community-rule/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing

Backend (local)

1. Copy .env.example to .env and set SESSION_SECRET (at least 16 characters).
2. docker compose up -d postgres mailhog — omit mailhog if you only need Postgres; with SMTP_URL unset, the magic-link verify URL is printed in the dev server log (see .env.example).
3. Install dependencies: npm ci
4. Apply migrations: npx prisma migrate dev
5. Run the app: npm run dev

Use npx prisma studio to inspect the database.

Prisma migrations (important)

• Do not edit migration files that have already been applied to staging, production, or any shared database. Changing history breaks migrate deploy and other environments.
• To fix a bad migration, add a new migration that corrects the schema. See docs/backend-roadmap.md §8 for the full policy.

API routes (overview)

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/api/health	Liveness / DB check
GET	/api/auth/session	Current user or null
POST	/api/auth/magic-link/request	Send sign-in link email
GET	/api/auth/magic-link/verify	Validate token, set session cookie, redirect
POST	/api/auth/logout	Clear session
GET / PUT	/api/drafts/me	Load or save create-flow JSON (authenticated)
GET / POST	/api/rules	List or publish rules
GET	/api/templates	List curated templates

Email magic link (sign-in)

• Open http://localhost:3000/login or use Log in in the site header (modal or full page).
• Enter email and request a link. Complete sign-in by opening the link in the same browser you use for the app (session cookie).
• No SMTP_URL: the full GET /api/auth/magic-link/verify?... URL is printed in the dev server terminal — paste it into the browser address bar.
• Mailhog: with Compose Mailhog running, set SMTP_URL=smtp://localhost:1025 and open the link from the message in the Mailhog UI (http://localhost:8025).

Staging / production: Sign-in links use the app’s origin. Ensure your reverse proxy sets Host (and TLS) so links in email match the URL users open. See docs/backend-roadmap.md §9.

Optional draft sync

Set NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_BACKEND_SYNC=true in .env so the create flow saves drafts to the server when a user is logged in.

Frontend / tests

See docs/TESTING_GUIDE.md and the root README.md.