| 1 | --- |
| 2 | name: cw-dogfood |
| 3 | description: "Use when a Codewhale change needs proving in the real product, or when asked to build/install/dogfood the local binaries: stamped release build, atomic install, fresh-shell verification, and the manual QA that gates cannot cover." |
| 4 | --- |
| 5 | |
| 6 | # cw-dogfood |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Green gates prove the code compiles and asserts. They do not prove the product |
| 9 | works. Freezes, route contamination, focus theft, streaming cadence, and |
| 10 | approval-flow regressions all live in the runtime, where no unit test looks. |
| 11 | This stage puts the actual binary on your PATH and makes you use it. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Stage 4 of the loop: [cw-orient](../cw-orient/SKILL.md) → |
| 14 | [cw-slice](../cw-slice/SKILL.md) → [cw-gates](../cw-gates/SKILL.md) → |
| 15 | **dogfood** → [cw-land](../cw-land/SKILL.md) → [cw-handoff](../cw-handoff/SKILL.md). |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ## When to use |
| 18 | |
| 19 | - The change is user-visible: TUI layout, motion, streaming, model or Fleet |
| 20 | selection, approvals, commands, install paths. |
| 21 | - Before landing a release candidate, or before claiming a runtime behavior is |
| 22 | fixed. |
| 23 | - The user asks to "install the build", "dogfood this", or "get this on my machine". |
| 24 | |
| 25 | ## Workflow |
| 26 | |
| 27 | 1. **Gate first.** Run [cw-gates](../cw-gates/SKILL.md) to the rung the change |
| 28 | deserves. Never install an ungated build. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | 2. **Build stamped.** Local builds are unstamped (`(dev)`), and the |
| 31 | installer refuses an unstamped binary on purpose — the stamp is what proves |
| 32 | the thing on your PATH is the thing you just built: |
| 33 | ```bash |
| 34 | CODEWHALE_BUILD_SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD) \ |
| 35 | cargo build --release --locked -p codewhale-cli --bin codewhale |
| 36 | ``` |
| 37 | |
| 38 | 3. **Install atomically.** Use the script; do not hand-copy: |
| 39 | ```bash |
| 40 | scripts/release/install-dogfood.sh # defaults to target/release |
| 41 | ``` |
| 42 | It refuses a dirty source tree (override deliberately with |
| 43 | `CODEWHALE_ALLOW_DIRTY_DOGFOOD=1`, and then say so wherever you report the |
| 44 | install), verifies the binary embeds current HEAD, installs `codewhale` and |
| 45 | `codew` into `~/.cargo/bin` and `~/.local/bin` (override with |
| 46 | `CODEWHALE_INSTALL_DIRS`), re-signs ad-hoc on macOS, and verifies resolution |
| 47 | from a fresh login shell. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | **Never `cp` over a running binary.** On Apple Silicon that poisons the |
| 50 | kernel's code-signature cache for the inode, and later execs hang until |
| 51 | reboot. The installer does tmp-copy plus atomic `mv` for exactly this reason. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | 4. **Verify from a fresh shell, not this one.** A correct `target/release` |
| 54 | binary and a stale `codew` on PATH is the classic false pass: |
| 55 | ```bash |
| 56 | zsh -lc 'type -a codew codewhale; codew --version' |
| 57 | ``` |
| 58 | The version string must contain the short HEAD SHA you just built. |
| 59 | |
| 60 | 5. **Use the product.** Run it in a real terminal and exercise what you changed. |
| 61 | `crates/tui/AGENTS.md` owns sizes, motion evidence, and environment caveats; |
| 62 | judge motion against `docs/MOTION_CONTRACT.md`. |
| 63 | |
| 64 | Scenarios worth exercising when they are in scope: |
| 65 | - **Liveness under fanout** — spawn several workers; typing, render, cancel, |
| 66 | and the roster stay live throughout, and Esc cancels mid-fanout. |
| 67 | - **Route isolation** — multiple terminals on distinct provider/model routes, |
| 68 | zero cross-terminal contamination, no provider+model mismatch. |
| 69 | - **Running-turn input** — during a busy turn, Enter queues a follow-up, an |
| 70 | empty Enter promotes the oldest, Ctrl+Enter steers, Shift+Enter newlines. |
| 71 | - **Approvals** — ordinary tool approval vs. repository-law approval; the |
| 72 | screen must name the repository constitution where it applies, and |
| 73 | decorative motion must go still when the user owns the next action. |
| 74 | - **Empty, narrow, and first-run states** — compact layouts remove chrome |
| 75 | before content. |
| 76 | |
| 77 | 6. **Headless surfaces, when the change touches them.** `codewhale exec` is the |
| 78 | one-shot worker path; `codewhale app-server` is the local control/API surface. |
| 79 | They must agree about routing, permissions, and event states — a disagreement |
| 80 | is a runtime bug, not a QA note. |
| 81 | ```bash |
| 82 | scripts/release/app-server-smoke.sh |
| 83 | codewhale exec --auto --output-format stream-json --model <model> "Reply PONG" |
| 84 | ``` |
| 85 | Provider calls spend tokens. Ask before running the paid ones. |
| 86 | |
| 87 | 7. **Record what you saw.** Dimensions, inputs, visible state, side effects. A |
| 88 | screenshot proves layout and color; only live observation or a recording |
| 89 | proves motion and continuity. |
| 90 | |
| 91 | ## Red flags / don't |
| 92 | |
| 93 | - Don't `cp` a binary over a running one. Use `install-dogfood.sh`. |
| 94 | - Don't verify in the shell that already has the old binary resolved. |
| 95 | - Don't claim animation or cadence quality from a still image. |
| 96 | - Don't substitute a full-screen assertion harness for looking at and using the |
| 97 | product. |
| 98 | - Don't install from a dirty tree without saying so in the report — the version |
| 99 | stamp will not show the dirt. |
| 100 | - Don't delete `target/dogfood/*` bundles if the lane keeps them: they are |
| 101 | release evidence. |
| 102 | - Don't spend provider tokens on smoke runs without approval. |
| 103 | |
| 104 | ## Output |
| 105 | |
| 106 | - The exact build command, including the `CODEWHALE_BUILD_SHA` stamp. |
| 107 | - The installer's destinations and its fresh-shell verification result. |
| 108 | - `codew --version` from a fresh login shell, with the SHA visible. |
| 109 | - Per scenario: terminal size, what you did, what you observed — and which |
| 110 | scenarios you did not exercise. |
| 111 |