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CREED The Handbook

The handbook · 2026 Edition

The CREED handbook

The rules for the Wayne State app stack, chapter by chapter. Each chapter states what the ADRs have decided or what WSU's developer standards (2024) already require, and names its undecided points under a "Not decided here" heading.

Thirteen chapters · 174 provisions · MUST 50 · SHOULD 13 · MAY 1

Contents

  1. 1VersionsLatest patches · Base images · Node · Tool minimums4 sections · 4 provisions · MUST NOT 2 · MUST 2Decided
  2. 2DependenciesPrivate packages1 section · 15 provisions · MUST NOT 4 · MUST 6 · SHOULD NOT 1 · SHOULD 3Decided
  3. 3CodePHP style · Reading the code · Source control and documentation · Static analysis · Input and files · Banned patterns · Vue and JavaScript · Security analysis · How it is enforced · Which preset enforces each rule · Not adopted · To be decided · Sources13 sections · 43 provisions · MUST NOT 3 · MUST 6 · SHOULD 2Partly decided
  4. 4Auth12 provisions · MUST 3Partly decided
  5. 5DatabasesWhat the stack supports · Which MySQL lines the policy lists · Grace period · Names, comments and connections · Conventions that keep 5.6 working · Avoid until the server is upgraded · Moving to 8.4 · How the stack checks it · Sources9 sections · 25 provisions · MUST 4 · SHOULD 1 · MAY 1Decided
  6. 6Runtime and headersEnforcement · Headers · Proxy trust · Sessions · Health · Errors in production · Not decided here7 sections · 15 provisions · MUST 2 · SHOULD NOT 1Decided
  7. 7Deploy gateOn Citadel · Elsewhere2 sections · 8 provisionsDecided
  8. 8CI8 provisions · MUST 3 · SHOULD 1Decided
  9. 9AccessibilityTarget · Components · Checks · Not decided here4 sections · 9 provisions · MUST NOT 1 · SHOULD 1Decided
  10. 10Every OS5 provisions · MUST 1Decided
  11. 11Secrets and debuggingCredentials · Errors and debug output · Not decided here3 sections · 8 provisions · MUST NOT 3 · MUST 2Decided
  12. 12ProductionEnvironments · Running safely · Who can reach it3 sections · 17 provisions · MUST NOT 3 · MUST 5 · SHOULD 3Decided
  13. 13Overrides5 provisionsDecided

How to read this book

§3.2
Chapter 3, section 2. Every section number is a link to itself: copy it to cite the rule.
MUST SHOULD MAY
The RFC 2119 key words, set in small capitals so a requirement never hides in a sentence.
(the stack's version policy)
The decision a rule comes from. Rules state what is decided and cite it.
Not yet
"To be decided": the gap is printed, and no rule is stated in its place.

The whole book on one page

For printing, or for your browser's find. Every chapter, in order, from the same Markdown.

Set from handbook/README.md on GitHub, impression 741c4a8. Found a mistake? Fix the Markdown; this page is rebuilt from it.