Build your own

The New extension wizard turns a feature you built, or a new idea, into a .corvid file. Then Verify… test-builds the file on a clean copy of Corvid. Only a verified extension can be shared.

Package a feature with the wizard#

The wizard is a guided chat with a packaging agent. It only produces text. It never installs, builds, deploys or shares anything.

1. In the Extensions tab, click New extension.
2. Check Author name in the file. It defaults to your board name. Nothing from this PC is added.

3. Pick how to start:

   • From something I built: pick one or a few related features you merged on this Corvid. Corvid lists your merged task branches.
   • From scratch: answer a short interview about a new idea.
4. Click Start the packaging agent. The agent shows on the Agents page while it works.
5. Read the outline the agent proposes. Click Approve the outline and write it, or say what to change.
6. Read the draft and the problems listed under it. Fix every problem in the chat.
7. Click Save as extension. The extension appears in the list as Not installed yet.

The packaging agent can read Corvid's source with read-only tools. It cannot read secrets, connections or Corvid's data folder. For From something I built, it reads the task notes, board posts and diff privately, to understand what the feature does.

Corvid sets the facts it knows itself: the id, the version, the author, the Corvid version it was built on, and the measured effort. It also works out the tier and capabilities from the diff.

To change an extension you created, click Edit on its page. The wizard opens on its text and saves a new version.

Corvid's checks on every draft#

A draft can be saved only when it passes every check:

• the same text rules as an import, so patches, diffs and too much code are refused
• a leak check for local paths, your account and PC names, project names, connection names and hosts, and things that look like keys, tokens or passwords
• wording that steers the build agent beyond the build, such as "don't tell the user" or "skip the checks"
• the declared tier against what the diff touched
• the instant text checks of the safety scan

The leak check finds common patterns. It does not find everything. Read the full text before you save it.

Write a good extension#

• Describe behaviour, not code. Say what the user sees and can do, and what data it stores. Do not describe how your code did it.
• Write a seed prompt that builds anywhere. Name parts of Corvid by what they do, such as "the board view", not by file names.
• Leave out everything of yours. No paths, machine or account names, project names, hosts, connections or keys.
• Write acceptance checks a stranger can run. Number them. Make each one concrete, like "Pinning four messages shows only the last three, newest first". Add a restart check when the feature stores data.
• Declare an honest tier and capabilities. List every core area, package and host. A tier lower than the change needs is refused.
• Describe only the build. Say nothing about what to tell or hide from the user, or about the scan, the checks or approvals.
• Use a socket when one fits. See Sockets and themes.

Verify#

Verify… test-builds the extension from its text on a clean, throwaway copy of Corvid. It uses the same rules, deny rules, diff scan and checks as an install. It is never merged. Your main, your installed extensions and your running Corvid do not change.

Before you start, the extension needs a finished scan. A tier 3 extension also needs its tier 3 confirmation.

1. On the extension's page, open Verify and share and click Verify….
2. Under The clean copy, pick where the build starts. The default is the extension's built-on commit. On your own Corvid, where that commit already has your feature, Corvid uses the commit just before your feature was merged and says so.
3. Read the estimate and click Confirm and verify.
4. Wait for the result. Corvid removes the throwaway branch and folder afterwards and keeps the report.

A verify passes when every acceptance check passed, no test failed, the typecheck passed, and the diff matches the declared capabilities. A tier 1 extension must also keep the tier 1 shape. Anything else fails, with every reason listed. For an extension you created, Fix in Edit opens the wizard with the findings.

A pass counts only for this exact text. Any edit makes a new version that needs a new verify.

Share#

Sharing saves the extension's text as a file, or copies it. Nothing is uploaded, and Corvid sends no data anywhere.

1. On a verified extension's page, click Share…. The dialog shows a summary, the final leak check and the full text.
2. If the leak check found something, the better fix is Edit, then verify again. To share the file as it is, tick I've read these and the file is fine to share as it is.
3. Click Save as .corvid… and pick a place, or click Copy as text.

The shared file carries the real effort from the verify and a verification block with the commit, the date and the Corvid version.

When someone imports your file, their Corvid shows the verification block as your claim. Their Corvid still runs the full scan, estimate, build and review.

Licence#

A .corvid file is its author's own text, and the author decides how to share it. The feature it builds is a change to Corvid, so it falls under Corvid's licence. The LICENSE file in the repository is what counts.