Add modernization planning for developer utility

[Copilot]

Repository analysis requested for modernizing check-engine as a developer utility for validating local development environments.

Planning Document Created

MODERNIZATION_PLAN.md (~14KB) - Focused modernization roadmap for check-engine as a CLI utility with foundation-first phasing

What check-engine Is

• Command-line utility developers run manually or in scripts/workflows
• Validates that required tools are installed with correct versions
• Runs on local development machines or in CI/CD pipelines
• Helps teams maintain consistent development environments

What check-engine Is NOT

• Not a cloud service or deployed application
• Not a containerized service to be shipped
• Not a Kubernetes workload
• Not a SaaS offering

Proper Scope

The plan focuses on:

1. Modernizing the utility itself - Update Node.js (>=18), fix security vulnerabilities, modern testing framework, better documentation
2. Adding modern tool validators - Support validating tools like docker, kubectl, helm, aws CLI, terraform, bun, volta so developers can check their local machines are set up correctly
3. Improving developer experience - Better output formats, TypeScript support, pre-commit hooks, CI/CD integration

Phasing Strategy

Foundation First, Features Second - All modernization, dev productivity improvements, tooling, testing, TypeScript conversion, and API improvements happen BEFORE adding new validators and feature enhancements.

Phases 1-4: Foundation & Modernization (Weeks 1-8)

• Phase 1: Foundation - Security, dependencies, documentation
• Phase 2: Testing Modernization - Migrate to Vitest/Jest, establish coverage
• Phase 3: Code Quality & Tooling - ESLint 9, Prettier, CI/CD, TypeScript
• Phase 4: API Modernization - Async/await, ESM, better config, output formats

Phases 5-6: Features & Extensibility (Weeks 9+)

• Phase 5: New Validators & Features - Docker, kubectl, cloud CLIs, etc.
• Phase 6: Extensibility - Plugin system for community validators

This approach ensures the codebase is stable and well-tested before adding new features, making refactoring easier and minimizing risk.

Current State

• Node.js >=10 (outdated), tape testing, 2 security vulnerabilities
• No modern documentation (CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, SECURITY)
• Limited modern tool support (no docker, kubectl, cloud CLI validators)

Note

Planning only—no code changes. Repository remains in working state. Implementation begins after review and approval.

Original prompt

This repo has not been updtated in a while and uses older technologies. I would like to modernize it with that latest tools and frameworks, support more modern tooling with containers, docs, kube, etc. please take a look at this repo and make reccomendations, and comprehensive plan. put this imformation in new MD files in the re for my analysis. make reccoemdnations, look at modern practicesa nd tools that this tool could use.

no need to do actual work, we ate just planning at this time.

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[mohlsen]

@copilot i think the planning went a bit to far. This is a utility that developers can manually run, or include in scrips or workflows to validate their environment.

• there is no need for a cloud deployment strategy
• there is no need for this package to be shipped with containers.
• any comments about containers or kube, would be to validate the a development machine is setup up correctly to run their services in these environments.

[Copilot]

@copilot i think the planning went a bit to far. This is a utility that developers can manually run, or include in scrips or workflows to validate their environment.

• there is no need for a clou...

You're absolutely right - I misunderstood the scope. Fixed in commit 4303f38.

Changes made:

• Removed all cloud deployment and containerization strategy docs
• Created single focused MODERNIZATION_PLAN.md (14KB vs previous 120KB)
• Correctly scoped to check-engine as a developer utility

New focus:

• Modernizing the tool itself (Node 18+, testing, security)
• Adding validators for modern dev tools (docker, kubectl, aws, terraform, etc.) so developers can validate their local machines are set up correctly
• Supporting CI/CD pipeline usage
• NOT about deploying check-engine to the cloud

The plan now emphasizes adding validators for container/cloud tools (like docker, kubectl, helm, aws CLI) to help developers validate their environment is ready for container/cloud development - not shipping check-engine itself as a container.

[mohlsen]

@copilot i like the plan but not the order. lets do all the modeernization, improvements for dev productivity, tooling, testing, typescript conversion, api improvements, etc BEFORE we add new validations and enhancements features. I would like to have a good foundation in place, get it all working for existing validators, then start thinking about what enhancements to make.

please reevaluate and update the plane

[Copilot]

@copilot i like the plan but not the order. lets do all the modeernization, improvements for dev productivity, tooling, testing, typescript conversion, api improvements, etc BEFORE we add new validat...

Updated in commit 568846a. The plan now follows a foundation-first approach:

Phases 1-4 (Weeks 1-8): Complete ALL modernization first

• Phase 1: Foundation (security, deps, docs)
• Phase 2: Testing (Vitest/Jest migration, coverage)
• Phase 3: Tooling (ESLint 9, Prettier, TypeScript, CI/CD)
• Phase 4: API (async/await, ESM, better config, output formats)

Phases 5-6 (Weeks 9+): Add features after foundation is solid

• Phase 5: New validators (docker, kubectl, cloud CLIs, etc.)
• Phase 6: Plugin system

This ensures existing validators are working great with modern tooling and tests before adding any new ones.