Portable Configuration Standards

All configuration-driven setup and workflow behavior must be (a) convention-based and unambiguous, and (b) portable across environments.

Apply this standard: 1) Environment variables: document required env vars with directory-structure-aware guidance and OS-specific commands.

• Example (Linux/macOS):

  export AIDLC_WORKFLOWS=~/dev/aidlc-workflows
  

• Include an equivalent Windows path/command (CMD and/or PowerShell depending on your support policy) and clarify how to set it for the user’s actual directory layout.

2) Config file loading conventions: define deterministic pairing and loading rules.

• For extensions: when scanning extensions/, load only *.opt-in.md at startup; derive the corresponding rules file by convention (strip .opt-in.md).
• Clarify that a directory may contain both opt-in (*.opt-in.md) extensions and always-enforced extensions (no opt-in file), and that both behaviors can coexist.

3) OS-compatible automation: if you prescribe commands for config-dependent behavior (e.g., writing audit timestamps), always provide a Windows CMD variant when PowerShell may be unavailable.

• Keep output in the canonical format required by the spec (e.g., ISO 8601). Example PowerShell timestamp (if allowed):

  Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:sszzz"
  

• Provide a CMD equivalent when PowerShell access is not guaranteed.

This prevents “works on my machine” failures and ensures the workflow’s configuration behavior is predictable and consistent.