hass.tibber_prices/docs/development

Developer Documentation

This section contains documentation for contributors and maintainers of the Tibber Prices integration.

📚 Developer Guides

• Setup - DevContainer, environment setup, and dependencies
• Architecture - Code structure, patterns, and conventions
• Period Calculation Theory - Mathematical foundations, Flex/Distance interaction, Relaxation strategy
• Timer Architecture - Timer system, scheduling, coordination (3 independent timers)
• Caching Strategy - Cache layers, invalidation, debugging
• Testing - How to run tests and write new test cases
• Release Management - Release workflow and versioning process
• Coding Guidelines - Style guide, linting, and best practices
• Refactoring Guide - How to plan and execute major refactorings

🤖 AI Documentation

The main AI/Copilot documentation is in AGENTS.md. This file serves as long-term memory for AI assistants and contains:

• Detailed architectural patterns
• Code quality rules and conventions
• Development workflow guidance
• Common pitfalls and anti-patterns
• Project-specific patterns and utilities

Important: When proposing changes to patterns or conventions, always update AGENTS.md to keep AI guidance consistent.

AI-Assisted Development

This integration is developed with extensive AI assistance (GitHub Copilot, Claude, and other AI tools). The AI handles:

• Pattern Recognition: Understanding and applying Home Assistant best practices
• Code Generation: Implementing features with proper type hints, error handling, and documentation
• Refactoring: Maintaining consistency across the codebase during structural changes
• Translation Management: Keeping 5 language files synchronized
• Documentation: Generating and maintaining comprehensive documentation

Quality Assurance:

• Automated linting with Ruff (120-char line length, max complexity 25)
• Home Assistant's type checking and validation
• Real-world testing in development environment
• Code review by maintainer before merging

Benefits:

• Rapid feature development while maintaining quality
• Consistent code patterns across all modules
• Comprehensive documentation maintained alongside code
• Quick bug fixes with proper understanding of context

Limitations:

• AI may occasionally miss edge cases or subtle bugs
• Some complex Home Assistant patterns may need human review
• Translation quality depends on AI's understanding of target language
• User feedback is crucial for discovering real-world issues

If you're working with AI tools on this project, the AGENTS.md file provides the context and patterns that ensure consistency.

🚀 Quick Start for Contributors

1. Fork and clone the repository
2. Open in DevContainer (VS Code: "Reopen in Container")
3. Run setup: ./scripts/setup/setup (happens automatically via postCreateCommand)
4. Start development environment: ./scripts/develop
5. Make your changes following the Coding Guidelines
6. Run linting: ./scripts/lint
7. Validate integration: ./scripts/release/hassfest
8. Test your changes in the running Home Assistant instance
9. Commit using Conventional Commits format
10. Open a Pull Request with clear description

🛠️ Development Tools

The project includes several helper scripts in ./scripts/:

• bootstrap - Initial setup of dependencies
• develop - Start Home Assistant in debug mode (auto-cleans .egg-info)
• clean - Remove build artifacts and caches
• lint - Auto-fix code issues with ruff
• lint-check - Check code without modifications (CI mode)
• hassfest - Validate integration structure (JSON, Python syntax, required files)
• setup - Install development tools (git-cliff, @github/copilot)
• prepare-release - Prepare a new release (bump version, create tag)
• generate-release-notes - Generate release notes from commits

📦 Project Structure

custom_components/tibber_prices/
├── __init__.py           # Integration setup
├── coordinator.py        # Data update coordinator with caching
├── api.py               # Tibber GraphQL API client
├── price_utils.py       # Price enrichment functions
├── average_utils.py     # Average calculation utilities
├── sensor/              # Sensor platform (package)
│   ├── __init__.py      #   Platform setup
│   ├── core.py          #   TibberPricesSensor class
│   ├── definitions.py   #   Entity descriptions
│   ├── helpers.py       #   Pure helper functions
│   └── attributes.py    #   Attribute builders
├── binary_sensor.py     # Binary sensor platform
├── entity_utils/        # Shared entity helpers
│   ├── icons.py         #   Icon mapping logic
│   ├── colors.py        #   Color mapping logic
│   └── attributes.py    #   Common attribute builders
├── services.py          # Custom services
├── config_flow.py       # UI configuration flow
├── const.py             # Constants and helpers
├── translations/        # Standard HA translations
└── custom_translations/ # Extended translations (descriptions)

🔍 Key Concepts

DataUpdateCoordinator Pattern:

• Centralized data fetching and caching
• Automatic entity updates on data changes
• Persistent storage via Store
• Quarter-hour boundary refresh scheduling

Price Data Enrichment:

• Raw API data is enriched with statistical analysis
• Trailing/leading 24h averages calculated per interval
• Price differences and ratings added
• All via pure functions in price_utils.py

Translation System:

• Dual system: /translations/ (HA schema) + /custom_translations/ (extended)
• Both must stay in sync across all languages (de, en, nb, nl, sv)
• Async loading at integration setup

🧪 Testing

# Validate integration structure
./scripts/release/hassfest

# Run all tests
pytest tests/

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_coordinator.py

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=custom_components.tibber_prices tests/

📝 Documentation Standards

• User-facing docs go in docs/user/
• Developer docs go in docs/development/
• AI guidance goes in AGENTS.md
• Use clear examples and code snippets
• Keep docs up-to-date with code changes

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed contribution guidelines, code of conduct, and pull request process.

📄 License

This project is licensed under LICENSE.

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Note: This documentation is for developers. End users should refer to the User Documentation.