`onPush`, `atTimes`, `branches`, and `activeWithin` move into a nested `trigger`. The split is structural on purpose: the inheritance from `builds.default` now subtracts one key instead of a list of four, so a selector added to `TriggerConfig` later is non-inheritable by construction rather than because someone remembered to extend the list. A definition still writing those keys flat is refused by name, per file and scoped like the version check — the machine and project config abort the start, a branch's committed config fails only that branch. Ignoring them would leave the build with no trigger at all, which is a job that quietly stops running: the failure this refusal exists to prevent. Two more things a definition can now say: - A `!` prefix in `trigger.branches` excludes, and an exclusion wins whatever the order. `["*", "!master"]` gives one branch a build of its own without the default build running over it as well — until now the only way out of that double build was to drop the second definition's push trigger. - `statusContext` overrides the Gitea check this build reports as, empty keeping the repository-wide one. Two builds of a commit shared a context and overwrote each other's result, so a quick check beside a long build was not readable in Gitea. Pinned like `requirePullRequest`: a branch that could pick its context could take over the check a branch protection rule depends on. Fixed on the way: a branch whose builds all belong to named definitions rendered an empty row in the branches view, reading as "never built" directly beside its real builds. That row was unreachable before the exclusion patterns made such a branch possible.
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GitTally — Agent Instructions
This file holds the shared, tool-agnostic instructions for all AI coding agents.
Claude Code imports it from CLAUDE.md via @AGENTS.md; Claude-Code-specific instructions belong in CLAUDE.md, everything else here.
Detailed guides live as Agent Skills under .claude/skills/ (SKILL.md format); they load on demand — see Skills.
Build and Test Commands
./gradlew build # compile + ktlintCheck + test
./gradlew ktlintFormat # auto-format before committing
./gradlew test # run all tests (can be slow, prefer single test)
./gradlew test --tests "de.hoennig.gittally.ApplicationContextTest" # example for running a single test class
Run the JAR directly:
java -jar build/libs/gittally.jar --help
java -jar build/libs/gittally.jar init
ktlintFormat must be run before build passes — the formatter is enforced as part of the check lifecycle.
Architecture Overview
GitTally is a lightweight, declarative CI/CD build system: git-centric, one instance per repository, builds native or in Docker, statuses reported to Gitea. It is a dual-mode application: CLI (interactive, status, config) and Server (HTTP, persistent web UI + JSON API). IMPORTANT: Before designing or modifying code in any production package, load the architecture skill — it holds the subsystem details (CLI wiring, server mode, web UI, config system, git access, build execution, watcher, metrics).
Package Structure
All production code lives under de.hoennig.gittally, with sub-packages commands (picocli subcommands), config (YAML config loading and schema), git (git CLI access), gitea (Gitea commit-status API client), build (build execution, results, workspaces), artifacts (filesystem artifact store), watcher (branch polling, auto-builds, startup recovery), metrics (system resource sampling and aggregation), and server (JSON API controllers, Thymeleaf UI, artifact serving, control token, watcher and metrics lifecycles). Tests mirror this structure under src/test/kotlin.
