DevTools Repo Guidelines for AI Assistants

Follow these rules when working in this repository.

Repository Rules

Dependencies

• packages/devtools_shared: Never introduce a Flutter dependency or a dependency on web-only Dart libraries.
• Imports: Never import packages/devtools_app/lib/devtools_app.dart in code under packages/devtools_app/lib/src/. It is acceptable in test code.

Code Style

• Style Guide: Follow the DevTools style guide in STYLE.md.
• Formatting & Analysis: Always ensure code is formatted properly and has no analysis errors or warnings before completing a task.

Running Tests

• Standard Packages: Run unit and widget tests with flutter test.
• packages/devtools_shared: Run tests with dart test.
• Integration Tests: Refer to the Integration Test README for instructions on running integration tests.

Tooling Best Practices

• MCP Tools: Prefer using MCP server tools over shell commands whenever possible.

UI Development Guidelines

Constants and Magic Values

• Avoid Raw Values: Avoid using raw strings or numbers in UI code. Use named constants instead.

Themes and Styles

• Use Existing Themes: Use existing theme values and text styles from packages/devtools_app_shared/lib/src/ui/theme/theme.dart (e.g., Theme.of(context).regularTextStyle).
• Reuse Patterns: Reuse common patterns and styles used in other UI code in the repository.

Code Reuse

• Use Shared Components & Utils: Prefer using reusable components from shared/ui/ (such as packages/devtools_app/lib/src/shared/ui/common_widgets.dart), primitives from shared/primitives/, and utilities from shared/utils/ rather than creating things from scratch.