msd-core/docs/contributing/bootstrap.md

Bootstrap your environment

This guide gets a new contributor from a fresh checkout to a passing baseline in one session.

Sources:

• npm engines field: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/configuring-npm/package-json#engines
• Reproducible builds: https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-tree/
• npm ci: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/commands/npm-ci
• Docker-based Linux verification: https://github.com/open-gsd/gsd-test-runner

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Prerequisites

Node version manager (pick one)

Tool	Install	Docs
nvm (recommended)	curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/HEAD/install.sh | bash	https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
fnm (fast, Rust)	curl -fsSL https://fnm.vercel.app/install | bash	https://github.com/Schniz/fnm
asdf	brew install asdf then asdf plugin add nodejs	https://asdf-vm.com
mise	curl https://mise.run | sh	https://mise.jdx.dev

A version manager ensures you can switch Node versions per project without polluting your global install. This project ships a .nvmrc file at the root — any of the tools above will read it.

Other required tools

• gh (GitHub CLI) — https://cli.github.com — used by contribution workflows and CI
• git — any recent version

---

One-time setup

# 1. Clone
git clone https://git.golem15.com/golem15/msd-core.git
cd msd-core

# 2. Activate the pinned Node version
nvm use          # nvm
# fnm use        # fnm
# asdf install   # asdf / mise

# 3. Verify the environment (see Validation below)
npm run check:env

# 4. Install dependencies (reproducible, lockfile-driven)
npm ci

npm ci is required over npm install. It installs exactly what package-lock.json specifies and fails fast if the lockfile is out of sync — this is intentional. See https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/commands/npm-ci

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Daily commands

Command	Purpose
npm run check:env	Validate your environment before running tests
npm test	Run the full test suite (unit + integration + security)
npm run test:unit	Unit tests only (fastest)
npm run test:integration	Integration tests
npm run build:lib	Type-check root TypeScript and emit CommonJS build output

npm run check:integrity — available once #114 merges.

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Validation

Run the environment validator before any test or audit run:

npm run check:env

This runs scripts/check-env.cjs and reports pass/fail for each check:

Check	What it verifies
node-version	Active Node satisfies engines.node (>=24.0.0)
npm-version	Active npm satisfies engines.npm (>=10.0.0)
lockfile-present	package-lock.json exists at root
lockfile-sync	npm ci --dry-run exits 0 (lockfile matches installed state)
version-manager-pin	Active Node major matches .nvmrc / .node-version / .tool-versions

Exit codes:

• 0 — all checks passed, safe to proceed
• 1 — one or more checks failed — see the report
• 2 — tool error (e.g., node not found, corrupt package.json)

For structured output (useful in scripts):

npm run check:env -- --json

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Troubleshooting

node-version FAIL — Node X does NOT satisfy >=24.0.0

Cause: The system Node is too old, or the version manager hasn't activated the correct version.

Fix:

nvm use          # activates version from .nvmrc
node --version   # confirm

If nvm reports the version is not installed:

nvm install      # installs the version in .nvmrc
nvm use

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npm-version FAIL — npm X does NOT satisfy >=10.0.0

Cause: npm bundled with an old Node version.

Fix:

npm install -g npm@latest
npm --version

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lockfile-present FAIL — package-lock.json missing

Cause: The lockfile was deleted or was never generated.

Fix:

npm install      # generates package-lock.json

Do NOT commit a regenerated lockfile without verifying no unexpected packages changed. Run git diff package-lock.json to inspect the diff.

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lockfile-sync FAIL — package-lock.json is out of sync

Cause: package.json was edited (dependency added/changed) without updating the lockfile, or the lockfile was hand-edited.

Fix:

npm ci           # restores node_modules to match lockfile exactly
# or, if the sync failure is intentional (you updated package.json):
npm install      # updates lockfile to match package.json

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version-manager-pin FAIL — Active Node major does not match .nvmrc

Cause: The shell is using a globally-installed Node rather than the version manager's activation. Common on fresh shell sessions.

Fix:

nvm use          # re-activate from .nvmrc
# or add to your shell profile:
# echo 'nvm use --silent' >> ~/.zshrc

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Tests fail with Error: Cannot find module ...

Cause: node_modules is missing or stale (common after a branch switch that changed package.json).

Fix:

npm ci           # clean install from lockfile
npm run build:lib

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Locale / encoding errors on non-UTF-8 systems

Cause: Some test fixtures contain non-ASCII characters. Node requires a UTF-8 locale.

Fix:

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

Add these to your shell profile to make them permanent.

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Alternative: Docker via msd-test-runner

For canonical Linux verification from a macOS dev box, use msd-test-runner.

This is the same path CI uses for cross-platform coverage. It is the authoritative way to confirm your change passes on Linux before opening a PR:

# One-time: install msd-test-runner (see repo README)
# Then, from the project root:
msd-test-summary

msd-test-summary runs the full suite in a Docker container and emits a concise Mac: N failed / Docker: N failed summary.

• Default rule (code changes): both lines must show 0 failed before a PR is opened.
• Exception (ADR/doc-only PRs): if the diff is documentation-only (for example docs/adr/*.md, docs/**/*.md, README*.md) and contains no executable-code or test changes, msd-test-summary is optional.

When using the doc-only exception, note it explicitly in the PR body (for example: "Doc-only PR; msd-test-summary not required by docs-only exception in docs/contributing/bootstrap.md").