# Design Guidelines

Gato-X is designed for extensibility, maintainability, and security. Contributors should follow these principles and patterns to ensure code quality and consistency.

## Core Design Principles

- **Modularity**: Each major feature (attack, enumerate, search, etc.) is implemented as a separate module. Shared logic is factored into utilities and models.
- **Separation of Concerns**: CLI, core logic, data models, and utilities are clearly separated. Avoid mixing CLI parsing with business logic.
- **Extensibility**: New attack/enumeration/search types can be added with minimal changes to existing code. Use abstract base classes or interfaces where appropriate.
- **Testability**: Code should be easy to test. Use dependency injection and avoid hard-coding external dependencies.
- **Security**: All features must be implemented with security in mind. Avoid unsafe code patterns, validate all inputs, and follow responsible disclosure practices.
- **Documentation**: All public classes, methods, and modules must have clear docstrings. Complex logic should be explained with comments.

## Patterns and Best Practices

- **Singletons for Configuration**: Use singleton patterns for configuration management (see `ConfigurationManager`).
- **Factory Pattern**: Used in workflow graph node creation (`workflow_graph/node_factory.py`).
- **Command Pattern**: CLI commands are mapped to handler functions for clarity and extensibility.
- **Mocking and Dependency Injection**: Use mocks in tests and inject dependencies to facilitate testing.
- **Consistent Naming**: Use descriptive, consistent names for files, classes, and functions.
- **Error Handling**: Use exceptions for error cases and provide meaningful error messages to users.

## Code Review Checklist

- [ ] Is the code modular and well-structured?
- [ ] Are all new features covered by tests?
- [ ] Are all public APIs and classes documented?
- [ ] Are security implications considered?
- [ ] Is the code style consistent with the rest of the project?

## Example: Adding a New Attack Module

1. Create a new file in `gatox/attack/` (e.g., `my_attack.py`).
2. Implement the attack logic as a class or function.
3. Add CLI integration in `gatox/cli/attack/` if needed.
4. Write unit tests in `unit_test/test_attack.py`.
5. Document the new feature in the appropriate markdown files.
