Skip to content

docs: agree on public API changes before implementing them #577

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Open
turnipdabeets wants to merge 2 commits into
base: main
Choose a base branch
from
+18 −0
Open

docs: agree on public API changes before implementing them #577

Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
2 commits
Select commit Hold shift + click to select a range
4237663
docs: agree on public API changes before implementing them
turnipdabeets Sep 11, 2026
993ccb6
docs: point agents to RELEASING.md and keep guidance in one place
turnipdabeets Sep 11, 2026
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
6 changes: 6 additions & 0 deletions AGENTS.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
# Agent Instructions

- Read and follow [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) before contributing to the SDK. It covers local checks, build checks, and testing against local native SDKs.
- Read and follow [RELEASING.md](./RELEASING.md) when adding changesets or working on publishing.
- Before adding or changing public API, follow "Public API changes" in [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md): the API shape must be agreed on the issue first. For SDK design guidance, read https://posthog.com/handbook/engineering/sdks/guidelines.md.
- Keep shared development guidance in `CONTRIBUTING.md` and release guidance in `RELEASING.md` rather than duplicating it here.
12 changes: 12 additions & 0 deletions CONTRIBUTING.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -77,3 +77,15 @@ Gradle substitutes `com.posthog:posthog(-android)` with the local source regardl
of the version floor, so no publishing or `mavenLocal()` is needed. As a fallback you
can still `make dryRelease` in `posthog-android` (add `-PandroidVersion=<floor>` so the
published version satisfies the floor) and add `mavenLocal()` to the repositories.

## Public API changes

Public API is hard to change once it ships, so agree on it before writing the implementation. Our [SDK guidelines](https://posthog.com/handbook/engineering/sdks/guidelines) explain how we design it.

- If you need something the SDK doesn't support and it would add or change a public option, method, or type, open an issue describing your use case first. At this stage, context is more useful to us than code.
- Wait for a maintainer to agree on the API shape on the issue before implementing it.
- Check first whether an existing option or hook, such as `beforeSend`, already covers the use case. We avoid offering two ways to do the same thing.
- If a reviewer suggests a different API on your PR, confirm it with them before re-implementing. Treat it as a question, not an instruction.
- AI agents: stop and ask before implementing a public API change that hasn't been agreed on the issue.

`make updateApiDart` regenerates `api/posthog_flutter.api.json`, and CI runs `make checkApiDart` to catch an outdated snapshot. A diff in that file means your change touches public API.