software-factory-operations

name	software-factory-operations
description	Use when implementing cards in a target realm through the factory execution loop — covers the tool-use workflow for searching, writing, testing, and updating issues via factory tools.

Software Factory Operations

Use this skill when operating inside the factory execution loop. Workspace files (card definitions, instances, tests) live in a local workspace mirror of the target realm that the orchestrator syncs back to the realm between iterations. Realm-side operations (search, host commands, runtime validators) and control signals are factory tools the agent invokes directly.

Realm Roles

• Source realm (packages/software-factory/realm) Publishes shared modules, briefs, templates, and tracker schema. Never write to this realm.
• Target realm (user-specified, passed to factory:go) Receives all generated artifacts: Project, Issue, KnowledgeArticle, card definitions, card instances, Catalog Spec cards, and QUnit test files.

Workspace files (local mirror of target realm)

The agent's working directory is the workspace — the local mirror of the target realm that the orchestrator syncs back between iterations. Use the native Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, and Bash tools on these files; the workspace cwd is set for you, so realm-relative paths resolve directly.

These files live in the workspace:

• Card definitions: *.gts
• Card tests: *.test.gts
• Content card instances under <CardType>/<id>.json (the user data the cards represent — e.g. StickyNote/note-1.json)
• Tracker-schema cards: Projects/<slug>.json, Issues/<slug>.json, Knowledge Articles/<slug>.json, Spec/<slug>.json

Bash is also available for boxel CLI commands:

• Read-only inspection: boxel status, boxel history, boxel search, boxel read-transpiled.
• boxel run-command — dispatches to whatever host command you specify. Most specifiers are read-only inspection commands (get-card-type-schema, evaluate-module, instantiate-card), but the surface itself is generic; treat it as "as safe as the named command."

See the Realm-side reads section below for the full usage.

Inspect before writing. Read or grep the file you plan to change, and glob for sibling files (e.g. existing card definitions in the same directory) before creating new ones.

Tracker-schema cards — write JSON directly

Project, IssueTracker, Issue, KnowledgeArticle, and Spec cards are plain .json files in the workspace. Use Write to create them; to update one, Read it, then either Edit the relevant attributes or Write the merged document back — same workspace fs surface as .gts files.

File path	adoptsFrom
Projects/<slug>.json	{module: "<darkfactoryModuleUrl>", name: "Project"}
Boards/<slug>.json	{module: "<darkfactoryModuleUrl>", name: "IssueTracker"}
Issues/<slug>.json	{module: "<darkfactoryModuleUrl>", name: "Issue"}
Knowledge Articles/<slug>.json	{module: "<darkfactoryModuleUrl>", name: "KnowledgeArticle"}
Spec/<slug>.json	{module: "https://cardstack.com/base/spec", name: "Spec"}

<darkfactoryModuleUrl> is named in the system prompt — use that value verbatim.

Always fetch the live schema before writing. Field names, enum values, and relationship keys for each card type are introspected at runtime — never hard-coded in this skill. Call get_card_schema({ module, name }) for the card you're about to write and use the returned { attributes, relationships? } JSON Schema to shape the document. The bootstrap skill covers the bootstrap-specific attribute population guidance; this skill covers the operational patterns (read-before-write, comments, invariants) that layer on top.

Read before write. When updating any tracker card, Read the file first, change only the attributes you intend to update, then write the merged document back. Don't overwrite the whole file with only your new fields — you'll silently drop the existing attributes.

Issue invariants you must enforce yourself (these used to be enforced by a wrapper tool; they aren't anymore):

• description is immutable after the issue is created. If you need to add context — blocked reasons, progress notes, validation failures, clarification requests — append to the comments array instead. See "Adding a comment to an existing issue" below.
• Status transitions are restricted. You may set status to "blocked" (cannot proceed) or "backlog" (unblock). Never set status to "done" or "in_progress" — those are owned by the orchestrator based on signal_done + validation results.

Adding a comment to an existing issue

Issue cards carry a containsMany comments array on attributes. To append a comment:

1. Call get_card_schema({ module: "<darkfactoryModuleUrl>", name: "Issue" }) if you don't already have the Issue schema cached. The comments array entry is itself an object with its own field shape — use the field names returned by the schema (the body / author / timestamp fields) verbatim. The timestamp field on a comment is not the same as the Issue's own top-level createdAt / updatedAt attributes; the schema disambiguates them.
2. Read the issue's .json.
3. Append a new entry to the comments array on data.attributes, populating the body (markdown comment text), the author (e.g. "factory-agent" or "orchestrator"), and the comment-timestamp field (ISO timestamp).
4. Write (or Edit) the document back. Do not modify the description or any other attribute — comments are append-only.

