# ADR-008: Development Workflow Strategy

## Status

Accepted

## Context

The MCP ADR Analysis Server requires a structured development workflow to maintain code quality and consistency across contributors. Based on the implemented configuration, the project uses Git hooks, conventional commits, and automated formatting to enforce standards. The workflow needs to balance developer productivity with code quality requirements.

## Decision

We will implement a Git hooks-based development workflow with automated quality enforcement and conventional commit standards.

Key components:

- **Pre-commit Quality Gates**: Husky-based pre-commit hooks with lint-staged processing
- **Conventional Commits**: Standardized commit message format for automated changelog generation
- **Automated Formatting**: Prettier integration with automatic code formatting
- **Incremental Linting**: lint-staged for processing only changed files
- **TypeScript Strict Mode**: Comprehensive type checking with incremental compilation
- **Test-Driven Quality**: Automated test execution in development workflow

## Consequences

**Positive:**

- Consistent code quality through automated enforcement
- Faster code reviews due to automated formatting and linting
- Clear commit history with conventional commit standards
- Reduced manual overhead in maintaining code standards
- Early detection of issues through pre-commit validation
- Improved developer experience with automated tooling

**Negative:**

- Initial setup complexity for new developers
- Potential friction in development workflow due to strict quality gates
- Dependency on tooling configuration for workflow effectiveness
- Risk of workflow disruption if hooks fail or are bypassed
- Learning curve for conventional commit standards
- Potential performance impact from pre-commit processing

## Related ADRs

- ADR-005: Testing and Quality Assurance Strategy (test-driven development)
- ADR-007: CI/CD Pipeline Strategy (workflow automation)
- ADR-013: Documentation Platform Strategy (documentation updates in workflow)
