Plutonium Development Guide

Read this first when working on a Plutonium application.

Core Rules

1. Always use generators - Never manually create resources, packages, or portals
2. Check relevant skills first - Each concept has a dedicated skill with details
3. Definitions over controllers - UI customization belongs in definitions, not controllers
4. Policies for authorization - All permission logic goes in policies

Key Generators

rails g pu:res:scaffold Post title:string --dest=main_app    # Create resource
rails g pu:res:conn Post --dest=admin_portal                 # Connect to portal
rails g pu:pkg:package blogging                              # Create feature package
rails g pu:pkg:portal admin_portal                           # Create portal

Always specify --dest to avoid interactive prompts.

Resource Architecture

A resource has four layers:

| Layer | Purpose | Customize when... | |-------|---------|-------------------| | Model | Data, validations, associations | Adding business logic | | Definition | UI - fields, actions, filters | Changing how things look/behave | | Policy | Authorization - who can do what | Restricting access | | Controller | Request handling | Rarely - use hooks if needed |

Skill Reference

| Topic | Skill | |-------|-------| | Creating resources | plutonium-create-resource | | Connecting to portals | plutonium-connect-resource | | Field configuration | plutonium-definition-fields | | Actions & interactions | plutonium-definition-actions | | Search, filters, scopes | plutonium-definition-query | | Authorization | plutonium-policy | | Custom views | plutonium-views | | Custom forms | plutonium-forms | | Nested resources | plutonium-nested-resources | | Packages & portals | plutonium-package, plutonium-portal | | Authentication | plutonium-rodauth |