envr/WINDOWS.md

Windows Compatibility Guide

This document outlines Windows compatibility issues and solutions for the envr project.

Critical Issues

1. Path Handling Bug (MUST FIX)

File: app/env_file.go:209

Issue: Uses path.Join instead of filepath.Join, which won't work correctly on Windows due to different path separators.

Current code:

f.Path = path.Join(newDir, path.Base(f.Path))

Fixed code:

f.Path = filepath.Join(newDir, filepath.Base(f.Path))

External Dependencies

The application relies on external tools that need to be installed separately on Windows:

Required Tools

1. fd - Fast file finder

   • Install via: winget install sharkdp.fd or choco install fd
   • Alternative: scoop install fd

2. git - Version control system

   • Install via: winget install Git.Git or download from git-scm.com
   • Usually already available on most development machines

Minor Compatibility Notes

File Permissions

• Unix file permissions (0755, 0644) are used throughout the codebase
• These are safely ignored on Windows - no changes needed

Editor Configuration

File: cmd/edit_config.go:20-24

Issue: Relies on $EDITOR environment variable which is less common on Windows.

Current behavior: Fails if $EDITOR is not set

Recommended improvement: Add fallback detection for Windows editors:

editor := os.Getenv("EDITOR")
if editor == "" {
    if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
        editor = "notepad.exe"  // or "code.exe" for VS Code
    } else {
        fmt.Println("Error: $EDITOR environment variable is not set")
        return
    }
}

Installation Instructions for Windows

1. Install required dependencies:

   winget install sharkdp.fd
   winget install Git.Git
   

2. Fix the path handling bug in app/env_file.go:209

3. Build and run as normal:

   go build
   .\envr.exe init
   

Testing on Windows

After applying the critical path fix, the core functionality should work correctly on Windows. The application has been designed with cross-platform compatibility in mind, using:

• filepath package for path operations (mostly)
• os.UserHomeDir() for home directory detection
• Standard Go file operations

Summary

• 1 critical bug must be fixed for Windows compatibility
• 2 external tools need to be installed
• 1 minor enhancement recommended for better Windows UX
• Overall architecture is Windows-compatible