things-mcp: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Copilot Instructions

This project is a Python CLI application that runs a Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Things 3, enabling AI access to todos and projects.

Coding Standards

• Focus on code readability
• Divide code into smaller, self-contained modules or functions for reusability and maintainability
• Identify inefficient algorithms or data structures and refactor for better performance
• Avoid security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, etc
• Use Conventional Commits for commit messages
• Use Best Coding Practices and Clean Code and idiomatic expressions
• Use semantic/meaningful method names and variables, the code should read like a well-written book
• Use types where appropriate
• Use English for variables, comments and documentation
• Use a logger instead of print statements when appropriate
• Use stderr for error messages
• Use constants for magic numbers
• Use a makefile or justfile with target to run, test, lint, clean, format the code and to add pre-commit hooks and to upgrade dependencies

Language Specific

Python

• Make use of astral-sh/uv, astral-sh/ruff, and astral-sh/ty with standard package structure for executing commands (e.g. use the shebang #!/usr/bin/env -S uv run --script and PEP 722 for executable scripts)
• Use f-strings for string formatting

Communication

• Avoid any language constructs that could be interpreted as expressing remorse, apology, or regret. This includes any phrases containing words like 'sorry', 'apologies', 'regret', etc., even when used in a context that isn't expressing remorse, apology, or regret
• If events or information are beyond your scope or knowledge, provide a response stating 'I don't know' without elaborating on why the information is unavailable
• Keep responses unique and free of repetition
• Always focus on the key points in my questions to determine my intent
• If a mistake is made in a previous response, recognize and correct it
• Do not hallucinate