phira-env-contract

name	phira-env-contract
description	Procedural checklist to infer and state the repo's effective runtime environment and dependency policy.

Use this skill whenever you are about to implement code that could be sensitive to Python/library versions, GPU/CPU availability, or dependency policy.

Goal: produce an explicit "environment contract" that constrains implementation choices and makes later failures reproducible.

Output (copy/paste into your response)

Provide this block near the top of your implementation report:

Environment contract
- Python: <version or "unknown">
- Platform: <os/arch or "unknown">
- Key deps: <package>=<version> (only those that matter)
- Dependency policy: <"no new deps" | "deps allowed" | "unknown">
- Hardware: <"cpu" | "gpu" | "unknown"> (only if relevant)
- Provenance: <how you inferred this>

Checklist (do in order)

1. Prefer repo artifacts over assumptions

• Look for: pyproject.toml, requirements*.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, Pipfile.lock, environment.yml, conda*.yml, Dockerfile, docker-compose.yml, Makefile, noxfile.py, tox.ini, .python-version, .tool-versions, setup.cfg, setup.py.
• Look for CI: .github/workflows/**, ci/**.
• Look for runtime docs: README*, docs/**.

2. Infer Python version

• If .python-version / .tool-versions exists: trust it.
• Else if CI pins Python: trust CI.
• Else if Dockerfile pins Python: trust Docker.
• Else: report as unknown and constrain implementation to broadly compatible code.

3. Identify the smallest set of "key deps"

• Only list packages that affect your change (e.g., torch, jax, transformers, numpy, pydantic, hydra, lightning, accelerate, datasets).
• Prefer pinned lockfiles over loose requirements.

4. Determine dependency policy

• If the task explicitly allows new deps: set deps allowed.
• Else default to no new deps.
• If you truly cannot infer: mark unknown and stop to ask phira only if it changes the implementation approach.

5. Record provenance

• Cite exactly which artifacts/commands you used (e.g., "from .github/workflows/ci.yml", "from pyproject.toml", "ran python --version in this env").

Guardrails

• If environment constraints are unknown and materially affect correctness, ask phira one targeted question that requests only the missing constraint(s).
• Do not upgrade/bump dependencies by default.