ArchiveBox/CLAUDE.md

Claude Code Development Guide for ArchiveBox

Quick Start

# Set up dev environment (always use uv, never pip directly)
uv sync --dev --all-extras

# Run tests as non-root user (required - ArchiveBox always refuses to run as root)
sudo -u testuser bash -c 'source .venv/bin/activate && python -m pytest archivebox/tests/ -v'

Development Environment Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+ (3.13 recommended)
• uv package manager
• A non-root user for running tests (e.g., testuser)

Install Dependencies

uv sync --dev --all-extras  # Always use uv, never pip directly

Activate Virtual Environment

source .venv/bin/activate

Running Tests

CRITICAL: Never Run as Root

ArchiveBox has a root check that prevents running as root user. All ArchiveBox commands (including tests) must run as non-root user inside a data directory:

# Run all migration tests
sudo -u testuser bash -c 'source /path/to/.venv/bin/activate && python -m pytest archivebox/tests/test_migrations_*.py -v'

# Run specific test file
sudo -u testuser bash -c 'source .venv/bin/activate && python -m pytest archivebox/tests/test_migrations_08_to_09.py -v'

# Run single test
sudo -u testuser bash -c 'source .venv/bin/activate && python -m pytest archivebox/tests/test_migrations_fresh.py::TestFreshInstall::test_init_creates_database -xvs'

Test File Structure

archivebox/tests/
├── test_migrations_helpers.py    # Schemas, seeding functions, verification helpers
├── test_migrations_fresh.py      # Fresh install tests
├── test_migrations_04_to_09.py   # 0.4.x → 0.9.x migration tests
├── test_migrations_07_to_09.py   # 0.7.x → 0.9.x migration tests
└── test_migrations_08_to_09.py   # 0.8.x → 0.9.x migration tests

Test Writing Standards

NO MOCKS - Real Tests Only

Tests must exercise real code paths:

• Create real SQLite databases with version-specific schemas
• Seed with realistic test data
• Run actual python -m archivebox commands via subprocess
• Query SQLite directly to verify results

If something is hard to test: Modify the implementation to make it easier to test, or fix the underlying issue. Never mock, skip, simulate, or exit early from a test because you can't get something working inside the test.

NO SKIPS

Never use @skip, skipTest, or pytest.mark.skip. Every test must run. If a test is difficult, fix the code or test environment - don't disable the test.

Strict Assertions

• init command must return exit code 0 (not [0, 1])
• Verify ALL data is preserved, not just "at least one"
• Use exact counts (==) not loose bounds (>=)

Example Test Pattern

def test_migration_preserves_snapshots(self):
    """Migration should preserve all snapshots."""
    result = run_archivebox(self.work_dir, ['init'], timeout=45)
    self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, f"Init failed: {result.stderr}")

    ok, msg = verify_snapshot_count(self.db_path, expected_count)
    self.assertTrue(ok, msg)

Migration Testing

Schema Versions

• 0.4.x: First Django version. Tags as comma-separated string, no ArchiveResult model
• 0.7.x: Tag model with M2M, ArchiveResult model, AutoField PKs
• 0.8.x: Crawl/Seed models, UUID PKs, status fields, depth/retry_at
• 0.9.x: Seed model removed, seed_id FK removed from Crawl

Testing a Migration Path

1. Create SQLite DB with source version schema (from test_migrations_helpers.py)
2. Seed with realistic test data using seed_0_X_data()
3. Run archivebox init to trigger migrations
4. Verify data preservation with verify_* functions
5. Test CLI commands work post-migration (status, list, add, etc.)

Squashed Migrations

When testing 0.8.x (dev branch), you must record ALL replaced migrations:

# The squashed migration replaces these - all must be recorded
('core', '0023_alter_archiveresult_options_archiveresult_abid_and_more'),
('core', '0024_auto_20240513_1143'),
# ... all 52 migrations from 0023-0074 ...
('core', '0023_new_schema'),  # Also record the squashed migration itself

Common Gotchas

1. File Permissions

New files created by root need permissions fixed for testuser:

chmod 644 archivebox/tests/test_*.py

2. DATA_DIR Environment Variable

ArchiveBox commands must run inside a data directory. Tests use temp directories - the run_archivebox() helper sets DATA_DIR automatically.

3. Extractors Disabled for Speed

Tests disable all extractors via environment variables for faster execution:

env['SAVE_TITLE'] = 'False'
env['SAVE_FAVICON'] = 'False'
# ... etc

4. Timeout Settings

Use appropriate timeouts for migration tests (45s for init, 60s default).

5. Circular FK References in Schemas

SQLite handles circular references with IF NOT EXISTS. Order matters less than in other DBs.

Architecture Notes

Crawl Model (0.9.x)

• Crawl groups multiple Snapshots from a single add command
• Each add creates one Crawl with one or more Snapshots
• Seed model was removed - crawls now store URLs directly

Migration Strategy

• Squashed migrations for clean installs
• Individual migrations recorded for upgrades from dev branch
• replaces attribute in squashed migrations lists what they replace

Code Style Guidelines

Naming Conventions for Grep-ability

Use consistent naming for everything to enable easy grep-ability and logical grouping:

Principle: Fewest unique names. If you must create a new unique name, make it grep and group well.

Examples:

# Filesystem migration methods - all start with fs_
def fs_migration_needed() -> bool: ...
def fs_migrate() -> None: ...
def _fs_migrate_from_0_7_0_to_0_8_0() -> None: ...
def _fs_migrate_from_0_8_0_to_0_9_0() -> None: ...
def _fs_next_version(current: str) -> str: ...

# Logging methods - ALL must start with log_ or _log
def log_migration_start(snapshot_id: str) -> None: ...
def _log_error(message: str) -> None: ...
def log_validation_result(ok: bool, msg: str) -> None: ...

Rules:

• Group related functions with common prefixes
• Use _ prefix for internal/private helpers within the same family
• ALL logging-related methods MUST start with log_ or _log
• Search for all migration functions: grep -r "def.*fs_.*(" archivebox/
• Search for all logging: grep -r "def.*log_.*(" archivebox/

Minimize Unique Names and Data Structures

Do not invent new data structures, variable names, or keys if possible. Try to use existing field names and data structures exactly to keep the total unique data structures and names in the codebase to an absolute minimum.

Example - GOOD:

# Binary has overrides field
binary = Binary(overrides={'TIMEOUT': '60s'})

# InstalledBinary reuses the same field name and structure
class InstalledBinary(models.Model):
    overrides = models.JSONField(default=dict)  # Same name, same structure

Example - BAD:

# Don't invent new names like custom_bin_cmds, installed_binary_overrides, etc.
class InstalledBinary(models.Model):
    custom_bin_cmds = models.JSONField(default=dict)  # ❌ New unique name

Principle: If you're storing the same conceptual data (e.g., overrides), use the same field name across all models and keep the internal structure identical. This makes the codebase predictable and reduces cognitive load.

Debugging Tips

Check Migration State

sqlite3 /path/to/index.sqlite3 "SELECT app, name FROM django_migrations WHERE app='core' ORDER BY id;"

Check Table Schema

sqlite3 /path/to/index.sqlite3 "PRAGMA table_info(core_snapshot);"

Verbose Test Output

sudo -u testuser bash -c 'source .venv/bin/activate && python -m pytest archivebox/tests/test_migrations_08_to_09.py -xvs 2>&1 | head -200'