# Environment Strategy
For this reverse-engineering project, we define three distinct environments to manage development stability and feature testing.
## 1. Development (Dev)
**Purpose:** Rapid iteration on the MCP server code and frontend logic.
- **Location:** The root of this repository (`/Users/markforster/ClaudeImagine`).
- **Config:** Uses local `claude_config.json`.
- **State:** Transient, often reset.
- **Usage:**
```bash
# 1. Start MCP server
node server-mcp.js
# 2. Run ad-hoc CLI commands
claude --print --mcp-config ./claude_config.json "Test my new feature"
```
## 2. Test (Test)
**Purpose:** Automated verification of capabilities in a clean, sandboxed environment.
- **Location:** Temporary directories in `/tmp/claude-isolated-*`.
- **Config:** Generated on the fly by `create-isolated-claude.js`.
- **State:** Completely erased after each test run.
- **Usage:**
```bash
# Run all tests
npm run test:all-prerequisites
# Run specific test suite
npm run test:browser-connection
```
- **Isolation:**
- Uses `CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR` to prevent polluting global history.
- Copies `.claude` templates for consistent behavior.
- Automatically copies OAuth credentials for seamless auth.
## 3. Production (Prod)
**Purpose:** "Permanent" backend instances that serve as the stable engine for the Imagine UI.
- **Location:** Persistent directories (e.g., `~/claude-imagine-backend`).
- **Config:** Stable `CLAUDE.md` and `.claude/settings.json` created via playbooks.
- **State:** Persistent conversation history (stored in that directory's `.claude/projects`).
- **Usage:**
```bash
# Create a new prod instance
npm run create:backend ~/claude-imagine-prod
# Start the instance
cd ~/claude-imagine-prod
./start.sh
```
- **Characteristics:**
- Configured for stability (e.g., specific model versions).
- System prompts tuned for reliability.
- Intended to run continuously.
## Switching Environments
| Feature | Dev | Test | Prod |
|---------|-----|------|------|
| **Server** | `node server-mcp.js` (local) | Managed by test runner | `node server-mcp.js` (configured in start.sh) |
| **History** | Local project history | None (wiped) | Persistent in instance dir |
| **Auth** | Global `~/.claude` | Copied from global | Global `~/.claude` |
| **Sandboxing** | `--dangerously-skip-permissions` | `--dangerously-skip-permissions` | Standard (interactive or configured) |
## Best Practices
1. **Develop** new MCP tools or agent capabilities in the repo root.
2. **Test** them using `npm run test:claude-tools` to ensure they work in isolation.
3. **Deploy** to a "Prod" instance only when the feature is stable and documented in `SKILL.md`.