Hard Invariants
exitProcessis called only frommain()— never insideCliRunner.run(); this keeps the Spring context alive during tests.- Nothing is scheduled during CLI runs or tests: the watcher poll loop and metrics sampling start only via an explicit
start()in theserverprofile. - Builds run detached in worktrees under
.git/gittally/worktrees/<branchKey>; the primary checkout is never used for builds; never assume a single running build. - When config keys change, three places must stay in sync: the
GitTallyConfigdata classes, theInitCommandtemplates, anddocs/configuration.md. - Every config file may declare
gitTally.version.since/below(the GitTally it is written for, never a format version — no API is involved).sinceis enforced in both directions, usingConfigVersions.FORMAT_BROKE_INfor "file predates a breaking change";belowonly warns. A violation aborts the start for the machine and project config, but fails only that branch's builds for a branch config. - A branch describes its own CI: its committed
.gittally.ymlis the branch layer (ConfigLoader.loadWithBranchLayer, used by the watcher per origin branch and byloadForWorktreeat build time) and takes precedence over.git/project — including the wholebuildssection, so a new configuration can be tried out on a branch without affecting other branches. Only the pinned set is stripped from that layer: secrets (git), host/repository sections (server,gitea,executor,watcher), the docker sandbox policy (docker.enabled,docker.network), and the trust gate (requirePullRequest). A branch must never reach credentials, disable its container, change its network, raise global concurrency, or bypass its own pull-request gate; a branch's definitions apply to that branch alone. - A build definition carries the complete description of its build, split in two: the
triggerblock (onPush,atTimes,branches,activeWithin) says when and for which branches it runs, everything else what it does.builds.defaultis the base every other definition inherits its settings — never itstrigger— from. The split is structural so that a selector added toTriggerConfiglater is non-inheritable by construction; writing a trigger key flat is refused, never ignored, because ignoring it leaves a build that silently stops running. A!prefix intrigger.branchesexcludes and always wins. - The inheritance is applied after all layers are merged: that order is what makes a build a branch invents inherit the host's sandbox policy instead of the data-class default, so the pinning also holds for a build the host has never heard of. Pinned are
requirePullRequest,statusContext,docker.enabled, anddocker.network. buildsor the legacybranches, never both:branchesis read only while the merged config defines no build at all (builds.maxConcurrentis not one), and ignored with a warning as soon as one exists. The section is deprecated and goes away once the repositories have migrated; thenConfigVersions.FORMAT_BROKE_INgets set and a leftoverbranches:key must be rejected by name — the version check alone cannot catch a file that declares no version.- Web UI: server-rendered Thymeleaf plus one hand-written
static/gittally.js— no SPA framework, no frontend build pipeline; every fetch has a timeout and an explicit error badge;UiFormatsandgittally.jsmust produce identical display formats. - Git and Docker access shells out to the CLIs (
GitCommandRunner,docker) — no JGit, no Docker SDK.
Testing
Tests use Kotest FunSpec with MockK; SpringExtension is registered globally in io.kotest.provided.ProjectConfig — do not add it per-spec.
IMPORTANT: Before writing or changing tests, load the writing-tests skill — it holds the spec structure and the Spring-slice mocking patterns.
File-Formatting
Markdown
Write documentation in English in Markdown files. In Markdown, use a single line per sentence. Keep sentences short.
Documentation
docs/GitTally-Konzept.md— product concept and target architecture (in German): git-centric CI, builds in Docker, one instance per repository, status reported back to Gitea.docs/configuration.md— configuration reference; keep in sync withGitTallyConfigand theinittemplates.docs/bootstrapping.md— howinitprepares a repository.docs/deployment.md— running GitTally as a systemd user service behind an existing reverse proxy (init --systemdgenerates the unit).docs/migration-from-legacy.md— legacy env vars → YAML keys mapping and the manual migration steps;legacy/gitTallyis deprecated.docs/plan/— the step-by-step rewrite plan;docs/plan/README.mdexplains how to execute a step,docs/plan/00-legacy-analysis.mdsummarizes the legacy bash script.docs/prs/— one document per pull request; every PR needs one. IMPORTANT: Before opening or finishing a pull request, load the pr-doc skill and write the PR-doc.
Key Architectural Decisions
All major decisions are in docs/adrs/. Run adr-status (after source .envrc) for a one-line summary of each. Decisions in force:
- Test framework: Kotest + MockK + WireMock + Testcontainers (ADR 0001)
- Gradle: 8.14.5 (ADR 0002)
- Spring Boot: 4.0.6 (ADR 0003)
- Rewrite architecture: JSON-file persistence behind a repository interface, server-rendered UI with JSON polling, no managed nginx — systemd unit behind the host's reverse proxy (ADR 0004)
- Managed nginx/TLS: revises ADR 0004 — an opt-in nginx+certbot container for hosts without a reverse proxy (e.g. Hostsharing), planned as
docs/plan/13-nginx-tls.md(ADR 0005) - Runtime bundle distribution:
./gradlew runtimeBundlebuilds a jlink-trimmed JRE + jar tarball for hosts without a Java runtime; GraalVM native image and a containerized runtime were rejected (ADR 0006)
Skills
On-demand guides in the cross-tool SKILL.md format; agents with skill support load them automatically by description, all others should read the linked files when the topic comes up:
- architecture — subsystem details: CLI wiring, server mode, web UI, config, git access, build execution, watcher, metrics.
- writing-tests — Kotest/MockK conventions and Spring slice-test mocking patterns.
- pr-doc — how to write the mandatory per-PR documentation in
docs/prs/.