# Hints and How-To Guides

## Purpose

This directory contains practical guides, troubleshooting tips, and solutions to common problems encountered in the LLM AnyGate project. These documents help AI assistants and developers avoid known pitfalls and implement features correctly.

## Contents

Store here:
- Step-by-step how-to guides
- Troubleshooting procedures
- Common error solutions
- Performance optimization tips
- Best practices specific to this project
- Workarounds for known issues

## Naming Conventions

- `howto-[action].md` - Step-by-step guides
- `troubleshoot-[issue].md` - Problem-solving guides
- `why-[behavior].md` - Explanations of system behaviors
- `fix-[error].md` - Specific error solutions
- `optimize-[component].md` - Performance tips

## Example Documents

### For LLM AnyGate project:
- `howto-add-new-provider.md` - Steps to integrate a new LLM provider
- `howto-debug-proxy-generation.md` - Debugging LiteLLM config issues
- `troubleshoot-connection-errors.md` - Common API connection problems
- `fix-authentication-failures.md` - Resolving API key issues
- `optimize-request-handling.md` - Performance tuning for gateway
- `why-rate-limiting-occurs.md` - Understanding rate limit behavior

## Document Template

```markdown
# [Action/Issue Title]

## HEADER
- **Purpose**: [What this guide helps with]
- **Status**: [current/outdated/deprecated]
- **Date**: [YYYY-MM-DD]
- **Dependencies**: [Required knowledge or components]
- **Target**: [AI assistants, developers]

## Problem/Goal
[What you're trying to achieve or fix]

## Solution/Steps

1. [First step]
   ```bash
   # Example command
   ```

2. [Second step]
   - Sub-point
   - Sub-point

## Common Issues
- **Issue 1**: [Description and fix]
- **Issue 2**: [Description and fix]

## Verification
[How to verify the solution worked]

## Related
- [Links to related hints or documentation]
```

## Best Practices

1. Include concrete examples and code snippets
2. Test solutions before documenting
3. Update guides when solutions change
4. Cross-reference related hints
5. Include error messages verbatim for searchability
6. Document both what works AND what doesn't work