Coding standards tell p0 how your team writes code — capturing your style guides, architectural patterns, and conventions. When configured, p0 uses these standards to write code that matches your team’s practices and to review existing code for consistency.
How standards work
Standards are instructions for the AI that influence how p0:
- Writes new code and features
- Reviews and refactors existing code
- Suggests improvements and best practices
- Generates tests and documentation
Standards are stored per workspace, so each project can have its own conventions. When you switch workspaces, p0 automatically applies the appropriate standards.
Standard categories
p0 organizes coding standards into eight categories to provide targeted guidance:
Global
Applies to all code across your project. Use this for universal conventions like:
- Naming conventions (camelCase, PascalCase, snake_case)
- File organization and structure
- Error handling patterns
- Logging and monitoring practices
Frontend
UI and client-side patterns for web applications:
- Component structure (React, Vue, Svelte, etc.)
- State management patterns (Redux, Zustand, Pinia)
- CSS methodologies (BEM, CSS Modules, Tailwind)
- Accessibility requirements (ARIA, keyboard navigation)
Backend
Server-side and API patterns:
- API design (REST, GraphQL, gRPC)
- Database interaction patterns (ORMs, query builders)
- Authentication and authorization approaches
- Middleware and request handling
Business
Domain logic and business rules:
- Domain model conventions
- Business process workflows
- Validation rules and constraints
- Integration patterns with external systems
Mobile
Mobile-specific patterns and conventions:
- Platform-specific guidelines (iOS, Android, React Native)
- Navigation patterns
- Offline-first strategies
- Performance optimization techniques
Data
Data science and machine learning patterns:
- Data pipeline conventions
- Model training and evaluation practices
- Feature engineering approaches
- Notebook organization and documentation
DevOps
Infrastructure and CI/CD patterns:
- Deployment strategies
- Container and orchestration conventions
- Infrastructure as code patterns
- Monitoring and observability practices
Security
Security best practices:
- Input validation and sanitization
- Authentication and session management
- Secrets management
- Security testing requirements
Setting up standards
There are several ways to establish coding standards in your workspace:
From templates
When creating a workspace, select a template that includes pre-configured standards for common tech stacks (React, Next.js, Python/FastAPI, etc.).
Generate with AI
Use the /create-standards command to have p0 analyze your existing codebase and generate standards based on observed patterns.
Manual configuration
Navigate to workspace settings and edit standards directly. Each category has a rich text editor where you can write or paste your team’s guidelines.
Import from documentation
Copy and paste relevant sections from your team’s existing style guides or documentation.
Team sync
When you’re part of a Purple team, coding standards automatically sync across your organization. This ensures:
- All team members use consistent conventions
- New team members get up to speed quickly
- Standards updates propagate to everyone
- Projects maintain consistency across different workspaces
Standards sync happens in the background — no manual intervention required.
Use /review-standards to check existing code against your workspace standards. p0 will identify inconsistencies and suggest improvements to align with your conventions.
Best practices
For effective coding standards:
- Be specific — Instead of “use good naming”, specify “use camelCase for variables, PascalCase for classes”
- Provide examples — Show code examples of correct and incorrect patterns
- Keep them current — Update standards as your team’s practices evolve
- Start small — Begin with critical conventions and expand over time
- Make them discoverable — Reference external documentation URLs for detailed guidelines
