Contributing

How to set up DAEMON for local development and submit contributions.

Getting Started#

Terminal

git clone https://github.com/nullxnothing/daemon.git
cd daemon
pnpm install
pnpm run dev

In a second terminal, run the type checker in watch mode:

pnpm run typecheck:watch

Requirements#

Requirement	Version
Node.js	22+
pnpm	9+
OS	Windows or macOS (Linux experimental)

Development Commands#

Command	Description
`pnpm run dev`	Start dev server with hot reload
`pnpm run typecheck`	Run TypeScript checks
`pnpm run test`	Run the test suite
`pnpm run build`	Production build
`pnpm run package`	Create distributable (.exe / .dmg)
`pnpm run rebuild`	Rebuild native modules

Native Modules#

better-sqlite3 and node-pty are C++ native modules rebuilt automatically via postinstall. If you hit issues after pnpm install:

pnpm run rebuild

Architecture#

electron/          Main process - IPC handlers, services, database
  ipc/             One handler file per domain
  services/        Business logic (never imported from renderer)
  db/              SQLite schema + migrations
  shared/          Types shared between main and renderer

src/               Renderer - React 18 + TypeScript
  panels/          One directory per panel
  store/           Zustand stores
  components/      Shared UI components

styles/            Global CSS tokens and base styles
test/              Vitest test suites

Rules#

All DB access stays in the main process. Renderer uses IPC only
All IPC handlers use IpcHandlerFactory and return { ok, data/error }
CSS Modules only, no Tailwind. Follow existing token system
No emoji in UI chrome. Status via colored dots only
Test with pnpm run package before PRs that touch native modules

Commit Convention#

Prefix	Use
`feat:`	New feature
`fix:`	Bug fix
`refactor:`	Code change (not a fix or feature)
`docs:`	Documentation only
`test:`	Adding or updating tests
`chore:`	Maintenance tasks

Pull Requests#

Keep PRs focused. One feature or fix per PR
Include screenshots for UI changes
Ensure pnpm run typecheck and pnpm run test pass
Fill out the PR template

Roadmap