name: understand-focus-local-runtime-quirks
description: Remember the local rules that usually matter first: content root, database target override, locked DLLs, and restart/test sequencing.
category: System
pinned: true
trigger_hints: content root, database target, locked dll, launch path, static files
Understand Focus local runtime quirks
Remember the local rules that usually matter first: content root, database target override, locked DLLs, and restart/test sequencing.
When to Use This Skill
Use this before debugging confusing local behavior where Focus seems to use the wrong data, wrong assets, or refuses to rebuild cleanly.
Workflow Overview
- Check which content root the app is using and whether wwwroot resolves from that location.
- Verify the effective database target and whether focus-palace.database-target.json is overriding it.
- Stop the exact running dotnet host before rebuilding if DLLs are locked.
- Retest using the same launch path and command that reproduces the issue.
Examples
- Why is Focus using the wrong database?
- Why do tests fail because FocusLAIci.Web.dll is locked?
- Why does the page HTML load but static files 404?
