Development Setup

Set up an optimal development environment for working with Amplifier. This section covers IDE configuration, debugging tools, testing workflows, and developer productivity tips. Get your local environment tuned for efficient Amplifier development.

Section Contents

Page Description
CLI Tools Essential command-line utilities
Shadow Workspace Isolated testing environments
Remote Development Working with remote systems
Debugging Troubleshooting and debugging workflows

Quick Tips

  • Use virtual environments - Isolate Amplifier dependencies
  • Enable LSP - Get code intelligence in your editor
  • Set up pre-commit - Catch issues before committing
  • Use session logs - Debug with full conversation traces
  • Test incrementally - Run focused tests during development

Environment Checklist

Before starting development:

  • [ ] Python 3.10+ installed
  • [ ] Virtual environment created
  • [ ] Amplifier installed in editable mode
  • [ ] Editor/IDE configured with Python support
  • [ ] LSP server (Pyright) available
  • [ ] Git configured with hooks
  • [ ] API keys in environment variables
Tool Purpose
uv Fast Python package manager
pyright Type checking and LSP
pytest Test framework
ruff Linting and formatting
VS Code Editor with Python extension

Where to Start

Setting up fresh? Begin with CLI Tools for essential command-line utilities.

Testing locally? Jump to Shadow Workspace for isolated testing environments.

Working remotely? See Remote Development for remote system workflows.

Development Commands

# Install in development mode
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest tests/

# Type check
pyright src/

# Format code
ruff format src/

# Lint
ruff check src/ --fix

Debugging Workflow

  1. Check session logs - ~/.amplifier/sessions/
  2. Use session-analyst - Delegate to specialist agent
  3. Enable verbose mode - More detailed output
  4. Inspect events.jsonl - Raw conversation data

Next Steps

After setting up your environment, start with Quickstart to build your first application, or explore Tools to understand available capabilities.