Before starting work, read and follow CONTRIBUTING.md, including the Prevent agent impersonation section governing agent identification and separation of unaltered user statements when communicating through a person's account.
Prefer pull requests: a PR can serve as an issue with a fix attached. Do not create an issue solely to follow it immediately with a PR that fixes it; describe the problem in the PR instead.
Gix backend operations must use Gix through the supported GixPython (gix)
APIs. Python/stdlib implementations, direct filesystem inference, and custom
native implementations outside Gix are not substitutes for a missing Gix
operation. Do not implement Git behavior independently to avoid CLI calls.
"Native" in code, documentation, reports and benchmarks means execution by
Gitoxide through GixPython's gix API. It never means Python-implemented Git
behavior. Every eliminated CLI call must be backed by identified Gix calls.
Python glue may validate inputs, adapt Gix results to GitPython's return types
and formatting, manage the retained gix.Repository, and select a CLI fallback.
It must not invent a successful result or repair missing Git semantics with a
separate implementation. Retaining and explicitly recreating a Gix repository
through the shared accessor is allowed.
Adapting native locations may append the fixed metadata leaf names modules
and COMMIT_EDITMSG to Repository.git_dir(), whose location Gix resolves.
Input paths may be canonicalized before reopening through Gix; return metadata
from that native handle. These adaptations must match Git in regression tests
and do not authorize a Python implementation of the general --git-path rules.
If Gix lacks a capability, differs from the required behavior, or its use is
unclear, keep the existing Git CLI path and document the gap in
doc/gix-backend.md. State the expected behavior, available evidence, and what
GixPython or Gitoxide needs to expose or fix upstream. Tests, coverage reports
and benchmark ceilings must reflect that fallback; a lower CLI count alone
does not demonstrate a Gix implementation.
Track every observed difference from the equivalent Git operation as a Git compatibility bug, even if the Gix behavior is intentional. Gix must provide matching behavior, at least through a mode as strict as Git. Record Git's expected behavior, Gix's actual behavior, versions, reproduction or regression, and the affected adapter/fallback in the ledger. Keep these bugs open when a Gix-based adapter workaround restores parity; close them only after verifying the upstream fix or compatible mode. Distinguish demonstrated mismatches from missing APIs and unverified behavior. Do not repair a compatibility bug by implementing Git semantics in Python.
Follow Conventional Commits for every commit. Every commit must have a descriptive title and a substantive body. Title-only commit messages are not acceptable.
Write commit messages in Markdown and assume readers view them with syntax highlighting. Enclose code identifiers, package and module names, file paths, and shell commands in backticks. Use Markdown whenever it helps readers understand or navigate the prose.
- Every title must use the form
type: descriptionortype(scope): description. - Use
feat:for user-visible features andfix:for user-visible fixes. - Use appropriate prefixes for other changes, such as
docs:,test:,ci:,build:,refactor:,perf:,style:, orchore:. - Breaking changes must use
!immediately before the colon, for examplefeat!:,refactor!:, or a scoped form such asfix(repo)!:. - Optionally scope a commit to the affected component, for example
fix(repo):.
Example titles:
feat: add support for a new Git optionfix(repo): handle bare repositories correctlybuild!: drop support for an older Python versionci: add an independent documentation buildrefactor(repo): simplify repository initialization
The body must explain the problem or motivation, what changed, and why the chosen approach addresses it. Include relevant behavior before and after the change, design decisions, limitations, and validation results. Scale the detail to the change; do not add boilerplate or claim checks that were not run.
Commit messages must stand on their own. Put the information needed to understand and review the change in the commit body, even when it also appears in a pull request description. PR and issue links may provide additional context, but must not substitute for that explanation.