Development Environment Setup

Development environment configuration for GitInspectorGUI.

Prerequisites: Complete the Getting Started Guide first for system requirements and project installation.

Understanding the Development Stack

If you're unfamiliar with the technologies used, see the Technology Primer first.

Development environment components:

Frontend: Tauri (desktop framework) + React (UI library) + TypeScript (typed JavaScript) + Vite (build tool)
Backend: Python analysis engine embedded via PyO3 helper functions (simplified Rust-Python integration)
Package Management: uv (fast Python package manager), pnpm (fast JavaScript package manager)
Build System: Cargo (Rust compiler with PyO3 helpers), Vite (frontend bundler)

Development Configuration

VS Code Extensions

{
  "recommendations": [
    "ms-python.python",
    "rust-lang.rust-analyzer",
    "tauri-apps.tauri-vscode",
    "bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss"
  ]
}

Python Environment Configuration

If using VS Code:

Ctrl+Shift+P → "Python: Select Interpreter"
Choose .venv/bin/python (created by uv sync)

Rust Logging

RUST_LOG is Rust's standard environment variable for controlling log levels. The format is:

RUST_LOG=module=level - Sets logging level for specific modules
pyo3=debug - Enables debug-level logging for the PyO3 crate

Common RUST_LOG Patterns

# General debug logging
export RUST_LOG=debug

# Application-specific logging
export RUST_LOG=gitinspectorgui=debug

# PyO3 integration debugging (Python-Rust communication)
export RUST_LOG=pyo3=debug

# Multiple modules
export RUST_LOG=pyo3=debug,gitinspectorgui=info

# All PyO3 and Tauri logging
export RUST_LOG=pyo3=debug,tauri=debug

Log Levels

Available log levels (from most to least verbose):

trace - Very detailed tracing information
debug - Debug information for development
info - General information messages
warn - Warning messages
error - Error messages only

GitInspectorGUI Specific Usage

In this project, RUST_LOG is particularly useful for:

PyO3 debugging: RUST_LOG=pyo3=debug shows Python-Rust integration details
Application debugging: RUST_LOG=gitinspectorgui=debug shows app-specific logs
Performance monitoring: Debug logs include timing and memory information

Development Server Configuration

For development server commands and workflows, see Development Workflow.

Single-Process Development

GitInspectorGUI uses a single-process architecture with embedded Python:

# Start complete development environment
pnpm run tauri dev

# This starts:
# - Vite dev server for frontend hot reload
# - Tauri application with embedded Python via PyO3 helpers
# - Simplified PyO3 helper function calls (no separate server)

Development Modes

# Complete development environment (recommended)
pnpm run tauri dev

# Frontend only (without desktop wrapper)
pnpm run dev

# Note: Python changes require restarting the desktop app
# since Python is embedded via PyO3 helpers

Debugging

PyO3 Helper Function Debugging

{
  "name": "Debug Tauri with PyO3",
  "type": "lldb",
  "request": "launch",
  "program": "${workspaceFolder}/src-tauri/target/debug/gitinspectorgui",
  "args": [],
  "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
  "env": {
    "RUST_LOG": "debug",
    "RUST_BACKTRACE": "1"
  }
}

Python Code Debugging

Since Python is embedded via PyO3 helpers, debugging requires different approaches:

# Add logging to Python code
import logging
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def execute_analysis(settings):
    logger.info(f"Starting analysis with settings: {settings}")
    # Your analysis code here
    logger.info("Analysis completed")

Frontend Debugging

DevTools: Right-click → "Inspect Element"
Console: Use console.log() for debugging
Breakpoints: Set in VS Code or browser DevTools

PyO3 Helper Function Error Debugging

# Enable PyO3 debug logging
RUST_LOG=pyo3=debug pnpm run tauri dev

# Check for Python import issues
python -c "from gigui.analysis import execute_analysis; print('OK')"

Testing

Python Unit Tests

# All Python tests
cd python && python -m pytest

# With coverage
cd python && python -m pytest --cov=gigui

# Specific test file
cd python && python -m pytest tests/test_analysis.py

PyO3 Helper Function Integration Tests

# Test PyO3 helper functions
cd src-tauri && cargo test

# Test with Python integration through helpers
cd src-tauri && cargo test --features python-tests

Frontend Tests

# React tests
pnpm test

# With coverage
pnpm run test:coverage

Tools

Development Tools

Tauri DevTools: Built into development mode
React DevTools: Available in browser inspector
Rust Analyzer: VS Code extension for Rust development
Python Debugger: VS Code Python extension

Build Commands

# Development (single command for everything)
pnpm run tauri dev

# Production builds
pnpm run tauri build    # Desktop application
cd python && uv build  # Python CLI package
mkdocs build           # Documentation

Performance Monitoring

PyO3 Helper Function Performance

// Add timing to Rust code
use std::time::Instant;

#[tauri::command]
pub async fn execute_analysis_command(settings: Settings) -> Result<AnalysisResult, String> {
    let start = Instant::now();
    let result = execute_analysis(settings)?;
    let duration = start.elapsed();
    println!("Analysis took: {:?}", duration);
    Ok(result)
}

Python Performance

import time
import logging

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def execute_analysis(settings):
    start_time = time.time()
    # Your analysis code here
    duration = time.time() - start_time
    logger.info(f"Analysis completed in {duration:.2f} seconds")

Troubleshooting

PyO3 Helper Function Compilation Issues

# Check Python development headers
python -c "import sysconfig; print(sysconfig.get_path('include'))"

# Rebuild PyO3 helper functions
cd src-tauri && cargo clean && cargo build

Python Environment Issues

# Reinstall Python dependencies
uv sync

# Check Python module imports
python -c "import gigui; print('OK')"

# Verify virtual environment
which python

Frontend Issues

# Clear and reinstall frontend dependencies
rm -rf node_modules pnpm-lock.yaml
pnpm install

Rust/Tauri Issues

# Update Rust toolchain
rustup update

# Clean Rust build cache
cd src-tauri && cargo clean

# Rebuild everything
pnpm run tauri build

Memory Issues

# Monitor memory usage during development
top -p $(pgrep gitinspectorgui)

# Check for Python memory leaks
python -c "import tracemalloc; tracemalloc.start()"

Environment Variables