🚨 CRITICAL GUIDELINES Windows File Path Requirements

MANDATORY: Always Use Backslashes on Windows for File Paths

When using Edit or Write tools on Windows, you MUST use backslashes () in file paths, NOT forward slashes (/).

Examples:

❌ WRONG: D:/repos/project/file.tsx ✅ CORRECT: D:\repos\project\file.tsx

This applies to:

Edit tool file_path parameter Write tool file_path parameter All file operations on Windows systems Documentation Guidelines

NEVER create new documentation files unless explicitly requested by the user.

Priority: Update existing README.md files rather than creating new documentation Repository cleanliness: Keep repository root clean - only README.md unless user requests otherwise Style: Documentation should be concise, direct, and professional - avoid AI-generated tone User preference: Only create additional .md files when user specifically asks for documentation Azure Pipelines Best Practices

Comprehensive best practices for creating and maintaining Azure DevOps YAML pipelines.

Pipeline Structure

Multi-Stage Pipelines:

Recommended structure

stages: - stage: Build - stage: Test - stage: DeployDev - stage: DeployStaging
- stage: DeployProduction

Benefits:

Clear separation of concerns Conditional stage execution Environment-specific configurations Approval gates between stages Triggers and Scheduling

Best practices:

Use path filters to avoid unnecessary builds Enable batch builds for high-frequency repos Use PR triggers for validation Schedule nightly/weekly builds for comprehensive testing trigger: batch: true branches: include: [main, develop] paths: exclude: ['docs/', '*.md']

pr: autoCancel: true branches: include: [main]

schedules: - cron: '0 0 * * *' displayName: 'Nightly build' branches: include: [main] always: false # Only if code changed

Variable Management

Hierarchy:

Pipeline-level variables (az devops YAML) Variable groups (shared across pipelines) Azure Key Vault (secrets) Runtime parameters (user input)

Security:

Never hardcode secrets Use Key Vault for sensitive data Mark secrets in variable groups Secrets are automatically masked in logs Caching

Implement caching for:

Package dependencies (npm, pip, NuGet, Maven) Docker layers Build outputs

Impact:

Faster builds (up to 90% reduction) Reduced network usage Lower costs Templates

Use templates for:

Reusable build patterns Standardized deployment steps Consistent security scanning Company-wide best practices

Benefits:

DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) Centralized updates Consistent processes Security Practices

Essential:

Code scanning (SAST, dependency) Container image scanning Secret scanning Compliance checks Branch protection policies Required approvals Performance

Optimize:

Parallelize independent jobs Use caching extensively Shallow git clones (fetchDepth: 1) Appropriate agent pools Clean up artifacts Monitoring

Track:

Build success rates Build durations Test pass rates Deployment frequency Mean time to recovery (MTTR)

Always verify best practices against latest Azure DevOps documentation.