dev-setup

name

dev-setup

description

First-time Treadstone local development environment setup. Run once after cloning the repo and before starting any development. Covers system dependency installation, Python environment, Neon database connection, migrations, and environment verification. Use this skill when the user/agent just entered the project, needs to rebuild the environment, or encounters setup-related issues like missing dependencies, broken .env, or failed migrations.

First-Time Dev Environment Setup

Run this once. After completion, switch to the dev-lifecycle skill for daily development.

1. System Dependencies

Verify these tools are installed:

python3 --version        # 3.12+
uv --version             # Python package manager
gh --version             # GitHub CLI (optional, for PR/issue ops)
docker --version         # Container builds + Kind cluster
kind --version           # Local K8s cluster (sandbox dev only)
kubectl version --client # K8s CLI
helm version --short     # Helm chart deployment
hurl --version           # E2E testing (HTTP request runner)

Install missing tools (macOS):

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
brew install kind kubectl helm hurl

2. Install Repo Dependencies

make install

This installs Python dependencies with uv, installs web dependencies with pnpm, and configures git hooks.

3. Configure Database (Neon)

The project uses Neon Serverless PostgreSQL — no local Postgres needed.

For local API development (make dev-api), start from:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set at least:

TREADSTONE_DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://neondb_owner:[e-mail]/neondb?sslmode=require
TREADSTONE_JWT_SECRET=CHANGE_ME

The URL scheme must be postgresql+asyncpg:// (not postgresql://). Keep ?sslmode=require.

For local Kubernetes deployment (make local), also prepare:

cp .env.example .env.local

Then set:

TREADSTONE_DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://...
TREADSTONE_JWT_SECRET=CHANGE_ME
TREADSTONE_LEADER_ELECTION_ENABLED=true

4. Apply Database Migrations

make migrate

Expected: INFO [alembic.runtime.migration] Context impl PostgresqlImpl. with migration details listed.

5. Verify Environment

make test

Expected: all tests pass (integration tests are excluded by default). If tests pass, the environment is ready.

Optional API sanity check:

make dev-api
# In another terminal:
curl http://localhost:8000/health

6. Local K8s Cluster (Sandbox Development)

For sandbox-related features that require a real Kubernetes cluster, follow deploy/README.md — use make local (and make destroy-local to tear down) so the Makefile runs context checks before Helm; smoke testing end-to-end.

Quick start:

kubectl config use-context kind-treadstone   # or your Kind context name
make local   # One-command: Kind cluster + build + deploy
curl -sf http://api.localhost/health   # API via Ingress (Web UI: http://app.localhost)
make test-e2e                          # default BASE_URL=http://api.localhost

Pure API development (make dev-api) does not require a K8s cluster.

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Troubleshooting

uv sync fails:

• Confirm Python 3.12+: python3 --version
• Try: uv python install 3.12

Database connection fails (could not connect):

• Check the connection string in .env
• Confirm the URL uses postgresql+asyncpg:// not postgresql://
• Neon free-tier projects auto-suspend; first connection may be slow (~1s cold start)

alembic upgrade head reports authentication failed:

• Confirm .env exists in the project root
• URL-encode special characters in the password

make local fails before app startup:

• Confirm .env.local exists
• Confirm TREADSTONE_JWT_SECRET is set
• Confirm TREADSTONE_LEADER_ELECTION_ENABLED=true for the K8s environment
• Optional: set TREADSTONE_PROD_CONTEXT so destroy-local is refused while kubectl points at prod; make local runs the context check after Kind setup and before Helm (see deploy/README.md). If Kind already exists but kubectl still points at prod, switch with kubectl config use-context kind-treadstone