alchemist/CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

What This Project Is

Alchemist is a self-hosted media transcoding pipeline. It scans a media library, analyzes video files for transcoding opportunities, and intelligently encodes them using hardware acceleration (NVIDIA NVENC, Intel QSV, AMD VAAPI/AMF, Apple VideoToolbox) with CPU fallback. It includes a web UI for configuration and monitoring.

Stack: Rust (Axum + SQLite/sqlx + tokio) backend, Astro 5 + React 18 + TypeScript frontend.

Commands

All common tasks are in the justfile — use just as the task runner.

Development

just dev          # Build frontend assets, then start the backend
just run          # Backend only
just web          # Frontend dev server only

Build

just build        # Full production build (frontend first, then Rust binary)
just web-build    # Frontend assets only
just rust-build   # Rust binary only (assumes web/dist exists)

Checks & Linting (mirrors CI exactly)

just check        # All checks: fmt + clippy + typecheck + frontend build
just check-rust   # Rust only (faster)
just check-web    # Frontend only

Tests

just test                      # All Rust tests
just test-filter <pattern>     # Single test by name (e.g., just test-filter stream_rules)
just test-verbose              # All tests with stdout visible
just test-e2e                  # Playwright e2e tests (headless)
just test-e2e-headed           # E2e with browser visible

Integration tests require FFmpeg and FFprobe installed locally.

Database

just db-reset       # Wipe dev database (keeps config)
just db-reset-all   # Wipe database AND config (triggers setup wizard on next run)
just db-shell       # SQLite shell

Architecture

Rust Backend (src/)

The backend is structured around a central AppState (holding SQLite pool, config, broadcast channels) passed to Axum handlers:

• server/ — HTTP layer split into focused modules:
  • mod.rs — AppState, run_server, route registration, and static asset serving
  • auth.rs — Login, logout, session management (Argon2)
  • jobs.rs — Job queue API: list, detail, cancel, restart, priority, batch operations
  • scan.rs — Library scan trigger and status endpoints
  • settings.rs — All config read/write endpoints
  • stats.rs — Aggregate stats, savings, and daily history
  • system.rs — Hardware detection, resource monitor, library health
  • sse.rs — Server-Sent Events stream
  • middleware.rs — Rate limiting and auth middleware
  • wizard.rs — First-run setup API endpoints
• db.rs (~2400 LOC) — SQLite connection pool, all queries, migration runner. Direct sqlx usage; no ORM.
• config.rs (~850 LOC) — TOML config structs for all user-facing settings.
• media/ — The core pipeline:
  • scanner.rs — File discovery (glob patterns, exclusion rules)
  • analyzer.rs — FFprobe-based stream inspection
  • planner.rs — Decision logic for whether/how to transcode
  • pipeline.rs — Orchestrates scan → analyze → plan → execute
  • processor.rs — Job queue controller (concurrency, pausing, draining)
  • ffmpeg/ — FFmpeg command builder and progress parser, with platform-specific encoder modules
• orchestrator.rs — Spawns and monitors FFmpeg processes, streams progress back via channels
• system/ — Hardware detection (hardware.rs), file watcher (watcher.rs), library scanner (scanner.rs)
• scheduler.rs — Off-peak cron scheduling
• notifications.rs — Discord, Gotify, Webhook integrations
• wizard.rs — First-run setup flow

Frontend (web/src/)

Astro pages with React islands. UI reflects backend state via Server-Sent Events (SSE) — avoid optimistic UI unless reconciled with backend truth.

Database Schema

Migrations in migrations/ are additive only — never rename or drop columns. Databases from v0.2.5+ must remain usable. When adding schema: add columns with defaults or nullable, or add new tables.

Key Design Constraints

From DESIGN_PHILOSOPHY.md — these are binding:

• Never overwrite user media by default. Always prefer reversible actions.
• Backwards compatibility: DBs from v0.2.5+ must work with all future versions.
• Schema changes are additive only — no renames, no drops.
• No data loss on failure — fail safe, not fail open.
• All core features must work on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
• Deterministic behavior — no clever heuristics; explicit error handling over implicit fallbacks.
• If a change risks data loss or breaks older data: do not merge it.

Environment Variables

ALCHEMIST_CONFIG_PATH   # Config file path (default: ~/.config/alchemist/config.toml)
ALCHEMIST_DB_PATH       # Database path (default: ~/.config/alchemist/alchemist.db)
ALCHEMIST_CONFIG_MUTABLE # Allow runtime config changes (default: true)
RUST_LOG                # Log level (e.g., info, alchemist=debug)

Release Process

just update <VERSION>   # Validates, runs tests, bumps version everywhere, commits, tags, pushes

CI runs on GitHub Actions: rust-check, rust-test, frontend-check (see .github/workflows/ci.yml). Releases build for Linux x86_64/ARM64, Windows x86_64, macOS Intel/Apple Silicon, and Docker (linux/amd64 + linux/arm64).