twenty/CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project Overview

Twenty is an open-source CRM built with modern technologies in a monorepo structure. The codebase is organized as an Nx workspace with multiple packages.

Key Commands

Development

# Start development environment (frontend + backend + worker)
yarn start

# Individual package development
npx nx start twenty-front     # Start frontend dev server
npx nx start twenty-server    # Start backend server
npx nx run twenty-server:worker  # Start background worker

Testing

# Preferred: run a single test file (fast)
npx jest path/to/test.test.ts --config=packages/PROJECT/jest.config.mjs

# Run all tests for a package
npx nx test twenty-front      # Frontend unit tests
npx nx test twenty-server     # Backend unit tests
npx nx run twenty-server:test:integration:with-db-reset  # Integration tests with DB reset
# To run an indivual test or a pattern of tests, use the following command:
cd packages/{workspace} && npx jest "pattern or filename"

# Storybook
npx nx storybook:build twenty-front
npx nx storybook:test twenty-front

# When testing the UI end to end, click on "Continue with Email" and use the prefilled credentials.

Code Quality

# Linting (diff with main - fastest, always prefer this)
npx nx lint:diff-with-main twenty-front
npx nx lint:diff-with-main twenty-server
npx nx lint:diff-with-main twenty-front --configuration=fix  # Auto-fix

# Linting (full project - slower, use only when needed)
npx nx lint twenty-front
npx nx lint twenty-server

# Type checking
npx nx typecheck twenty-front
npx nx typecheck twenty-server

# Format code
npx nx fmt twenty-front
npx nx fmt twenty-server

Build

# Build packages (twenty-shared must be built first)
npx nx build twenty-shared
npx nx build twenty-front
npx nx build twenty-server

Database Operations

# Database management
npx nx database:reset twenty-server         # Reset database
npx nx run twenty-server:database:init:prod # Initialize database
npx nx run twenty-server:database:migrate:prod # Run migrations

# Generate migration (replace [name] with kebab-case descriptive name)
npx nx run twenty-server:typeorm migration:generate src/database/typeorm/core/migrations/common/[name] -d src/database/typeorm/core/core.datasource.ts

# Sync metadata
npx nx run twenty-server:command workspace:sync-metadata

GraphQL

# Generate GraphQL types (run after schema changes)
npx nx run twenty-front:graphql:generate
npx nx run twenty-front:graphql:generate --configuration=metadata

Architecture Overview

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React 18, TypeScript, Jotai (state management), Linaria (styling), Vite
• Backend: NestJS, TypeORM, PostgreSQL, Redis, GraphQL (with GraphQL Yoga)
• Monorepo: Nx workspace managed with Yarn 4

Package Structure

packages/
├── twenty-front/          # React frontend application
├── twenty-server/         # NestJS backend API
├── twenty-ui/             # Shared UI components library
├── twenty-shared/         # Common types and utilities
├── twenty-emails/         # Email templates with React Email
├── twenty-website/        # Next.js documentation website
├── twenty-zapier/         # Zapier integration
└── twenty-e2e-testing/    # Playwright E2E tests

Key Development Principles

• Functional components only (no class components)
• Named exports only (no default exports)
• Types over interfaces (except when extending third-party interfaces)
• String literals over enums (except for GraphQL enums)
• No 'any' type allowed — strict TypeScript enforced
• Event handlers preferred over useEffect for state updates
• Props down, events up — unidirectional data flow
• Composition over inheritance
• No abbreviations in variable names (user not u, fieldMetadata not fm)

Naming Conventions

• Variables/functions: camelCase
• Constants: SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE
• Types/Classes: PascalCase (suffix component props with Props, e.g. ButtonProps)
• Files/directories: kebab-case with descriptive suffixes (.component.tsx, .service.ts, .entity.ts, .dto.ts, .module.ts)
• TypeScript generics: descriptive names (TData not T)

File Structure

• Components under 300 lines, services under 500 lines
• Components in their own directories with tests and stories
• Use index.ts barrel exports for clean imports
• Import order: external libraries first, then internal (@/), then relative

Comments

• Use short-form comments (//), not JSDoc blocks
• Explain WHY (business logic), not WHAT
• Do not comment obvious code
• Multi-line comments use multiple // lines, not /** */

State Management

• Jotai for global state: atoms for primitive state, selectors for derived state, atom families for dynamic collections
• Component-specific state with React hooks (useState, useReducer for complex logic)
• GraphQL cache managed by Apollo Client
• Use functional state updates: setState(prev => prev + 1)

Backend Architecture

• NestJS modules for feature organization
• TypeORM for database ORM with PostgreSQL
• GraphQL API with code-first approach
• Redis for caching and session management
• BullMQ for background job processing

Database & Migrations

• PostgreSQL as primary database
• Redis for caching and sessions
• ClickHouse for analytics (when enabled)
• Always generate migrations when changing entity files
• Migration names must be kebab-case (e.g. add-agent-turn-evaluation)
• Include both up and down logic in migrations
• Never delete or rewrite committed migrations

Utility Helpers

Use existing helpers from twenty-shared instead of manual type guards:

• isDefined(), isNonEmptyString(), isNonEmptyArray()

Development Workflow

IMPORTANT: Use Context7 for code generation, setup or configuration steps, or library/API documentation. Automatically use the Context7 MCP tools to resolve library IDs and get library docs without waiting for explicit requests.

Before Making Changes

1. Always run linting (lint:diff-with-main) and type checking after code changes
2. Test changes with relevant test suites (prefer single-file test runs)
3. Ensure database migrations are generated for entity changes
4. Check that GraphQL schema changes are backward compatible
5. Run graphql:generate after any GraphQL schema changes

Code Style Notes

• Use Linaria for styling with zero-runtime CSS-in-JS (styled-components pattern)
• Follow Nx workspace conventions for imports
• Use Lingui for internationalization
• Apply security first, then formatting (sanitize before format)

Testing Strategy

• Test behavior, not implementation — focus on user perspective
• Test pyramid: 70% unit, 20% integration, 10% E2E
• Query by user-visible elements (text, roles, labels) over test IDs
• Use @testing-library/user-event for realistic interactions
• Descriptive test names: "should [behavior] when [condition]"
• Clear mocks between tests with jest.clearAllMocks()

CI Environment (GitHub Actions)

When running in CI, the dev environment is not pre-configured. Dependencies are installed but builds, env files, and databases are not set up.

• Before running tests, builds, lint, type checks, or DB operations, run: bash packages/twenty-utils/setup-dev-env.sh
• Skip the setup script for tasks that only read code — architecture questions, code review, documentation, etc.
• The script is idempotent and safe to run multiple times.

Important Files

• nx.json - Nx workspace configuration with task definitions
• tsconfig.base.json - Base TypeScript configuration
• package.json - Root package with workspace definitions
• .cursor/rules/ - Detailed development guidelines and best practices