Paste this (filled in) to start the task in a fresh session:
Add a new BarefootJS adapter for <TEMPLATE ENGINE / LANGUAGE> as packages/adapter-<name>.
Follow .claude/skills/add-adapter/SKILL.md exactly, phase by phase — read its "Read first"
list before writing code. Scoping answers: runtime model = <DSL | JS-engine>; copy skeleton
from packages/adapter-<closest>; native runtime lives <in-package | shared with X>; helper
naming = <bf_* | bf.* | …>; importMapInjection = <html-snippet | component>.
Work in small commits: package skeleton first, then the adapter core, then the native runtime
with golden-vector replay, then grind the conformance suite one fixture at a time (skip list
shrinks every commit; every surviving skip/pin carries a known-limitation issue URL). Finish
with the Phase 5 integration checklist and Phase 6 docs — every box, none skipped. Do not edit
shared fixtures, snapshots, or dispatchers. Gate on: bun run build, bun test, tsgo --noEmit,
bun run lint, bun run compat:lock.