Catalog Spec card shape

Spec cards (Spec/<slug>.json) adopt from https://cardstack.com/base/spec / Spec, not from the tracker module. Fetch the live schema before writing:

get_card_schema({ module: "https://cardstack.com/base/spec", name: "Spec" })

Use the returned { attributes, relationships? } to shape the document. What the schema does not tell you and you must supply yourself for entry-point cards:

• A display title and short description suitable for the catalog.

• The spec-type field set to the enum value the schema returns for card-style specs (vs. apps, fields, etc.).

• A code-ref attribute pointing at your .gts definition, formatted as {module: "../<slug>", name: "<PascalClass>"} (relative path, no .gts extension) so the spec resolves the definition relative to itself.

• A markdown usage guide for the catalog page.

• A linked-examples relationship populated with one or more sample instances:

  "<linked-examples-key>": [
    { "links": { "self": "../<CardType>/<instance-id>" } },
    ...
  ]
  

  (The schema names the relationship key.)

The full document envelope is the same as for tracker cards (data / type: "card" / attributes / relationships / meta.adoptsFrom), just with the https://cardstack.com/base/spec adoptsFrom.

Realm-side reads (via boxel CLI)

For operations that need to reach the realm runtime — searching the indexed cards, fetching transpiled JS, running host commands — shell out via Bash to the boxel CLI. These never go through the workspace fs.

• Search the target realm for cards using a structured query (filter, sort, page). Use this to check for existing cards, find duplicates, or inspect project state.

  boxel search --realm <target-realm-url> --query '<json>' --json
  

  Single-quote the entire JSON object so the shell does not expand or split it; keep keys and string values double-quoted inside. Pipe through jq to project. For the full query syntax (filter / eq / contains / range / every / any / not / sort / page, CodeRef matching, common mistakes) see the boxel-api skill.
• Fetch the transpiled JavaScript for a .gts module — used only when an eval/instantiate error reports a line/column number, since those numbers reference the transpiled output, not your .gts source.

  boxel read-transpiled <realm-relative-path> --realm <target-realm-url>
  

  The .gts extension is optional. Pipe through sed -n '<line>p' (or wrap with awk) to inspect a single line. See the Debugging Runtime Evaluation Errors section below for when to reach for this.
• Run any other host command in the realm's prerendered runtime (module evaluation, card instantiation, anything else exposed at @cardstack/boxel-host/commands/<name>/default):

  boxel run-command <command-specifier> --realm <target-realm-url> --input '<json>' --json
  

  Most agent tasks won't need this — the validators below already wrap the common host commands. See the boxel-command skill for the programmatic surface and failure modes.

Fetching live card-type schemas

get_card_schema({ module, name }) returns the live JSON Schema ({ attributes, relationships? }) for any CardDef, introspected from the actual class via the realm server's prerenderer (the same path the AI Bot uses for its patch-tool schemas). Always call this before writing a tracker card (Project / Issue / KnowledgeArticle), a Spec card, or any other card whose shape you need to know. Schemas are cached per-process, so repeated calls with the same code ref are free.

Self-Validation (optional, in-memory results)

All five validators are factory tools, safe to call repeatedly mid-turn. They return in-memory result objects and do not persist any durable validation cards — the orchestrator still runs the full validation pipeline (which persists TestRun / LintResult / ParseResult / EvalResult / InstantiateResult cards) after signal_done, so calling any of these mid-turn is optional.

Side effect to know about: the realm-touching validators (run_evaluate, run_instantiate, run_tests) sync your workspace to the realm before invoking the prerenderer, so they push whatever you've just written. That's the same write the orchestrator's between-iteration sync would have done — it's not destructive, but it does mean calling these tools is the moment your local writes hit the realm. The lighter validators (run_lint, run_parse) run entirely in-process and don't touch the realm.

