mcp-server-cantera: Instructions file for Codex

Documentation contract for coding agents

This repository's public documentation is generated automatically by the Step Function documentation agent (Documentation-Agent), which reads this repo and maintains a page on the centralized Sphinx + MyST site (https://coot.tail28751.ts.net/). It builds the page in this structure:

Overview (intent) · Background & Theory · Architecture (with a diagram) · Usage · API Reference (concise) · Configuration · Notes

The docs are professional engineering documentation: they lead with the theory, the architecture, and the design logic — the API listing is a brief orientation, not the substance. The agent is accurate-by-design: it documents only what this repo actually states, and it will not invent the intent or the theory. So when you change code here, keep the source material below current — otherwise the generated docs go stale or omit context.

What to maintain (so the docs are good)

• Intent — in the README's opening / Overview. One short statement of what this repo is and the problem it solves. Update it when the purpose shifts.
• Background & Theory — write it down; it cannot be derived from code. Keep a section (in the README, or a THEORY.md / DESIGN.md) describing the scientific / mathematical / engineering basis: the methods, models, governing equations, assumptions, and approach the code implements, with references/citations where relevant. This is the highest-leverage thing to maintain — if it isn't written here, it won't appear in the docs. Update it whenever you change the method, not just the code.
• Architecture & design rationale — write down the why. In the README or a DESIGN.md/ARCHITECTURE.md, describe the major components and their responsibilities, how data/control flows between them, and the key design decisions and trade-offs. The agent draws the architecture diagram and the supporting-logic discussion from the code and this prose — explaining intent and trade-offs that code alone can't convey makes the docs far stronger.
• API details — in accurate docstrings. Public functions, classes, and commands should have docstrings with correct signatures, parameters, returns, and units. The agent distills these into a concise API Reference (key entry points only); private/internal names (leading underscore, tests, build glue) are intentionally left out.
• Usage — minimal, runnable examples in the README (install + the primary workflow). Keep them working.
• Configuration — document environment variables, CLI flags, and config files.