Merge branch 'main' into grav-2.0.4-upgrade

2026-07-04 15:20:59 +02:00
parent b47b1e9657 1710ad8612
commit a28ef8f8d7
2 changed files with 114 additions and 1 deletions
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 - **./**: Grav CMS dev environment for intotheeast travel blog
 - **scripts/**: Server install and maintenance scripts
- **user/**: Site content, config, pages, and theme (standalone git repo — do not modify from here)
+- **user/**: Site content, config, pages, and theme — its own git repo (`intotheeast-com-content.git`), tracked by the outer repo as a **git submodule** (pinned commit). See "Dual-repo submodule structure" below and `docs/solutions/architecture-patterns/dual-repo-submodule-workflow.md`
 - **docs/**: All plans, specs, and project documentation (moved here from `user/docs/` on 2026-06-19)
 - **docs/solutions/**: documented solutions to past problems (bugs, patterns, workflow gotchas), organized by category with YAML frontmatter (`module`, `tags`, `problem_type`). Relevant when implementing or debugging in a documented area
 - **CONCEPTS.md** (repo root): shared domain vocabulary (Trip, Entry, Story, Active Trip). Relevant when orienting to the codebase or discussing domain concepts
@@ -142,6 +142,15 @@ Always use `make` commands for anything on the production server (`make remote-i
 Only these folders are tracked in the `user/` Git repo: `pages/`, `config/`, `accounts/`, `themes/`. The `plugins/` and `data/` folders are excluded.
 ### Dual-repo submodule structure
 `user/` is a **git submodule** of the outer repo (`.gitmodules` at the root; git dir absorbed into `.git/modules/user`). Full workflow: `docs/solutions/architecture-patterns/dual-repo-submodule-workflow.md`. The essentials:
 - **Two repos, two cadences.** Outer repo = dev environment (tests/docs/scripts/Docker). `user/` = content + theme, with its own remote and `make content-push` cadence. The outer repo pins an exact `user/` commit via the `user` gitlink.
 - **Pointer-bump convention.** Routine content changes → **do not** bump the pin (leave it stale; harmless). At the **end of a cross-repo feature** → bump the pin once to the finished `user/` commit. Pin a commit reachable from `user/`'s published `main` (prefer the merge-to-main commit, not a squash-away branch tip), and **push `user/` before the outer repo** (superproject references a child SHA that must already exist upstream). The pin is dev-side coordination only — production pulls `user/` via the content webhook independently.
 - **`M user` / `m user` is normal.** `M` = pin differs from `user/` HEAD (bump pending/intentional). `m` = submodule working tree dirty (e.g. local-testing `config/site.yaml`). Neither is an error — do not "fix" them by committing the gitlink or the `site.yaml`.
 - **Worktrees for parallel work.** A worktree off `main` gets its own `user/` (`git submodule update --init user`) and can run its own dev server (`docker compose -p itte-<feature> up` — the `./user` mount is relative, so each worktree serves its own content). Tooling worktrees live under `.worktrees/` (excluded via `.git/info/exclude`). To add a commit to `main` while the main checkout is on another branch, use a throwaway `main` worktree rather than `git checkout main`.
 ## 1. Environment modes
 ### Rule: do not switch modes during development
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
 ---
 title: Dual-repo submodule workflow — outer dev-env repo + user/ content submodule
 date: 2026-07-04
 category: architecture-patterns
 module: Repo structure — outer repo + user/ content repo
 problem_type: architecture_pattern
 component: git
 severity: medium
 applies_when:
  - Starting a feature that touches both the outer repo and user/ (theme, plugins, pages)
  - Setting up a git worktree for long-running work while doing other work in parallel
  - Deciding when to bump the user/ submodule pointer in the outer repo
  - A git worktree of the outer repo shows an empty or broken user/ directory
  - Seeing a persistent "M user" / "m user" dirty state in the outer repo
 tags: [git, submodule, worktree, dual-repo, user-repo, docker, content-sync, pointer-bump]
 ---
 # Dual-repo submodule workflow
 ## Context
 This project is **two independent git repositories** that happen to be nested:
 - **Outer repo** (`intotheeast-com.git`) — the Grav dev environment: `tests/`, `scripts/`, `docs/`, `docker-compose.yml`, `Dockerfile`, `Makefile`, `CLAUDE.md`.
 - **`user/` repo** (`intotheeast-com-content.git`) — all site content and the theme: `pages/`, `config/`, `accounts/`, `themes/`. It has its own remote (the Gitea content mirror) and its own release cadence (`make content-push` → webhook → production pull).
 As of 2026-07-04, the outer repo tracks `user/` as a **proper git submodule** (`.gitmodules` at the outer root, git dir absorbed into `.git/modules/user`). Before that it was an *orphaned gitlink* — a `160000` tree entry with no `.gitmodules`, so git had no URL to populate or update it. That broke worktrees (a fresh outer worktree got an empty `user/`) and offered no supported sync path.
 ## Why a submodule (and not untracking)
 Two options were weighed: make it a real submodule, or stop tracking `user/` in the outer repo entirely (gitignore it, symlink the real checkout in).
