<essential_principles>

AdonisJS 6 Principles

TypeScript-first - Every request, service, and model is typed. Prefer explicit types over any.

1. Thin Controllers, Focused Services

Controllers orchestrate. Business logic lives in services or domain modules.

// app/controllers/users_controller.ts
import type { HttpContext } from "@adonisjs/core/http";
import CreateUserService from "#services/users/create_user_service";

export default class UsersController {
  async store({ request, response }: HttpContext) {
    const payload = await request.validateUsing(CreateUserService.validator);
    const user = await new CreateUserService().handle(payload);
    return response.created({ data: user });
  }
}

2. Validate Every Input with VineJS

Never trust request data. Validate on entry.

// app/validators/create_user.ts
import vine from "@vinejs/vine";

export const createUserValidator = vine.compile(
  vine.object({
    email: vine.string().email(),
    fullName: vine.string().minLength(2).maxLength(120),
    password: vine.string().minLength(8),
  }),
);

3. Lucid Models Own Persistence

Use models for persistence and relationships. Keep queries in one place.

// app/models/user.ts
import { BaseModel, column } from "@adonisjs/lucid/orm";

export default class User extends BaseModel {
  @column({ isPrimary: true })
  declare id: number;

  @column()
  declare email: string;
}

4. Middleware for Cross-Cutting Concerns

Authentication, tenant scoping, and rate limiting belong in middleware.

// app/middleware/auth_middleware.ts
import type { HttpContext } from "@adonisjs/core/http";
import type { NextFn } from "@adonisjs/core/types/http";

export default class AuthMiddleware {
  async handle(ctx: HttpContext, next: NextFn) {
    await ctx.auth.check();
    return next();
  }
}

</essential_principles>

1. Build a new feature/endpoint
2. Debug an existing issue
3. Write/run tests
4. Optimize performance
5. Refactor code
6. Something else

Then read the matching workflow from workflows/ and follow it. </intake>

<verification_loop>

After Every Change

# 1. Type check
pnpm typecheck

# 2. Run tests
node ace test tests/functional/changed.spec.ts

# 3. Lint
pnpm lint

Report: "Types: OK | Tests: X pass | Lint: clean" </verification_loop>

<reference_index>

Domain Knowledge

All in references/:

Architecture: architecture.md Models: models.md Controllers: controllers.md Serialization (DTOs): serialization.md Validations: validations-callbacks.md Background Jobs: background-jobs.md Performance: performance.md Testing: testing.md Multi-Tenant: multi-tenant.md Anti-Patterns: anti-patterns.md </reference_index>

<workflows_index>

Workflows

All in workflows/: