webmail-client/dev-environment-setup.md

Development Environment — Agent Setup Instructions

Companion to SPEC.md (webmail-client-spec). This file tells the implementing agent exactly how to build and verify the development environment before writing any application code. Approach: conda for the toolchain (Python 3.11, Node 20), Docker for stateful services (PostgreSQL, Redis, Meilisearch, test mail servers) — identical images in dev and CI.

Rules:

• Do not install anything into the host system Python/apt beyond verifying prerequisites. All language tooling lives in the conda env; all services live in containers.
• Do not substitute versions or images. If something is unavailable, stop and record it in docs/open-questions.md.
• Every step below has a verification command. A step is not done until its verification passes.

---

1. Prerequisites (verify, don't install blindly)

docker --version          # need >= 24.x
docker compose version    # need v2 plugin
conda --version           # need conda >= 23.x from Miniforge

• If conda is missing, install Miniforge (NOT Anaconda — conda-forge channel only, avoids defaults-channel licensing): curl -fsSL https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh -o /tmp/miniforge.sh && bash /tmp/miniforge.sh -b && ~/miniforge3/bin/conda init bash
• If Docker is missing, halt and report — Docker installation is a host-admin decision, not the agent's.
• Verify the host user can run Docker without sudo: docker run --rm hello-world.

2. Conda environment (toolchain only — no services here)

Create environment.yml at repo root:

name: webmail
channels:
  - conda-forge
dependencies:
  - python=3.11
  - nodejs=20
  - pip

conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate webmail
python --version   # must print 3.11.x
node --version     # must print v20.x

Install backend tooling and deps (after backend/pyproject.toml exists per SPEC §3):

pip install -e "./backend[dev]"    # dev extra: ruff, mypy, pytest, pytest-asyncio, respx
cd frontend && npm ci && cd ..

Auto-config on activate — create $CONDA_PREFIX/etc/conda/activate.d/webmail.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -a
[ -f "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)/.env.dev" ] && . "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.env.dev"
set +a

3. Service containers

Create docker/docker-compose.yml. Host ports are deliberately non-default (5433/6380) so they never collide with anything already running on the host — do not change them.

name: webmail
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: webmail
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: webmail_dev
      POSTGRES_DB: webmail_dev
    ports: ["127.0.0.1:5433:5432"]
    volumes: [pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data]
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U webmail -d webmail_dev"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 10

  redis:
    image: redis:7
    ports: ["127.0.0.1:6380:6379"]
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 10

  meilisearch:
    image: getmeili/meilisearch:v1.8
    environment:
      MEILI_MASTER_KEY: dev_master_key_change_me
      MEILI_ENV: development
    ports: ["127.0.0.1:7700:7700"]
    volumes: [meilidata:/meili_data]
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -qO- http://localhost:7700/health | grep -q available"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 10

  # Test mail servers (integration tests + manual dev against a throwaway mailbox)
  greenmail:
    image: greenmail/standalone:2.0.1
    environment:
      GREENMAIL_OPTS: >-
        -Dgreenmail.setup.test.all -Dgreenmail.hostname=0.0.0.0
        -Dgreenmail.users=dev:devpass@dev.local -Dgreenmail.verbose
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3025:3025"   # SMTP
      - "127.0.0.1:3143:3143"   # IMAP
      - "127.0.0.1:3993:3993"   # IMAPS

volumes:
  pgdata:
  meilidata:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d postgres redis meilisearch
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml ps   # all must be "healthy"

Greenmail is started on demand by integration tests and for manual testing (--profile it later if noise bothers; keep the definition here).