• run_lint({ path? }) — Run ESLint + Prettier (with @cardstack/boxel rules) and return an in-memory RunLintResult with status, filesChecked, filesWithErrors, errorCount, warningCount, durationMs, lintableFiles, and per-violation { rule, file, line, column, message, severity }. Without path, lints every .gts / .gjs / .ts / .js file in the target realm. With path (realm-relative file path), lints only that one file — prefer this right after writing or editing a single file.
• run_tests() — Run the realm's QUnit suite and receive an in-memory result object { status, passedCount, failedCount, skippedCount, durationMs, testFiles, failures, errorMessage? }. Use it when you want feedback before signalling done.
• run_parse({ path? }) — Parse and type-check files in the target realm and return an in-memory RunParseResult with status, filesChecked, filesWithErrors, errorCount, durationMs, parseableFiles, and per-error { file, line, column, message }. Without path, runs glint (ember-tsc) over every .gts / .gjs / .ts file in the realm AND validates every .json file listed as a Spec linkedExample (same discovery as the parse validation step). With path (realm-relative file path), parses only that one file — .gts / .gjs / .ts runs through glint; .json is parsed and checked for card document structure. The extension is required; parseableFiles entries are always returned in the .json / .gts / .gjs / .ts form, so you can feed any of them straight back into path. Prefer the single-file form right after writing or editing one file.
• run_evaluate({ path? }) — Evaluate ESM modules (.gts / .gjs / .ts / .js) in the target realm via the prerenderer sandbox and return a RunEvaluateResult (status, module counts, per-failure { path, error, stackTrace? }). Without path, evaluates every non-test evaluable module. With path, evaluates only that single realm-relative file — handy for a quick self-check right after writing one module. Test files (*.test.*) are rejected — the test runner validates those. The tool bound-polls past the brief read-after-write window where the realm has the source on disk but indexing hasn't populated the module map yet, so a returned failure is a real failure — don't retry on the agent side. When a failure reports a line/column, those numbers refer to the transpiled module — pair with boxel read-transpiled (see Realm-side reads above) to locate the offending source construct, then fix the .gts source (never copy transpiled patterns back into source).
• run_instantiate({ path? }) — Instantiate card example instances in the target realm via the prerenderer sandbox and return a RunInstantiateResult (status, instance counts, per-failure { path, cardName, error, stackTrace? }). Without path, searches the realm for Spec cards and instantiates every linkedExample on every card/app Spec; specs with no linkedExamples still get a bare instantiation to exercise the card class. With path, instantiates only that single realm-relative .json example file — its meta.adoptsFrom supplies the module + card name, and spec discovery is skipped entirely so you can self-check one instance in isolation. The path argument must end in .json. instanceFiles only contains real .json example paths (bare-instantiation fallbacks are filtered out) so any entry can be fed straight back into path. If a bare instantiation fails, its failure entry has path: '' and a populated cardName — identify the spec by cardName and do NOT pass the empty path back into path. The tool bound-polls past the brief read-after-write window where the realm has the source on disk but indexing hasn't populated the module map yet, so a returned failure is a real failure — don't retry on the agent side. When a failure reports a line/column, those numbers refer to the transpiled module — pair with boxel read-transpiled (see Realm-side reads above) to locate the offending source construct, then fix the .gts source (never copy transpiled patterns back into source).

Control Flow

• signal_done() — Signal that the current issue is complete. Call this only after all implementation and test files have been written.
• request_clarification({ message }) — Signal that you cannot proceed and need human input. Describe what is blocking.

Required Flow

1. Inspect before writing. Search the target realm for existing cards (boxel search --realm <url> --query '<json>' via Bash — see Realm-side reads above, with full syntax in the boxel-api skill). Read or grep the workspace files you plan to change (or sibling files in the same directory) before creating or modifying anything.
2. Write card definitions (.gts) into the workspace.
3. Write .test.gts test files co-located with card definitions. Every issue must have at least one test file. Write tests immediately after the card definition, before any instances or catalog specs.
4. Write card instances (.json) into the workspace.
5. Write a Catalog Spec card (Spec/<card-name>.json) — adoptsFrom https://cardstack.com/base/spec / Spec. Link sample instances via relationships.linkedExamples.
6. (Optional) Call run_tests() to self-validate before signalling done. This returns test results in-memory without writing any realm artifacts. Iterating on your own work with run_tests is faster than round-tripping through the orchestrator pipeline.
7. Call signal_done() when all implementation and test files are written. The orchestrator runs the full validation pipeline (which persists a TestRun card, among other artifacts) automatically after this.
8. If tests fail, the orchestrator feeds failure details back. Re-read the affected workspace files, fix them, and call signal_done() again.
9. Record progress by appending to the issue's comments array (Read + Edit the issue JSON). Never modify the issue's description.

Target Realm Artifact Structure

target-realm/
├── card-name.gts                    # Card definition
├── card-name.test.gts               # QUnit test (co-located)
├── CardName/
│   └── sample-instance.json         # Card instance
├── Spec/
│   └── card-name.json               # Catalog Spec card
├── Validations/
│   ├── test_issue-slug-1.json       # TestRun card (test results)
│   └── lint_issue-slug-1.json       # Lint result card
├── Projects/
│   └── project-name.json            # Project card
├── Issues/
│   └── issue-slug.json              # Issue card
└── Knowledge Articles/
    └── article-name.json            # KnowledgeArticle card

Debugging Runtime Evaluation Errors

Eval-step and instantiate-step validation failures surface line/column references that point to the transpiled JavaScript output, not the .gts source you wrote. The realm compiles .gts to JS before execution and runtime errors reference the compiled output.

