Local development

EdgeWatch uses a Go backend, SQLite storage, and a React/TypeScript web console. The production binary embeds the console; Node.js is needed for development and builds, but is not included in the production image.

Requirements

The project uses Go 1.27.2 or newer and Node.js 24.16.0 or newer within the Node 24 release line. CI and the container build are pinned to 24.21.0; local version managers can use .node-version.

Use the commands in the repository’s Makefile, package.json, and CI. Read the agent guide for repository conventions and the security policy before security-sensitive changes.

Build the application

From the repository root:

npm ci
npm run build
go build -trimpath -o edgewatch ./cmd/edgewatch

make build installs frontend dependencies and builds the console and binary with version flags. Build the frontend before testing behavior that depends on embedded assets.

Develop the console

npm run dev

Vite serves the console on 127.0.0.1:5173 and proxies /api to a backend on 127.0.0.1:8080. Configure the backend using the deployment configuration. Edit frontend source in src/. Generated assets in internal/webui/dist/ are not committed; preserve its tracked .gitkeep. The generated API types in src/generated/ are committed instead; see Generated API types.

Generated API types

src/generated/api-types.ts declares the TypeScript types of API responses that Go structs write: the console status (GET /api/v1/status), the platform status, the notification status, and scans with their summaries and snapshots. go run ./scripts/gen-api-types writes it from the structs that ResponseTypes in internal/web/api_types.go lists, by reflection on their json tags:

• A field with omitempty or omitzero is optional (?), so a smaller response, such as a viewer’s status, still type-checks.
• A pointer, slice, or map without either option admits null, because encoding/json writes null for a nil value.
• A field of a named struct refers to that struct’s declaration, so every named struct that a listed struct contains must be listed too.

The file is generated but committed source, unlike the build output in internal/webui/dist/. Do not edit it by hand. After changing a listed struct, or adding one to ResponseTypes, run the command from the repository root and commit the result with the consumers that use it:

go run ./scripts/gen-api-types

Import a generated type from src/generated/api-types rather than declaring the same shape again in src/types.ts or src/api.ts. The generator refuses an exported field without a json tag, an embedded field, a type with its own MarshalJSON or MarshalText other than time.Time, and a named struct that is not listed. go test ./internal/web/ checks the tags of every listed struct, and go test ./scripts/gen-api-types/ and CI’s go-checks job fail when the committed file differs from what the command writes.

API routes

apiRoutes in internal/web/permissions.go is the route table of the console API under /api/v1 and the public API under /api/public/v1. Each entry lists a route’s method, its path template, which with the method and the API base is its net/http ServeMux pattern, the capability that it requires, an example path for the tests, and its handler. Nothing else routes a request. internal/web/routes.go registers the entries and runs the gate: an unauthenticated route is served after the browser origin check for a state-changing request; any other console request needs a session, a CSRF token when it changes state, and the entry’s permission, which also holds a session that must enroll TOTP to its own account. The gate resolves the session’s unit store once and hands it to the handler.

To add a route:

• Add an entry with Method, Template, Permission, Mutates, Example, and Handle. A {name} segment matches one path segment, which the handler reads with r.PathValue("name"); a {name...} segment, the last, matches the rest of the path. The adapters in routes.go, such as tenantHandler and sessionTenantIDHandler, pass a handler the session, the unit’s store, or the {id} value.
• Give an action that a query selects on the same method and path its own entry with Query, as DELETE /jobs/{id}?permanent=true has, with its own permission and handler.
• Set TrailingSlash only where the route’s family accepts one trailing slash.
• List a scanner profile route once, under /scanner-profiles. withPathAlias copies it to the /scanner/profiles spelling with the same permission and handler, so the two spellings cannot differ.
• Teach TestIsolationMatrix a new path placeholder, and follow the tenancy rules in the repository’s AGENTS.md.

The route table uses the ServeMux only to find a request’s route, so the ServeMux never redirects or answers 405. A request that no route serves gets 401 without a session, 403 csrf for a mutation without the CSRF token, and otherwise 403 with the permission route; the public API answers it with 404 not_found. go test ./internal/web/ checks that every entry is registered once, has its handler, and is reached by its example; that the table refuses ambiguous patterns; these fail-closed answers; that no other function reads the request path or registers a ServeMux pattern; and that a handler reads only the path values of its template. TestRouteInventoryGateMatrix sends every entry as each role.

Validate changes

Change	Checks
Go code	gofmt on changed files, go vet ./..., go test -race -timeout=25m ./...
A struct that ResponseTypes lists	go run ./scripts/gen-api-types, commit src/generated/, then the console checks
Console code	npm run lint, npm run build, npm run test:coverage
Browser behavior	npm run test:e2e
Database schema	Migration tests and ./scripts/check-schema-docs.sh
Container image or compose.yaml	./scripts/verify-compose-deployment.sh IMAGE and ./scripts/scan-image-vulnerabilities.sh IMAGE PLATFORM on a built image
CI or release workflows	node --test scripts/release-workflow.test.mjs
Documentation website	npm --prefix docs ci, npm --prefix docs run build, browser review

make check verifies Go formatting, runs vet and race tests, checks console types, and runs make security. It does not replace frontend builds, frontend tests, browser tests, or container checks.

Install Chromium before the first browser test:

npx playwright install --with-deps chromium
npm run test:e2e

Application browser tests build and serve the console on 127.0.0.1:4173 and require Go for real-stack tests. Set PLAYWRIGHT_PORT to use another port. An occupied port stops the run. Use PLAYWRIGHT_REUSE_SERVER=1 only for a preview of this checkout that you started yourself.

Work safely

Use controlled listeners for integration scans and scan only authorized targets. Keep runtime configuration, databases, keys, notification URLs, passwords, and authentication tokens out of source control.

Use temporary databases and preserve migration compatibility and tenant isolation. Add regression coverage for changed behavior, using nearby tests as examples. Review the working tree and diffs before committing.

For documentation authoring and Cloudflare Pages setup, read Documentation and hosting.

Run the backend

Create a local configuration from config.example.yaml, keep the listener on 127.0.0.1:8080, and use a private data directory with ownership appropriate to the local process. After building the console and binary:

./edgewatch daemon --config config.yaml

The console development server proxies its API requests to this backend. Scanner executables and privileges must match the configured profiles; see Scanning and profiles and Container runtime hardening.

Compatibility changes

Update the API compatibility guide when response shapes change, and regenerate the API types when a listed struct changes. For database migrations, update Database compatibility and the root SECURITY.md, then run ./scripts/check-schema-docs.sh.