Files
bot-bottle/docs/research
didericis 218f29cb05 refactor: adopt macOS test/test-ready convention for variants
Replaces the BB_TEST_PREREQS env toggle with the two subcommands the macOS
harness established, so the two repos read the same:

  test        A bare host — prerequisites NOT set up (the default state of a
              stock cloud image). Exercises install.sh's own prerequisite-guard
              logic. SOUND (PASS) when install.sh either installs cleanly or
              declines with one of its own recognized, actionable errors; a
              crash or unrecognized failure fails.
  test-ready  Prerequisites satisfied — the harness installs python3/git/pipx
              first, then runs install.sh, which must actually land: entry point
              runnable, doctor reporting a usable python and config.

Structure now mirrors scripts/macos-install-test.sh: a shared _test_cycle
driving up -> (prereqs) -> run -> verdict -> down, thin cmd_test / cmd_test_ready
wrappers setting _STEPS / _PASS_CLAIM / _REQUIRE_INSTALL, a standalone `prereqs`
subcommand, and a _test_teardown that prints the PASS/FAIL claim.

The doctor check is now the macOS-style classifier rather than a bare exit-code
read: a Traceback is an install defect (fail), a missing `ok: python:` /
`ok: config:` line is a fail, and a not-ready backend is reported, not fatal
(BB_TEST_REQUIRE_BACKEND=1 makes it fatal for a nested-virt host). This is where
Linux diverges from macOS test-ready — a plain VM has no nested KVM for
Firecracker and the harness doesn't provision the Docker backend, so backend
readiness is never the Linux criterion.

test-all now runs every distro × {test, test-ready}. Research note updated.

Validated with `bash -n` and `shellcheck`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-27 12:24:31 -04:00
..
2026-05-07 22:45:36 -04:00

Research notes

Investigations into a question or a design space — landscape surveys, tradeoff analyses, "should we do X or Y," assessments of an approach before (or instead of) committing it to a PRD. A research note is where the thinking lives; a PRD is where a decided feature lives, and a decision record is where a settled choice lives (see ../README.md for picking between them).

Notes are opinionated. They reach a conclusion rather than dumping a neutral survey — the point is to move a decision forward and leave a durable record of why it went the way it did.

Naming

kebab-case-topic.md, named by subject and not numbered (unlike PRDs and decision records). Pick a name that says what was investigated: bash-vs-python-vs-go.md, pipelock-assessment.md, issue-tracking-vs-in-repo-decision-history.md.

Shape (freeform)

There's no fixed template — use whatever structure fits the question. In practice most notes share a loose shape:

  • Open with the question — a sentence or two on what's being investigated and why it came up.
  • Lead with the verdict — a ## Summary near the top stating the conclusion, so a reader gets the answer without reading the whole thing.
  • Then the analysis — whatever the argument needs: comparison tables, per-option sections, failure-mode walkthroughs, the axes that actually matter.
  • End with a recommendation when the note exists to drive a decision.

Keep the reasoning self-contained and grounded: cite sources, link files and PRDs, and prefer concrete evidence from this repo over generic claims — a note should stand on its own without a chat log or a Gitea thread. When a note's recommendation gets acted on, capture the resulting decision in a PRD or a decision record; the note stays as the "why we looked into it," not the system of record for the choice.