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Development Setup

This guide helps you set up a development environment for contributing to secretctl.

Prerequisites​

Required​

  • Go 1.24+ - Download
  • Git - For version control
  • Make (optional) - For build automation

For Desktop App Development​

  • Node.js 18+ - For frontend development
  • Wails v2 - Installation

Quick Start​

1. Clone the Repository​

git clone https://github.com/forest6511/secretctl.git
cd secretctl

2. Install Dependencies​

# Go dependencies
go mod download

# Verify the build
go build ./...

3. Run Tests​

# All tests
go test ./...

# With race detector
go test -race ./...

# With coverage
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...
go tool cover -html=coverage.out

4. Run Linting​

# Install golangci-lint if needed
# https://golangci-lint.run/usage/install/

golangci-lint run ./...

Project Structure​

secretctl/
├── cmd/                    # CLI commands (Cobra)
│   └── secretctl/
├── internal/               # Internal packages
│   ├── cli/               # CLI utilities
│   ├── config/            # Configuration handling
│   └── mcp/               # MCP server implementation
├── pkg/                    # Public packages
│   ├── audit/             # Audit logging
│   ├── backup/            # Backup and restore
│   ├── crypto/            # Cryptographic operations
│   ├── secret/            # Secret types
│   └── vault/             # Vault operations
├── desktop/               # Wails desktop app
│   ├── frontend/          # React + TypeScript
│   └── *.go               # Go backend
└── website/               # Documentation site

Building​

CLI Binary​

# Development build
go build -o bin/secretctl ./cmd/secretctl

# Run locally
./bin/secretctl --help

Desktop App​

cd desktop

# Development mode (hot reload)
wails dev

# Production build
wails build

Development Workflow​

1. Create a Feature Branch​

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

2. Make Changes​

  • Write clear, readable code
  • Follow existing patterns
  • Add tests for new functionality
  • Update documentation as needed

3. Test Your Changes​

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run specific package tests
go test ./pkg/vault/...

# Run with verbose output
go test -v ./...

4. Lint and Format​

# Format code
gofmt -w .
goimports -w .

# Run linter
golangci-lint run ./...

5. Commit and Push​

Use Conventional Commits:

git add .
git commit -m "feat: add password strength indicator"
git push origin feature/your-feature-name

Testing Tips​

Table-Driven Tests​

secretctl uses table-driven tests extensively:

func TestValidatePassword(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct {
        name     string
        password string
        wantErr  bool
    }{
        {"valid", "SecurePass123!", false},
        {"too short", "short", true},
        {"empty", "", true},
    }

    for _, tt := range tests {
        t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            err := ValidatePassword(tt.password)
            if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
                t.Errorf("ValidatePassword() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
            }
        })
    }
}

Integration Tests​

For tests that need a real vault:

func TestVaultOperations(t *testing.T) {
    // Create temp directory
    tmpDir := t.TempDir()

    // Initialize vault
    v := vault.New(tmpDir)
    err := v.Create("test-password-123!")
    require.NoError(t, err)

    // Your test logic...
}

Security Considerations​

When contributing security-related code:

  • Never log secrets - No passwords, keys, or sensitive data in logs
  • Use crypto/rand - Never use math/rand for security purposes
  • Wipe sensitive data - Use crypto.SecureWipe() for passwords and keys
  • Handle errors - Never ignore errors from crypto operations

Getting Help​

  • Read existing code for patterns and conventions
  • Check issues for context
  • Open a discussion for questions

Next Steps​