AGENTS.md · falconry/falcon

Sections

1. Repository map
2. Change rules
3. Style
4. Verification
5. Documentation and changelog
6. Operator boundaries

First lines (shown under the repo's Apache-2.0 license)

# Falcon Agent Guide

Read `CONTRIBUTING.md` first. Treat `pyproject.toml` and `tox.toml` as the
executable source of truth when prose and configuration differ. In accordance
with the "Use of LLMs" policy in `CONTRIBUTING.md`, carefully review and test
all generated changes.

## Repository map

- `falcon/app.py`, `falcon/request.py`, and `falcon/response.py` implement the
  WSGI flavor, as well as base behavior that `falcon/asgi/` subclasses for
  ASGI and WebSocket support. More shared behavior lives in modules such as
  `falcon/app_helpers.py`, `falcon/routing/`, `falcon/media/`, and
  `falcon/util/`.
- `falcon/testing/` contains public test helpers. Primary tests live in
  `tests/`, with ASGI-specific coverage in `tests/asgi/`. Tutorial and example
  suites have dedicated tox environments.
- `falcon/cyutil/*.pyx` contains optional Cython-optimized counterparts of
  pure Python modules such as `falcon/util/reader.py` and `falcon/util/uri.py`.
  When available, the optimized versions are selected at import time (in
  `falcon/util/uri.py`, `falcon/util/misc.py`, and -- for the buffered
  reader -- `falcon/util/__init__.py`). Preserve both modes when changing
  these paths, and use a Cython tox environment.
- Documentation is reStructuredText under `docs/`. Put runnable recipe snippets
  in `examples/recipes/`; documentation includes them with `literalinclude`.

## Change rules

- Keep patches narrow. Preserve Falcon's public API compatibility, HTTP/RFC
  correctness, and Python 3.9+ support on CPython and PyPy unless the task
  explicitly changes those contracts.
- Check both WSGI and ASGI surfaces when shared request, response, routing,
  middleware, media, error, or testing behavior changes. Add or update the
  corresponding tests; do not assume inheritance makes behavior identical.
- Maintain 100% branch coverage for changed behavior, including error and
  version-specific paths. Do not add production dependencies casually;
  `[project].dependencies` is currently empty.
- Treat request and response hot paths as performance-sensitive. Reuse existing
  helpers. When throughput or allocation behavior could change, benchmark with
  `tox -e py310_bench -- <falcon-bench args>`.
- Do not bulk-modernize `%` formatting in `falcon/`. `pyproject.toml`
  deliberately ignores Ruff's `UP030`, `UP031`, and `UP032` there pending
  inspection and benchmarks.

## Style

- Ruff targets Python 3.9, 88 columns, and single quotes.
- Public classes, attributes, methods, and functions require
  Napoleon/Google-style docstrings. Start immediately after the opening quotes
  with a roughly 70-character summary that ends in a period.
- Name caught exceptions `ex`. Limit single-character names to trivial indices
  and standard formulas.
- Format non-trivial tagged comments as
  `TODO|NOTE|PERF|APPSEC(<GitHub handle>):`. If the author's handle is
  unavailable, do not invent one and don't impersonate other users;
  avoid the tagged comment unless necessary.

## Verification

Run commands from the repository root. Start with the focused test, run only
affected specialized environments next, and reserve the complete `tox` gate
for broad or final validation.

- Prepare a development environment by installing the project in editable
  mode together with the test dependencies:
  `pip install -e . -r requirements/tests`.
- In a prepared development environment, get focused feedback with
  `pytest tests/test_<area>.py -k '<case>'` or
  `pytest tests/asgi/test_<area>.py -k '<case>'`.
- Run all Python tests and collect coverage data with `tox -e pytest`; check
  minimum-dependency compatibility with `tox -e mintest`; verify optional
  Cython behavior with a matching environment such as `tox -e py312_cython`.
- Check formatting and lint with `tox -e ruff,pep8,pep8-docstrings`. Apply
  formatting and safe fixes only with `tox -e reformat`.
- For typing changes, run `tox -e mypy,mypy_tests`. For documentation or
  docstring changes, run `tox -e docs`.
- Always finish with a plain `tox` run without arguments (or `tox -r` to
  recreate environments): the default env selection is the complete local
  gate, and it must pass together with the 100% combined coverage check
  before changes are handed over to the operator.
  Documentation-only changes may instead finish with `tox -e docs`.

## Documentation and changelog

- Update user and API documentation when behavior or public contracts change;
  build it with `tox -e docs`.
- Functionality changes require
  `docs/_newsfragments/{issue_number}.{fragment_type}.rst`. The exact fragment
  types are `breakingchange`, `newandimproved`, `bugfix`, and `misc`. Name the
  fragment after the issue the change closes; use the PR number itself only
  when no associated issue exists.
  `tox -e docs` renders pending fragments as a draft into the built
  documentation without modifying the changelog file; preview the result
  there.
- Never invent an issue or PR number. If none is available, report that the
  fragment cannot be named instead of creating a placeholder.
- For recipes, put executable code in `examples/recipes/`, include it from
  `docs/user/recipes/`, and add coverage in `tests/test_recipes.py` when
  practical.

## Operator boundaries

- Never create, submit, or open a GitHub pull request, regardless of the
  mechanism: `gh`, direct API calls, web automation, and pushing a branch and
  then accepting GitHub's suggestion all count, and draft pull requests are
  still pull requests. Prepare the changes and verification evidence, then ask
  the human operator to open the pull request.
- Never tick, check, or otherwise complete a pull request checklist on the
  operator's behalf. The human operator must review the changes and complete
  every checklist item manually.
- Do not take any other outward actions on Falcon's GitHub repositories
  either: opening issues, posting comments or reviews, and editing pull
  request metadata are all reserved for the human operator.

See `CONTRIBUTING.md` for commit-message format, full docstring markup rules,
review policy, and contributor conduct.