Architecture in 10 minutes

Use this when you need to add a command, change schema/IR, or wire a new exporter.

System flow (high level)

CLI (packages/cli): argument parsing, UX, config editing, orchestration.
Core (packages/core): IR loading, validation, scopes, overlays/plugs, sync engine.
Schema (packages/schema): IR/schema typing, canonicalization, hashing.
Exporters (packages/exporters): IR → agent-specific files (Cursor, AGENTS.md, VS Code/Claude Code, etc.).
Sources (packages/sources): pulling rules from local/git/catalog inputs.

Add a CLI command: packages/cli/src/commands/* + manifest.ts registration. Tests in packages/cli/tests/commands/.
Add/adjust schema fields: packages/schema/src/* with canonicalization + validation. Update docs/CHANGELOG and consider migration.
Core sync behavior: packages/core/src/sync/* and packages/core/src/paths.ts for layout. Tests mirror folder names.
Exporter logic: packages/exporters/src/<agent>/index.ts and manifest. Register in packages/exporters/src/registry.ts.
Team mode/lockfile: packages/core/src/lockfile/* and packages/core/src/team/*.

CLI command: pnpm --filter @aligntrue/cli vitest run tests/commands/<file>.test.ts
Schema/IR: pnpm --filter @aligntrue/schema test
Core sync/pathing: pnpm --filter @aligntrue/core vitest run tests/sync/*.test.ts
Exporter change: pnpm --filter @aligntrue/exporters test
Docs accuracy: pnpm validate:docs

Keep changes small and update golden tests when exporter or schema outputs move.