All UI work — layout, color, typography, spacing, component selection, UX behavior — must follow docs/STYLEGUIDE.md. Use the tokens defined in src/renderer/src/assets/main.css (the canonical source) and the shadcn primitives in src/renderer/src/components/ui/. Don't invent new color values, font sizes, or shadow tiers when a documented one already covers the role. When STYLEGUIDE.md is silent, follow the resolution order in its final section.
When writing or modifying code driven by a design doc or non-obvious constraint, add a comment explaining why the code behaves the way it does.
Keep comments short — one or two lines. Capture only the non-obvious reason (safety constraint, compatibility shim, design-doc rule). Don't restate what the code does, narrate the mechanism, cite design-doc sections verbatim, or explain adjacent API choices unless they're the point.
Never use vague names like helpers, utils, common, misc, or shared-stuff for files, folders, or modules. They carry zero information and tend to become dumping grounds. Name files after what they actually contain — prefer the concrete domain concept (e.g. tab-group-state.ts, terminal-orphan-cleanup.ts) over the generic role (tabs-helpers.ts, terminal-utils.ts). If you find yourself reaching for helpers, the file probably has more than one responsibility and should be split, or there's a better name hiding in the code that describes what the functions operate on.
Always use the primary working directory (the worktree) for all file reads and edits. Never follow absolute paths from subagent results that point to the main repo.
Orca targets macOS, Linux, and Windows. Keep all platform-dependent behavior behind runtime checks:
- Keyboard shortcuts: Never hardcode
e.metaKey. Use a platform check (navigator.userAgent.includes('Mac')) to pickmetaKeyon Mac andctrlKeyon Linux/Windows. Electron menu accelerators should useCmdOrCtrl. - Shortcut labels in UI: Display
⌘/⇧on Mac andCtrl+/Shift+on other platforms. - File paths: Use
path.joinor Electron/Node path utilities — never assume/or\.
All changes must consider the SSH use case. Don't assume local-only execution.
Be mindful of the user's gh CLI API rate limit — batch requests where possible and avoid unnecessary calls. All code, commands, and scripts must be compatible with macOS, Linux, and Windows.
Project-owned type declarations belong in .ts files. .d.ts is reserved for ambient shims (e.g., env.d.ts, vite/client.d.ts). TypeScript's skipLibCheck: true setting applies globally, including to our own .d.ts files, which means any unresolved type reference in a .d.ts silently becomes any at its call sites. Write your types in .ts files so the compiler actually checks them. CI enforces this for src/preload/ and src/shared/ — see docs/preload-typecheck-hole.md.