4. Environment file

Create .env.dev at repo root (add to .gitignore; commit a .env.example copy with the same content — these are dev-only credentials, still never reuse them anywhere):

APP_DOMAIN=dev.webmail.local
DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://webmail:webmail_dev@127.0.0.1:5433/webmail_dev
REDIS_URL=redis://127.0.0.1:6380/0
SEARCH_BACKEND=pg                    # switch to meili in M2 work
MEILI_URL=http://127.0.0.1:7700
MEILI_KEY=dev_master_key_change_me
MASTER_KEY=$(python -c "import os,base64;print(base64.b64encode(os.urandom(32)).decode())")
BLOB_ROOT=./var/blobs
UNDO_SECONDS=10
POLL_INTERVAL=120
SESSION_TTL_DAYS=30
MAX_ATTACHMENT_MB=25
LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG

Generate MASTER_KEY once and paste the literal value — do not leave the $(...) in the file. mkdir -p var/blobs.

5. Initialize and run

conda activate webmail                       # loads .env.dev via activate hook
cd backend && alembic upgrade head && cd ..  # migrations against 5433

# Terminal 1 — API
uvicorn app.main:create_app --factory --reload --port 8000 --app-dir backend

# Terminal 2 — worker
arq workers.worker.WorkerSettings            # from backend/

# Terminal 3 — frontend
cd frontend && npm run dev                   # Vite on 5173, proxies /api -> 8000

Vite dev proxy (in vite.config.ts): /api → http://127.0.0.1:8000 with ws: true for /api/ws.

6. Verification checklist (run in order; all must pass)

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml ps          # postgres, redis, meilisearch healthy
psql postgresql://webmail:webmail_dev@127.0.0.1:5433/webmail_dev -c 'select 1'
redis-cli -p 6380 ping                                   # PONG (via docker exec if no local cli)
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:7700/health                     # {"status":"available"}
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/healthz                # implement: checks DB + Redis, returns 200
cd backend && ruff check . && mypy --strict app && pytest -q
cd frontend && npx tsc --noEmit && npm run lint && npx vitest run

Integration smoke (once M0 sync exists): start greenmail, configure account dev@dev.local / devpass against 127.0.0.1:3143 (plain, dev-only), send a message into Greenmail via SMTP 3025, assert it appears via the API within 10 s.

7. Day-to-day commands (put these in a root Makefile)

up:        ## start services
	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d postgres redis meilisearch
down:      ## stop services (data kept)
	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down
reset-db:  ## DESTRUCTIVE: wipe db + search + blobs, re-migrate
	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down -v
	rm -rf var/blobs && mkdir -p var/blobs
	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d --wait postgres redis meilisearch
	cd backend && alembic upgrade head
api:
	uvicorn app.main:create_app --factory --reload --port 8000 --app-dir backend
worker:
	cd backend && arq workers.worker.WorkerSettings
web:
	cd frontend && npm run dev
test:
	cd backend && pytest -q && cd ../frontend && npx vitest run
mail-test:  ## start throwaway IMAP/SMTP server
	docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d greenmail

8. CI parity

docker/docker-compose.ci.yml extends the same file: adds Dovecot (dovecot/dovecot:2.3) for provider-compat tests and runs Playwright against a production build. CI must use the same image tags as this file — when bumping a service version, bump it in exactly one place (this compose file) and update SPEC §3 in the same commit.

9. Troubleshooting

• Port already in use — something on the host occupies 5433/6380/7700/8000/5173. Do not change this file's ports without recording it in docs/open-questions.md; prefer stopping the conflicting service.
• alembic upgrade connection refused — services not healthy yet; docker compose ... up -d --wait.
• mypy/ruff not found — you're outside the conda env; conda activate webmail.
• Frontend can't reach WS — check the Vite proxy ws: true and that the session cookie is set (login first).
• Blob permission errors — BLOB_ROOT must be inside the repo (./var/blobs), never a system path.

10. Testing

Use: test@imaginary-pixels.com account for testing. Login: test@imaginary-pixels.com, password: webmail!@A and: test@tank-mouse.com. Login: test@tank-mouse.com, password: webmail!@A SMTP: serwer2295308.home.pl; Port: 587  Port SSL: 465 IMAP: serwer2295308.home.pl; Port: 143  Port SSL: 993