# Code Review Process This document describes how to perform a comprehensive, per-module code review of the `mxaccessgw` codebase and how to track findings to resolution. A **module** is one buildable project under `src/` (e.g. `src/MxGateway.Worker`) or one language client under `clients/` (e.g. `clients/rust`). Each module has its own folder under `code-reviews/` containing a single `findings.md`. ## 1. Before you start 1. Pick the module to review. Its folder is `code-reviews//`: - For a `src/` project, `` is the project name with the `MxGateway.` prefix stripped — `src/MxGateway.Server` is reviewed in `code-reviews/Server/`. - For a language client, `` is `Client.` — `clients/rust` is reviewed in `code-reviews/Client.Rust/`. 2. Identify the design context for the module: - `gateway.md` — top-level architecture, command/event surface, IPC envelope, STA thread model, fault handling. - The relevant component design docs under `docs/` (e.g. `docs/MxAccessWorkerInstanceDesign.md`, `docs/GatewayProcessDesign.md`, `docs/Sessions.md`, `docs/Authentication.md`, `docs/GalaxyRepository.md`). - `docs/DesignDecisions.md` for the v1 design choices. - The **Repository-Specific Conventions** and **Process / Platform Notes** in `CLAUDE.md`. 3. Record the exact commit being reviewed: `git rev-parse --short HEAD`. Every review is a snapshot — a finding only means something relative to a known commit. 4. Open `code-reviews//findings.md` and fill in the header table (reviewer, date, commit SHA, status). ## 2. Review checklist Work through **every** category below for the module. A comprehensive review means the checklist is completed even where it produces no findings — record "No issues found" for a category rather than leaving it ambiguous. 1. **Correctness & logic bugs** — off-by-one, null handling, incorrect conditionals, misuse of APIs, broken edge cases. 2. **mxaccessgw conventions** — the rules in `CLAUDE.md` and the style guides under `docs/style-guides/`: the gateway never instantiates MXAccess COM directly; all MXAccess COM calls run on the worker's dedicated STA thread and the STA loop pumps Windows messages; IPC uses one bidirectional named pipe per worker carrying length-prefixed `WorkerEnvelope` protobuf frames; MXAccess parity is the contract (don't "fix" surprising MXAccess behaviour, never synthesize events); one worker and one event subscriber per session; the gateway terminates orphan workers on startup and does not reattach; C# style (file-scoped namespaces, `sealed` by default, `Async` suffix, MXAccess-aligned names); no Blazor UI component libraries; no logging of secrets or full tag values; generated code is never hand-edited. 3. **Concurrency & thread safety** — shared mutable state, STA affinity, race conditions, correct use of `async`/`await`, locking, disposal races. 4. **Error handling & resilience** — exception paths, worker crash / reconnect handling, fail-fast event backpressure, transient vs permanent error classification, graceful degradation, correct gRPC status codes. 5. **Security** — authentication/authorization checks, API-key scope enforcement, input validation, SQL injection in the Galaxy Repository RPCs, secret handling, the dashboard anonymous-localhost bypass, logging of sensitive data. 6. **Performance & resource management** — `IDisposable` disposal, pipe / stream / COM lifetimes, buffering and back-pressure, unnecessary allocations on hot paths, N+1 queries. 7. **Design-document adherence** — does the code match `gateway.md`, the relevant `docs/` component designs, `docs/DesignDecisions.md`, and `CLAUDE.md`? Flag both code that drifts from the design and design docs that are now stale. 8. **Code organization & conventions** — namespace hierarchy, project layout, the Options pattern, separation of concerns, additive-only contract evolution. 9. **Testing coverage** — are the module's behaviours covered by tests (`src/MxGateway.Tests`, `src/MxGateway.Worker.Tests`, `src/MxGateway.IntegrationTests`)? Note untested critical paths and missing edge-case tests. 10. **Documentation & comments** — XML doc accuracy, misleading or stale comments, undocumented non-obvious behaviour. ## 3. Recording findings Add one entry per finding to the `## Findings` section of the module's `findings.md`, using the entry format in [`_template/findings.md`](code-reviews/_template/findings.md). - **Finding ID** — `-NNN`, numbered sequentially within the module and never reused (e.g. `Worker-001`). IDs are permanent even after resolution. - **Severity:** - **Critical** — data loss, security breach, crash/deadlock, or outage. - **High** — incorrect behaviour with significant impact; no safe workaround. - **Medium** — incorrect or risky behaviour with limited impact or a workaround. - **Low** — minor issues, style, maintainability, documentation. - **Category** — one of the 10 checklist categories above. - **Location** — `file:line` (clickable), or a list of locations. - **Description** — what is wrong and why it matters. - **Recommendation** — concrete suggested fix. After recording findings, update the module header table (status, open-finding count) and regenerate the base README (step 5). ## 4. Marking an item resolved Findings are **never deleted** — they are an audit trail. To close one, change its **Status** and complete the **Resolution** field: - `Open` — newly recorded, not yet addressed. - `In Progress` — a fix is actively being worked on. - `Resolved` — fixed. The Resolution field must state the fixing commit SHA, the date, and a one-line description of the fix. - `Won't Fix` — intentionally not fixed. The Resolution field must justify why. - `Deferred` — valid but postponed. The Resolution field must say what it is waiting on (e.g. a tracked issue or a later milestone). `Resolved`, `Won't Fix`, and `Deferred` findings are all considered **closed**. `Open` and `In Progress` are **pending** and appear in the base README's Pending Findings table. ## 5. Updating the base README `code-reviews/README.md` holds the single cross-module view (the Module Status table and the Pending / Closed Findings tables). It is **generated** from the per-module `findings.md` files — do not edit it by hand. After any review or status change, regenerate it: ``` python code-reviews/regen-readme.py ``` `regen-readme.py --check` exits non-zero if `README.md` is stale, if a module header's `Open findings` count disagrees with its finding statuses, or if a finding carries an unrecognised Status value. The PowerShell wrapper `scripts/check-code-reviews-readme.ps1` runs that check and is the intended hook for CI or a pre-commit step. > The repo's installed `python` is the real interpreter; the bare `python3` > alias resolves to the Windows Store stub and fails. Use `python`. The per-module `findings.md` files are the source of truth; `README.md` is the aggregated index and must always agree with them — which the script guarantees. ## 6. Re-reviewing a module Re-reviews append to the same `findings.md`. Update the header to the new commit and date, continue the finding numbering from the last used ID, and leave prior findings (including closed ones) in place as history.