Developer Onboarding

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

• A new developer is joining the simpler-grants-gov project
• Someone needs to understand the project architecture from scratch
• Setting up a development environment for the first time
• Onboarding to the AI Coding Toolkit

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Environment Setup

Follow setup-checklist.md to get the development environment running:

• Clone the monorepo
• Install dependencies (API + Frontend)
• Configure environment variables
• Set up Cursor IDE with plugins
• Verify MCP servers are working

Step 2: Architecture Tour

Follow architecture-tour.md for a guided walkthrough:

• Understand the monorepo structure
• Learn the API layer architecture (routes → services → database)
• Learn the frontend architecture (pages → components → hooks → services)
• Understand how the forms domain spans both
• Review key ADRs that explain architectural decisions

Step 3: Toolkit Familiarization

• Run /tooling-health-check to verify your setup is complete and all dependencies are installed
• Explore available slash commands (/debug, /refactor, /new-endpoint, etc.)
• Understand how rules auto-activate based on file paths
• Try invoking an agent on a sample task
• Review the MCP tools available

Step 4: First PR

Follow first-pr-guide.md to make a first contribution:

• Pick a good first issue
• Use the appropriate agent to help
• Run the quality gate pipeline
• Submit the PR following team conventions

Conventions and Best Practices

• Start with the setup checklist before anything else
• The architecture tour is designed to be done with Cursor's AI — ask questions as you go
• Use /explain-architecture command at any point to understand specific files
• The first PR should be small and focused — the goal is to learn the workflow, not ship a big feature