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AGENTS.md

Scope

These instructions apply to the entire libdap4 repository.

Project Context

  • libdap4 is a legacy C++ implementation of DAP2/DAP4 with long-lived downstream consumers.
  • Prioritize compatibility, behavioral stability, and small, reviewable diffs.
  • Prefer minimal, targeted changes over broad refactors.

Primary Build Systems

  • Prefer autotools for day-to-day work unless the task is explicitly CMake-focused.
  • Keep both autotools and CMake build paths healthy when changing shared build logic.
  • For all the builds the 'prefix' environment variable should be set.
  • $prefix is the full path to the 'build' directory in the directory above 'libdap4'.
  • The PATH env var should have $prefix/bin and $prefix/deps/bin prepended.

Autotools Workflow (preferred)

For a fresh git checkout:

autoreconf --force --install --verbose
./configure --prefix=$prefix --enable-developer
make -j
make -j check

For release-tarball style builds:

./configure
make -j
make -j check

Notes:

  • Check that the environment variable 'prefix' is defined before running any command that uses it.
  • Use --prefix=<path> when installation path matters.
  • Use TESTSUITEFLAGS=-j<N> with make check when parallelizing tests.
  • If make check fails due to missing config.guess, link conf/config.guess into tests/ per tests/README.

CMake Workflow (supported)

  • Presets are defined in CMakePresets.json.
  • Common presets: default, debug, developer, asan.

Typical flow:

cmake --preset developer
cmake --build --preset developer -j
ctest --preset developer --output-on-failure

Testing Expectations

  • For code changes, run focused tests in affected areas first, then broader suites when risk is higher.
  • Autotools default: make -j check
  • CMake default: ctest --preset default (or developer for debug/developer builds)
  • Unit/integration labels are available through CMake test presets (unit, int).
  • If tests are flaky or expected-fail in legacy areas, call that out explicitly in your summary.

Documentation And Doxygen

  • Doxygen docs are built with:
make docs
  • Inputs are doxy.conf and main_page.doxygen (generated from .in templates by configure).
  • When updating doc config/templates, keep generated and template files consistent with the chosen build workflow.

Legacy C++ Constraints

  • Match local style in touched files; do not perform unrelated formatting sweeps.
  • Avoid API/ABI-impacting changes unless explicitly requested.
  • Be conservative with ownership/lifetime changes in pointer-heavy code.
  • Parser/scanner sources are generated (*.tab.cc, *.tab.hh, lex.*.cc); edit *.yy/*.lex sources, not generated outputs, unless the task explicitly requires generated-file updates.

Tooling And Quality

  • clang-format and pre-commit are configured (README.pre-commit.md, .pre-commit-config.yaml).
  • Prefer running formatting/hooks only on changed files relevant to the task.
  • Address sanitizer is supported (--enable-asan in autotools, asan preset in CMake) for memory-safety debugging.

Change Discipline

  • Do not revert unrelated local changes in a dirty worktree.
  • Keep edits tightly scoped to the request.
  • If you encounter unexpected repository changes during work, stop and ask how to proceed.
  • Do not run destructive git commands unless explicitly requested.

Review Priorities

When asked to review:

  1. Behavioral regressions in protocol/data-model behavior
  2. Memory/resource safety and ownership lifetime issues
  3. Parser/serialization correctness and edge cases
  4. Build-system regressions (autotools and CMake)
  5. Missing or weak regression coverage

Communication

  • State assumptions and environment details explicitly (build system, preset/configure flags, test scope).
  • If full validation is not run, say exactly what was run and what was not.