NetAlertX/.github/skills/code-standards/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
netalertx-code-standards	NetAlertX coding standards and conventions. Use this when writing code, reviewing code, or implementing features.

Code Standards

File Length

Keep code files under 500 lines. Split larger files into modules.

DRY Principle

Do not re-implement functionality. Reuse existing methods or refactor to create shared methods.

Database Access

• Never access DB directly from application layers
• Use server/db/db_helper.py functions (e.g., get_table_json)
• Implement new functionality in handlers (e.g., DeviceInstance in server/models/device_instance.py)

MAC Address Handling

Always validate and normalize MACs before DB writes:

from plugin_helper import normalize_mac

mac = normalize_mac(raw_mac)

Subprocess Safety

MANDATORY: All subprocess calls must set explicit timeouts.

result = subprocess.run(cmd, timeout=60)  # Minimum 60s

Nested subprocess calls need their own timeout—outer timeout won't save you.

Time Utilities

from utils.datetime_utils import timeNowDB

timestamp = timeNowDB()

String Sanitization

Use sanitizers from server/helper.py before storing user input.

Devcontainer Constraints

• Never chmod or chown during operations
• Everything is already writable
• If permissions needed, fix .devcontainer/scripts/setup.sh

Path Hygiene

• Use environment variables for runtime paths
• /data for persistent config/db
• /tmp for runtime logs/api/nginx state
• Never hardcode /data/db or use relative paths