openclaw/.github/instructions/copilot.instructions.md

OpenClaw Codebase Patterns

Always reuse existing code - no redundancy!

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node 22+ (Bun also supported for dev/scripts)
• Language: TypeScript (ESM, strict mode)
• Package Manager: pnpm (keep pnpm-lock.yaml in sync)
• Lint/Format: Oxlint, Oxfmt (pnpm check)
• Tests: Vitest with V8 coverage
• CLI Framework: Commander + clack/prompts
• Build: tsdown (outputs to dist/)

Anti-Redundancy Rules

• Avoid files that just re-export from another file. Import directly from the original source.
• If a function already exists, import it - do NOT create a duplicate in another file.
• Before creating any formatter, utility, or helper, search for existing implementations first.

Source of Truth Locations

Formatting Utilities (src/infra/)

• Time formatting: src\infra\format-time

NEVER create local formatAge, formatDuration, formatElapsedTime functions - import from centralized modules.

Terminal Output (src/terminal/)

• Tables: src/terminal/table.ts (renderTable)
• Themes/colors: src/terminal/theme.ts (theme.success, theme.muted, etc.)
• Progress: src/cli/progress.ts (spinners, progress bars)

CLI Patterns

• CLI option wiring: src/cli/
• Commands: src/commands/
• Dependency injection via createDefaultDeps

Import Conventions

• Use .js extension for cross-package imports (ESM)
• Direct imports only - no re-export wrapper files
• Types: import type { X } for type-only imports

Code Quality

• TypeScript (ESM), strict typing, avoid any
• Keep files under ~700 LOC - extract helpers when larger
• Colocated tests: *.test.ts next to source files
• Run pnpm check before commits (lint + format)
• Run pnpm tsgo for type checking

Stack & Commands

• Package manager: pnpm (pnpm install)
• Dev: pnpm openclaw ... or pnpm dev
• Type-check: pnpm tsgo
• Lint/format: pnpm check
• Tests: pnpm test
• Build: pnpm build

If you are coding together with a human, do NOT use scripts/committer, but git directly and run the above commands manually to ensure quality.