When a validation error contains text like (error occurred in '/.../sticky-note.gts' @ line 66 : column 32), the line number is for the transpiled module. Fetch the transpiled output and read the reported line to see what compiled construct raised the error — then reason back to the .gts source construct that produced it.

boxel read-transpiled sticky-note.gts --realm <target-realm-url>

Pipe through sed -n '60,70p' (or similar) to focus on a window around the reported line.

For example, " is not a valid character within attribute names: (error occurred in '/.../sticky-note.gts' @ line 66 : column 32) typically points inside a precompileTemplate(...) block in the transpiled output. The actual fault in the source is often in a CSS comment or a template expression — line 66 in your .gts source is unrelated. Reading the transpiled line is what connects the error back to the source.

The transpiled output is for DEBUGGING ONLY — never for implementation

Scope: the transpiled fetch (boxel read-transpiled) is only for investigating runtime errors in .gts modules you have already written — when an eval or instantiate validation failure points to a line/column in the transpiled output and you need to map that coordinate back to your source. It is not for learning how to write cards, not for understanding Boxel patterns, and not a general reference.

• Do not copy patterns, imports, or shapes from the transpiled output into your .gts source. The transpiler emits artifacts like setComponentTemplate(...), precompileTemplate(...), wire-format template arrays, base64 CSS imports (./file.gts.CiAg...), and other compiler internals. None of those belong in source code.
• Do not write .gts that "looks like" the compiled JS. Always write clean, idiomatic Ember / <template>-tag / CardDef / FieldDef source. If you find yourself tempted to hand-write a setComponentTemplate(...) call or a wire-format template, stop — you're modeling the wrong layer.
• Always edit the .gts source, never the transpiled output. The realm regenerates the transpiled JS on every write, so any edit there is silently discarded.
• When in doubt, favor idiomatic card development practices. The boxel skill and existing cards in the target realm are the right references — not what the compiler happens to emit.

Use the transpiled fetch the way a developer uses a source map: to translate a runtime line number back to a source construct in the code you wrote, then close the transpiled view and fix the source idiomatically.

Writing QUnit Card Tests

Test files are .test.gts files co-located with card definitions in the target realm. Each test file exports a runTests() function that registers QUnit modules and tests.

Example Test

// sticky-note.test.gts — co-located with sticky-note.gts
import { module, test } from 'qunit';
import { setupCardTest } from '@cardstack/host/tests/helpers';
import { renderCard } from '@cardstack/host/tests/helpers/render-component';
import { getService } from '@universal-ember/test-support';

let cardModuleUrl = new URL('./sticky-note', import.meta.url).href;

export function runTests() {
  module('StickyNote', function (hooks) {
    setupCardTest(hooks);

    test('renders title in fitted view', async function (assert) {
      let loader = getService('loader-service').loader;
      let { StickyNote } = await loader.import(cardModuleUrl);
      let note = new StickyNote({ title: 'Test Note', body: 'Hello' });
      await renderCard(loader, note, 'fitted');
      assert.dom('[data-test-title]').hasText('Test Note');
    });
  });
}

Key Points

• Tests are .test.gts files co-located with the card definition (e.g., sticky-note.gts and sticky-note.test.gts)
• Each test file must export a runTests() function
• Use import.meta.url to resolve card definitions relative to the test file — never hardcode realm URLs
• Use setupCardTest(hooks) for rendering context, then renderCard(loader, card, format) for DOM assertions
• No external realm writes during tests — all test data lives in browser memory
• Use data-test-* attributes for DOM selectors when testing rendered output
• Use QUnit assertions: assert.dom(), assert.strictEqual(), assert.ok()
• Never use QUnit.skip() or QUnit.todo(). All tests must actually execute. Skipped/todo tests are flagged as skipped in the TestRun card and treated as a failure when no tests actually ran. The orchestrator will reject a TestRun where every test is skipped.

Important Rules

• Never write to the source realm. All generated artifacts go to the target realm via the workspace mirror.
• Stay inside the workspace. Workspace fs operations are scoped to the local mirror of the target realm. Use realm-relative paths (sticky-note.gts, StickyNote/note-1.json) — never absolute paths outside the workspace, never the user's home directory, never the source realm.
• Don't drive sync yourself. The orchestrator owns boxel sync / boxel push. Read-only boxel commands (boxel status, boxel history) are fine for inspection, but never run sync, push, or any command that mutates the realm directly.
• Write source code, not compiled output. When writing .gts files, write clean idiomatic source — never compiled JSON blocks or base64- encoded content.
• Use absolute adoptsFrom.module URLs when referencing definitions that live in a different realm (e.g., the source realm's tracker schema).
• Start small and iterate. Write the smallest working implementation first, then add the test. If tests fail, read the failure output carefully before making targeted fixes.