Coding Guidelines

Code Style

TRX follows standard Rust idioms. Before committing, always run:

cargo fmt
cargo clippy

Clippy warnings should ideally be zero. Rustfmt is non-negotiable.

Architecture Principles

• Keep the UI thread non-blocking. Never call blocking I/O on the main loop thread. Use std::thread::spawn + mpsc channels for any subprocess call.
• Prefer OS threads over async. TRX intentionally does not use Tokio or async/await. New features should follow the existing std::thread + mpsc pattern.
• Return structured errors. Use Box<dyn std::error::Error> for backend method errors, matching the trait signature. Do not panic on expected failure paths.
• Cache detail lookups. Any get_details implementation should check and populate DETAILS_CACHE to avoid redundant subprocess calls.
• Pure rendering. The draw_ui function and its helpers should read state but not mutate business logic. Keep rendering predictable.

Commit Messages

Use Conventional Commits:

feat(dnf): implement DnfManager backend
fix(ui): prevent double redraw on search
docs: update architecture overview
refactor(fuzzy): simplify gap penalty calculation

Scope tokens: ui, fuzzy, pacman, apt, brew, aur, config, updater, docs.

Development Tools

Environment Requirements

• Rust 1.70+
• A terminal supporting Unicode and truecolor
• The package manager for your platform installed and on $PATH