DEV_PROCESS.md

Development Process: dev repo & staging HF Space

This repo contains the recommended steps and scripts to create a safe development workflow by using a separate dev GitHub repository and a Hugging Face Space called my-webapp-hf-dev.

Why use separate dev repo & staging HF space?

• Isolates LLM-driven changes and auto-modify actions from main (the canonical repository).
• Allows automated testing and human review before merging into main.
• Lets you safely assign tokens and access to a staging HF space.

Recommended flow

1. Create a dev GitHub repository (e.g., NLarchive/my-webapp-hf-dev).
2. Use scripts/clone-to-dev.sh or scripts/clone-to-dev.ps1 to copy code and push to the dev repo and to the HF space my-webapp-hf-dev.
3. Add GitHub Secrets to the dev repo (HF_TOKEN, GEMINI_API_KEY, GITHUB_TOKEN or GitHub App credentials). Do not add them to the canonical repo unless required.
4. Change dev repo .github/workflows/sync-to-hf.yml to use .hf-config-dev instead of .hf-config if you prefer.
5. Enable ENABLE_AUTO_MODIFY=true on the dev repo for iterative improvements; require PR review before merging to main.
6. Add branch protection rules to the main repo requiring tests and approvals.

Scripts

• scripts/clone-to-dev.sh: Bash script to create a GitHub repo (uses gh), create .hf-config-dev, and optionally push to Hugging Face Space dev.
• scripts/clone-to-dev.ps1: PowerShell equivalent.

Example: Create dev repo with CLI

Bash usage:

# Use GitHub CLI to create dev repo and push
./scripts/clone-to-dev.sh -r NLarchive/my-webapp-hf-dev -s my-webapp-hf-dev -u NLarchive

PowerShell usage:

pwsh -File .\scripts\clone-to-dev.ps1 -GHRepo "NLarchive/my-webapp-hf-dev" -HFSpace "my-webapp-hf-dev" -HFUser "NLarchive"

Env/Secrets to store in dev repo

• HF_TOKEN (Hugging Face write token)
• GEMINI_API_KEY (if using Gemini in dev)
• GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_APP_* credentials for GitHub App
• ENABLE_AUTO_MODIFY=true for dev if you want to experiment

Good practices

• Always create PRs from dev into main, never push auto-modifications directly to main.
• Use CODEOWNERS to protect critical code paths.
• Keep ENABLE_AUTO_MODIFY=false in main.
• Add end-to-end acceptance tests and GitHub Actions checks for PRs.

---

If you want I can also:

• Add a sync-to-hf-dev.yml workflow for the dev repo.
• Update scripts/clone-to-dev.sh to pass additional flags and create a CODEOWNERS automatically.
• Add a helper to copy GH Actions templates with sync-to-hf.yml updated to .hf-config-dev.

What do you want next?