gentleman-installer

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Adding new installation steps
• Modifying existing tool installations
• Working on backup/restore functionality
• Implementing non-interactive mode support
• Adding new OS/platform support

Critical Patterns

Pattern 1: InstallStep Structure

All steps follow this structure in model.go:

type InstallStep struct {
    ID          string      // Unique identifier: "terminal", "shell", etc.
    Name        string      // Display name: "Install Fish"
    Description string      // Short description
    Status      StepStatus  // Pending, Running, Done, Failed, Skipped
    Progress    float64     // 0.0 - 1.0
    Error       error       // Error if failed
    Interactive bool        // Needs terminal control (sudo, chsh)
}

Pattern 2: Step Registration in SetupInstallSteps

Steps MUST be registered in SetupInstallSteps() in model.go:

func (m *Model) SetupInstallSteps() {
    m.Steps = []InstallStep{}

    // Conditional step based on user choice
    if m.Choices.SomeChoice {
        m.Steps = append(m.Steps, InstallStep{
            ID:          "newstep",
            Name:        "Install Something",
            Description: "Description here",
            Status:      StatusPending,
            Interactive: false, // true if needs sudo/password
        })
    }
}

Pattern 3: Step Execution in executeStep

All step logic goes in installer.go:

func executeStep(stepID string, m *Model) error {
    switch stepID {
    case "newstep":
        return stepNewStep(m)
    // ... other cases
    default:
        return fmt.Errorf("unknown step: %s", stepID)
    }
}

func stepNewStep(m *Model) error {
    stepID := "newstep"

    SendLog(stepID, "Starting installation...")

    // Check if already installed
    if system.CommandExists("newtool") {
        SendLog(stepID, "Already installed, skipping...")
        return nil
    }

    // Install based on OS
    var result *system.ExecResult
    if m.SystemInfo.IsTermux {
        result = system.RunPkgInstall("newtool", nil, func(line string) {
            SendLog(stepID, line)
        })
    } else {
        result = system.RunBrewWithLogs("install newtool", nil, func(line string) {
            SendLog(stepID, line)
        })
    }

    if result.Error != nil {
        return wrapStepError("newstep", "Install NewTool",
            "Failed to install NewTool",
            result.Error)
    }

    SendLog(stepID, "✓ NewTool installed")
    return nil
}