guide Command

Overview

Display the full ABAP development guide bundled with the abapgit-agent package. The guide covers the complete development workflow, ABAP coding guidelines, object naming conventions, unit testing patterns, and debugging guide.

This command reads directly from the installed npm package — always up-to-date with the installed version, no manual copying or updating required.

Command

# Print the full guide to stdout
abapgit-agent guide

# Print condensed AI-only instructions (for AI agents — smaller context footprint)
abapgit-agent guide --ai

# Print only the path to the guide file
abapgit-agent guide --path

# Output as JSON
abapgit-agent guide --json

# Migrate repo from locally-copied guidelines to bundled fallback
abapgit-agent guide --migrate

# Preview migration without making changes
abapgit-agent guide --migrate --dry-run

# Migrate without confirmation prompt
abapgit-agent guide --migrate --yes

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`--ai`	No	Output condensed AI-only instructions (the `<!-- AI-CONDENSED-START -->` block from `abap/CLAUDE.md`) — smaller context footprint for AI agents
`--path`	No	Print only the absolute path to the bundled `abap/CLAUDE.md` file
`--json`	No	Output as JSON `{ "path": "...", "content": "..." }`
`--migrate`	No	Migrate repo from locally-copied guidelines to bundled fallback
`--dry-run`	No	(with `--migrate`) Preview changes without applying them
`--yes` / `-y`	No	(with `--migrate`) Skip confirmation prompt

Output

Default (print guide)

Prints the full content of the bundled abap/CLAUDE.md to stdout.

# Claude Code Instructions - Template

This repository uses abapgit-agent for ABAP development...

## Critical Rules
...

`--ai` (condensed AI instructions)

abapgit-agent guide --ai

Prints only the  block from abap/CLAUDE.md — the condensed AI tool guidelines, decision tree, and guidelines index. Significantly smaller than the full guide, making it suitable for AI agents that need to conserve context window space.

# AI Agent Instructions

## Step 1: Read project config before doing anything
...

Use guide --ai in slim CLAUDE.md stubs or AI system prompts where token budget is a concern. Use guide (no flag) when the full workflow prose and code examples are needed.

`--path` (print file path only)

abapgit-agent guide --path

/usr/local/lib/node_modules/abapgit-agent/abap/CLAUDE.md

Useful for reading the file with a pager or passing to other tools:

# Read with pager
abapgit-agent guide | less

# Use path in another command
cat "$(abapgit-agent guide --path)"

`--json` (machine-readable)

abapgit-agent guide --json

{
  "path": "/usr/local/lib/node_modules/abapgit-agent/abap/CLAUDE.md",
  "content": "# Claude Code Instructions - Template\n\n..."
}

`--migrate` (migrate to bundled fallback)

abapgit-agent guide --migrate

🔄 guide --migrate: switch to bundled guidelines

Files to remove (12 standard guideline files):
   guidelines/sql.md
   guidelines/classes.md
   guidelines/exceptions.md
   ... (9 more)

Files to keep (project-specific):
   guidelines/objects.local.md

CLAUDE.md: detected as full guide → will replace with slim stub
   (run 'abapgit-agent guide' to read the full guide on demand)

.github/copilot-instructions.md: detected as full guide → will replace with slim stub
   (Copilot uses the slim stub; full guide available online)

Proceed? [y/N]

After confirming:

🗑️  Removed guidelines/sql.md
🗑️  Removed guidelines/classes.md
...
✅ Replaced CLAUDE.md with slim stub
✅ Replaced .github/copilot-instructions.md with slim stub

✅ Migration complete.
   Standard guidelines are now read from the package automatically.
   Run 'abapgit-agent ref "<pattern>"' or 'abapgit-agent ref --topic <topic>' to search them.

Already clean

abapgit-agent guide --migrate

✅ Already clean — nothing to migrate.
   CLAUDE.md is already the slim stub.
   No standard guideline files found in guidelines/.

Dry run

abapgit-agent guide --migrate --dry-run

Prints the full preview (files to remove, CLAUDE.md action) but makes no changes:

🔄 guide --migrate: switch to bundled guidelines

Files to remove (3 standard guideline files):
   guidelines/sql.md
   guidelines/classes.md
   guidelines/objects.md

ℹ️  Dry run — no changes made.

Migration: What Gets Removed

abapgit-agent init in older versions copied the 18 standard guideline files into the repo and the full abap/CLAUDE.md. These are no longer needed — the ref command now falls back to bundled copies automatically.

--migrate handles the transition:

Item	Action
`guidelines/*.md` matching a bundled filename	Deleted
`guidelines/objects.local.md` (and any `*.local.md`)	Kept — project-specific, never auto-removed
Other non-standard files in `guidelines/`	Kept
`guidelines/` directory	Removed only if completely empty after deletions
`CLAUDE.md` containing the full guide	Replaced with slim stub
`CLAUDE.md` already containing slim stub	Left untouched
`CLAUDE.md` with custom content (no known marker)	Left untouched, warning printed
`.github/copilot-instructions.md` containing the full guide	Replaced with slim stub
`.github/copilot-instructions.md` already containing slim stub	Left untouched
`.github/copilot-instructions.md` with custom content	Left untouched

Error Handling

Error	Message
Guide file not found	`❌ Bundled CLAUDE.md not found. Make sure abapgit-agent is properly installed.`

Use Cases

Read the guide interactively: abapgit-agent guide | less
Reference from CLAUDE.md stub: the slim CLAUDE.md stub in your repo (created by init) directs Claude to run this command before writing ABAP code
Always up-to-date: the guide is always read from the installed package — no need to run init --update
No ABAP connection required: works completely offline
Migrate existing repos: use --migrate to remove locally-copied guideline files from repos initialized with an older version

Examples

# Print full guide
abapgit-agent guide

# Print condensed AI-only instructions
abapgit-agent guide --ai

# Read with pager
abapgit-agent guide | less

# Get path for scripting
abapgit-agent guide --path

# Machine-readable output
abapgit-agent guide --json

# Preview migration (no changes)
abapgit-agent guide --migrate --dry-run

# Migrate interactively
abapgit-agent guide --migrate

# Migrate non-interactively (CI / scripting)
abapgit-agent guide --migrate --yes

How Claude Uses This Command

When your repository has a slim CLAUDE.md stub (created by abapgit-agent init), it instructs Claude to run abapgit-agent guide before writing any ABAP code. This ensures Claude always follows the latest guidelines from the installed package, without requiring stale copies in the repository.

Workflow

New project setup:
  abapgit-agent init
    → Creates slim CLAUDE.md stub
    → Creates guidelines/objects.local.md template

Claude starts working:
  Reads CLAUDE.md stub
    → Runs: abapgit-agent guide
    → Reads full development guide
    → Follows latest workflow and syntax rules

Existing project (older init):
  abapgit-agent guide --migrate
    → Removes locally-copied standard guideline files
    → Replaces full CLAUDE.md with slim stub
    → ref command uses bundled guidelines automatically going forward

Relationship to `ref` Command

Command	Purpose
`abapgit-agent guide`	Full ABAP development guide (workflow, rules, debug)
`abapgit-agent ref --topic sql`	Syntax reference for a specific topic
`abapgit-agent ref "VALUE #("`	Search for a specific pattern

Use guide to understand the development workflow and rules. Use ref to look up specific ABAP syntax and examples.