maintaining

Maintaining Skill

Dependency Management

When a new package is added:

1. •Update package.json (npm/Node.js projects)
2. •Update requirements.txt (Python projects)
3. •Update Cargo.toml (Rust projects)
4. •Update go.mod (Go projects)

Keep lockfiles in sync:

• •package-lock.json or pnpm-lock.yaml
• •requirements.txt with pinned versions
• •Cargo.lock

Configuration Files

Update .gitignore when:

• •Adding new build outputs
• •Adding new cache directories
• •Adding new IDE configurations
• •Adding new environment files

Update .dockerignore when:

• •Adding files not needed in container
• •Adding development-only files
• •Adding large files that shouldn't be copied

Ignore Files Best Practices

Critical .gitignore Rules:

ALWAYS use patterns that match nested directories:

# Use **/pattern to match nested folders
**/node_modules/          # Matches node_modules anywhere in the tree
**/.next/                 # Matches .next anywhere
**/.turbo/                # Matches .turbo anywhere
**/dist/                  # Matches dist anywhere
**/build/                 # Matches build anywhere
**/__pycache__/           # Matches __pycache__ anywhere
**/.pytest_cache/         # Matches pytest cache anywhere

# VS Code Local History Extension
.history/                 # Root level .history folder

# Environment files
**/.env                   # Match .env at any level
**/.env.local
**/.env.*.local

# IDE and Editor files
**/.vscode/
**/.idea/
**/*.swp
**/*.swo
**/*~

# OS files
**/.DS_Store
**/Thumbs.db
**/.Spotlight-V100
**/.Trashes

# Build outputs (nested too)
**/coverage/
**/.nyc_output/
**/out/
**/*.log
**/*.pid
**/*.seed
**/*.pid.lock

# Dependency directories (nested)
**/node_modules/
**/jspm_packages/
**/bower_components/
**/vendor/
**/.pnp/
**/.pnp.js

Special Folders to Handle

Required entries in every .gitignore:

1. •.history/ - VS Code Local History Extension

Critical .dockerignore Rules:

# Use same nested pattern matching
**/node_modules/
**/.next/
**/.turbo/
**/dist/
**/build/
**/__pycache__/
**/.pytest_cache/

# VS Code Local History
.history/

# Version control
**/.git/
**/.gitignore
**/.gitattributes

# Documentation
**/README.md
**/docs/
**/*.md

# IDE
**/.vscode/
**/.idea/
**/*.swp

# Environment files
**/.env
**/.env.*

# Test files
**/*.test.js
**/*.spec.js
**/tests/
**/test/
**/__tests__/

# CI/CD
**/.github/
**/.gitlab-ci.yml

Why **/ prefix is important:

• •node_modules/ only matches at root level
• •**/node_modules/ matches node_modules at ANY depth
• •Example: apps/frontend/node_modules/ will be ignored with **/
• •Example: packages/shared/node_modules/ will be ignored with **/

Special case - .history folder:

• •VS Code Local History extension creates .history/ at project root
• •ALWAYS add .history/ to .gitignore
• •Contains automatic file backups and should never be committed

Environment Variables

Work directly with .env:

• •Read and modify .env files directly
• •Do not create .env.local or .env.example unless requested
• •Ensure .env is listed in .gitignore (use **/.env to catch nested ones)
• •Document required variables in README.md

File Updates Checklist

After code changes, verify:

• • package.json updated with new dependencies
• • requirements.txt updated if Python packages added
• • .gitignore updated with **/ patterns for nested directories
• • .gitignore includes .history/ for VS Code Local History
• • .dockerignore updated with **/ patterns if needed
• • turbo.json updated if new workspaces added
• • README.md updated with new setup steps
• • Environment variables documented

Version Management

• •Use semantic versioning when applicable
• •Keep dependency versions up to date
• •Check for security vulnerabilities regularly
• •Update deprecated packages

Common Ignore Pattern Examples

For JavaScript/TypeScript projects:

**/node_modules/
**/.next/
**/.turbo/
**/dist/
**/build/
**/.cache/
**/coverage/
.history/
**/.env
**/.env.local

For Python projects:

**/__pycache__/
**/.pytest_cache/
**/.venv/
**/venv/
**/*.pyc
**/*.pyo
**/*.egg-info/
.history/
**/.env

For monorepos:

**/node_modules/
**/.next/
**/.turbo/
**/dist/
**/build/
.history/
**/.env
**/.env.local
**/coverage/

Always use **/ prefix to ensure nested directories are properly ignored!