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VS Code Tasks Safety Guide

🛡️ Prerequisite Safety System

All ReViewPoint VS Code tasks now include automatic prerequisite checking to prevent failures and provide helpful guidance.

📋 Tasks with Built-in Safety Checks

Setup & Prerequisites

Task Name Safety Checks What It Installs
Setup Fresh Windows Machine None (installs everything) Chocolatey, Git, Node.js, pnpm, Python, pipx, Hatch
Quick Prerequisites Check Verifies all tools Nothing (verification only)
Validate Complete Setup Full system validation Dependencies + functionality test

Development Tasks

Task Name Checks For Stops If Missing Error Message
Start Backend Node.js ✅ "❌ Node.js not found! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"
Start Frontend pnpm ✅ "❌ pnpm not found! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"
Start Both - SQLite pnpm ✅ "❌ pnpm not found! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"
Start Both - PostgreSQL pnpm ✅ "❌ pnpm not found! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"

Testing Tasks

Task Name Checks For Stops If Missing Error Message
Run All Backend Tests Node.js ✅ "❌ Node.js not found! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"
Run Fast Backend Tests Node.js ✅ "❌ Node.js not found! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"
Install Dependencies pnpm, hatch ✅ "❌ Prerequisites missing! Run 'Setup Fresh Windows Machine' task first"

🚦 Safety Flow

Successful Flow:

1. User runs task → 2. Prerequisites check passes → 3. ✅ Task executes normally

Missing Prerequisites Flow:

1. User runs task → 2. Prerequisites check fails → 3. ❌ Clear error message → 4. Guidance to installer

💡 Error Messages & Guidance

Standard Error Format:

❌ [Tool] not found! Run "Setup Fresh Windows Machine" task first
💡 Or run: .\scripts\install-prerequisites.ps1

Success Message Format:

✅ Prerequisites OK, starting [service]...

🔧 How to Fix Missing Prerequisites

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
  2. Type "Tasks: Run Task"
  3. Select "ReViewPoint: Setup Fresh Windows Machine"
  4. Wait for completion
  5. Try your original task again

Method 2: Command Line

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/install-prerequisites.ps1

Method 3: Quick Check

Run "ReViewPoint: Quick Prerequisites Check" to verify what's installed.

🎯 Benefits for Academic Grading

For Professors:

  • Zero surprises: Clear list of what gets installed before proceeding
  • No silent failures: Tasks stop with helpful messages if tools are missing
  • One-click setup: Single task installs everything needed
  • Complete transparency: Every tool installation is clearly documented

For Students:

  • Foolproof setup: Impossible to accidentally skip prerequisites
  • Helpful guidance: Clear error messages with exact fix instructions
  • Safety first: No task will fail mysteriously due to missing tools

🔍 Verification Commands

Manual Verification:

# Check each tool individually
git --version
node --version
pnpm --version
python --version
hatch --version
docker --version  # Optional

Automated Verification:

Use the "ReViewPoint: Validate Complete Setup" task for comprehensive validation.

📝 Task Descriptions

All task descriptions now include safety indicators:

  • ✅ Checks prerequisites → (indicates safety checking enabled)
  • 🚀 FIRST TIME SETUP: (indicates tool installation)
  • ✅ Verify (indicates verification only)
  • 🧪 Complete validation (indicates comprehensive testing)

This safety system ensures 100% reliability for academic grading scenarios where the project must work on any fresh Windows machine!