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Add repo-local onboarding guide as supplement to broader CultureBotAI onboarding#8

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issue-7-repo-local-onboarding-guide
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Add repo-local onboarding guide as supplement to broader CultureBotAI onboarding#8
turbomam wants to merge 2 commits intomainfrom
issue-7-repo-local-onboarding-guide

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Summary

This PR adds a repo-local onboarding and setup guide for auto-term-catalog.

This is intentionally framed as a supplement to broader CultureBotAI onboarding materials, not a replacement for them.

Why this belongs in this repo

The broader ecosystem already has onboarding and best-practices material, but this repo still has local gaps that matter for day-to-day contributor workflow:

  • no pyproject.toml
  • no pinned Python version
  • no lockfile
  • no CI
  • no tests
  • hard-coded local path in src/process_terms/auto_terms_table.py

That means a contributor can be onboarded into the larger CultureBotAI environment and still not have enough repo-specific guidance to work productively here.

What this guide emphasizes

1. Why the Codex CLI is especially useful here

The guide explicitly argues for the CLI as the best starting point for this repo because it:

  • runs directly in the checked-out repository
  • works naturally with shell commands, Git, local files, and generated artifacts
  • keeps contributors close to the actual execution environment
  • makes the relationship between prompts, commands, files, and version control visible

It also contrasts that with the web interface, desktop app, and IDE plugins so contributors understand the tradeoffs.

2. Why repo setup is a collaboration issue, not just a convenience issue

The guide also emphasizes that repo setup is for:

  • our future selves
  • the next student
  • collaborators reviewing or extending the work
  • reproducibility after the original author moves on

That framing is important here because undergraduates often optimize for getting something to run once, while the repo needs workflows that are repeatable and legible to other people.

Contents added

The guide covers:

  • Homebrew installation
  • Node/npm installation
  • Codex CLI installation
  • ChatGPT sign-in flow for LBL-provisioned access
  • the distinction between having an @lbl.gov address and actually being provisioned in the workspace
  • the current repo state
  • recommended Python version and repo infrastructure baseline for this project

Closes #7.

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 10, 2026 19:08
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Pull request overview

Adds a repo-local onboarding and setup guide for CultureBotAI/auto-term-catalog, positioned as a supplement to broader CultureBotAI onboarding, with emphasis on using Codex CLI and on reproducible repo scaffolding expectations.

Changes:

  • Introduces a new intern onboarding + repo setup guide covering Homebrew/Node/Codex CLI install and LBL ChatGPT sign-in flow.
  • Documents the repo’s current gaps (no pyproject/pin/lock/tests/CI; hard-coded paths) and recommends a Python/tooling baseline (Python 3.11 + uv + pytest + ruff).
  • Provides a “day 1” checklist and troubleshooting section aimed at new contributors.

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Repository covered here:

- `CultureBotAI/auto-term-catalog`
- Local checkout: `/home/mark/gitrepos/auto-term-catalog`
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The doc hard-codes a specific contributor’s local checkout path (/home/mark/...). For a repo-local onboarding guide, this will confuse new users and may leak personal environment details. Suggest switching to a generic example path (e.g., ~/gitrepos/auto-term-catalog) and/or describing the directory choice without a concrete user-specific absolute path.

Suggested change
- Local checkout: `/home/mark/gitrepos/auto-term-catalog`
- Local checkout example: `~/gitrepos/auto-term-catalog`

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Comment on lines +28 to +31
## Part 1: Install the local tools

## Why this guide exists

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Heading structure: ## Part 1: Install the local tools is immediately followed by ## Why this guide exists at the same heading level, so “Part 1” doesn’t actually contain its intended subsections in the rendered outline/TOC. Consider making the “Part” headings the section parents (H2) and the content under them H3 (or remove the “Part” headers) for a consistent document structure.

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This repo needs a repo-local guide because two separate things are true at once:

- Marcin's ecosystem already has broader onboarding materials.
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The text references “Marcin's ecosystem” without context or a link. For new interns, this is ambiguous; consider rephrasing to “the broader CultureBotAI onboarding materials” and linking to the canonical onboarding resource if one exists.

Suggested change
- Marcin's ecosystem already has broader onboarding materials.
- The broader CultureBotAI onboarding materials already exist.

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- The code in this repo does not need 3.12-only or 3.13-only features.
- A lightweight data-processing repo benefits more from stability than from chasing the newest interpreter.

I would not start this repo on 3.9 or 3.10 now, and I would not make 3.13 the baseline for student onboarding unless the rest of Marcin's repos are already standardized there.
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This sentence depends on the reader knowing who “Marcin” is and which repos are being referenced. Consider rewording to refer to “other CultureBotAI repos” (or a specific linked set of repos) so the guidance is understandable to someone onboarding fresh to the org.

Suggested change
I would not start this repo on 3.9 or 3.10 now, and I would not make 3.13 the baseline for student onboarding unless the rest of Marcin's repos are already standardized there.
I would not start this repo on 3.9 or 3.10 now, and I would not make 3.13 the baseline for student onboarding unless other CultureBotAI repos are already standardized there.

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That is expected in the current repo, because the main script contains a hard-coded path:

- `/Users/lukewang/Downloads/chemical_utilization_cborg_gpt5_20250819_113045.yaml`
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The troubleshooting section includes a real absolute path with a specific username (/Users/lukewang/...). Even as an example of a hard-coded path, it’s better to redact/parameterize usernames (e.g., /Users/<username>/Downloads/... or ~/Downloads/...) to avoid embedding personal identifiers in docs and to keep the example portable.

Suggested change
- `/Users/lukewang/Downloads/chemical_utilization_cborg_gpt5_20250819_113045.yaml`
- `~/Downloads/chemical_utilization_cborg_gpt5_20250819_113045.yaml`

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Add repo-local onboarding guide emphasizing Codex CLI workflow and reproducible repo setup

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