Working on assist

Run from a clone

To work on assist itself, install it from a clone instead of npm:

git clone git@github.com:staff0rd/assist.git
cd assist
npm install
npm run build
npm install -g .

From then on assist keeps the clone built and up to date (see Updating assist).

This guide is built from the clone too. It is an Astro Starlight site in docs/ with its own dependencies: npm run docs:install installs them, npm run docs:build builds the site into docs/dist/, and npm run docs:preview serves it on http://localhost:4173, reloading as pages change. Set DOCS_BASE_PATH=<path> to build for a site hosted under a sub-path.

Let assist update itself as you work

With this set up, every change a session commits ends up running in your installed assist:

1. Sessions run in worktrees with trunk-based work on, so each commit pushes straight to the clone’s branch on origin instead of raising a PR.
2. The installed clone sees its upstream move, pulls, and runs its auto-build run entry.
3. Restart onto the new build from the Updates page.

Turn it on from the clone:

assist config set worktree.enabled true
assist config set worktree.trunk true
assist config set autoUpdate.enabled true

The auto-build run entry is what an update runs after pulling. This repo’s assist.yml already defines it to run npm i, then the build script. Without one, an update pulls but does not build.

See Parallel work for how worktrees and worktree.trunk behave, and Updating assist for how updates are paused, checked and restarted.