 The submodule was chosen deliberately, for one reason that outweighs its ceremony:
 - **Routine content churn is benign** — day-to-day entries/stories change `user/` constantly and never break the dev environment. Those changes do **not** need to be reflected in the outer repo.
 - **Cross-repo *features* must be tracked together.** A feature like the journal post-form touches both repos (a plugin + theme JS/CSS in `user/`, and tests/docs in the outer repo). The outer repo pinning an exact `user/` commit records *"this dev-env state expects this content/theme state"* — so checking out the outer feature also gets the matching `user/` code. That coupling is real and worth having.
 - It enables **per-worktree `user/` checkouts**, which is what makes true parallel work across both repos possible (see below). This was a hard requirement.
 The cost accepted: a persistent `M user` dirty signal (intrinsic to submodules under active development) and the possibility of gitlink merge conflicts between outer branches. Neither is removed by the submodule; they are the price of version pinning.
 ## The pointer-bump convention
 The outer repo's `user` gitlink stores an exact `user/` commit SHA. **When to bump it:**
 - **Routine content changes → do not bump.** Push content with `make content-push` and leave the outer pin where it is. A stale pin during normal content work is expected and harmless.
 - **At the end of a cross-repo feature → bump once.** When the feature's `user/` work is finalized, update the outer pin to the finished `user/` commit, as the final step of the feature (its own `chore: bump user pointer to <sha>` commit, or folded into the final integration commit).
 Two rules keep the pin from dangling for other machines/clones:
 1. **Pin a commit reachable from `user/`'s published `main`.** Prefer the **merge-to-main commit**. Pinning a feature-branch tip is safe *only* if that exact commit survives onto `main` (fast-forward / no-squash merge); a squashed-away tip becomes an orphaned SHA and `git submodule update` fails elsewhere.
 2. **Push `user/` before the outer repo.** The submodule golden rule: the superproject references a child SHA, so the child must already be pushed. `make content-push` handles the `user/` push — just do it before pushing the outer branch.
 Production is unaffected either way: prod pulls `user/` directly via the content-remote webhook, independent of the outer repo's pin. The pin is **dev-side coordination only**.
 ## Parallel work: worktree + its own dev server
 The payoff. Because `docker-compose.yml` mounts `./user` **relative to the compose file**, and a worktree is a full copy of the outer tree (compose file included), each worktree serves *its own* `user/`. Two worktrees = two independent sites, no gitlink collisions.
 Set up a feature worktree off `main`:
 ```bash
 # outer worktree on a new feature branch
 git worktree add .worktrees/<feature> -b feat/<feature> main
 cd .worktrees/<feature>
 # populate user/ at the pinned SHA, then branch it for the cross-repo work
 git submodule update --init user
 git -C user checkout -b feat/<feature>
 # its own dev server — separate project name + port from the main checkout's :8081
 docker compose -p itte-<feature> up -d
 ```
 `.worktrees/` is kept out of git via `.git/info/exclude` (local, shared across worktrees — no committed `.gitignore` change needed).
 ### Teardown
 A submodule inside a linked worktree stores its git dir under `.git/modules/user/worktrees/<name>`, so removing the outer worktree needs a second cleanup step:
 ```bash
 docker compose -p itte-<feature> down
 cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"          # back to the main checkout
 git -C .worktrees/<feature> submodule deinit user   # detach the submodule worktree
 git worktree remove .worktrees/<feature>            # remove the outer worktree
 git branch -d feat/<feature>                        # if merged
 ```
 ### Landing a commit on main without disturbing the main checkout
 When the main checkout is mid-work on another branch, add a commit to `main` through a throwaway worktree instead of `git checkout main` (which would yank branches out from under an open IDE):
 ```bash
 git worktree add .worktrees/main-tmp main
 git -C .worktrees/main-tmp cherry-pick <sha>   # or edit + commit
 git worktree remove .worktrees/main-tmp
 ```
 ## Gotchas
 - **`M user` / `m user` is normal.** Uppercase `M` = the pin differs from `user/` HEAD (bump pending or intentional). Lowercase `m` = the submodule working tree is dirty (e.g. an uncommitted `config/site.yaml` used for local testing). Neither is an error.
 - **Gitlink merge conflicts still happen.** If two outer branches pin different `user/` SHAs, merging them conflicts on the `user` entry. Resolve by choosing the correct (usually newer, merged) SHA, then `git add user`.
 - **Worktrees need `submodule update --init`.** A fresh outer worktree has an empty `user/` until you run it — it is not automatic.
 - **The submodule git dir was absorbed** (`git submodule absorbgitdirs user`) so all worktrees share `.git/modules/user`. `user/.git` is now a gitfile (`gitdir: ../.git/modules/user`), not a directory. `make content-push`/`content-pull` still operate on `user/` normally.
 - **Access requires the content remote** (SSH over Tailscale). A machine that cannot reach it cannot `submodule update` — but it could never clone `user/` anyway, so this is not a regression.