René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"agent: never scope prek hooks to specific directories — use types or pass_filenames instead","articleBody":"## What happened\n\nThe `check-comment-keywords` prek hook was configured with `files: ^(src|tests)/`, restricting it to only source and test directories. This was caught in code review.\n\n## Root cause\n\nThe hook was configured based on the literal wording of the issue description (\"scanning all Python files in `src/` and `tests/`\") rather than following the established conventions of existing hooks in the project. Existing hooks like `check-docstring-substrings` use `types: [python]` without any `files` restriction, applying to all Python files in the repository.\n\n## Generalised principle\n\nWhen configuring prek hooks, never scope them to specific directories (e.g. `files: ^(src|tests)/`). Instead, either:\n1. Use `types: [python]` (or other type filters) to match all files of a given type across the entire repository, or\n2. Use `pass_filenames: false` and let the hook script determine its own file targets via CLI arguments.\n\nDirectory-scoped hooks are fragile — they silently miss violations in unexpected locations and create a false sense of coverage. If a check is worth running, it is worth running everywhere.\n\n## Resolution\n\nRemoved the `files: ^(src|tests)/` line from the `check-comment-keywords` hook entry in `.pre-commit-config.yaml`, leaving `types: [python]` as the sole file filter.\n\n## Follow-up\n\nConsider updating the `usethis-prek-hook-bespoke-create` and `usethis-prek-add-hook` skills to explicitly warn against directory-scoped `files` patterns for hooks that should apply project-wide.","author":{"url":"https://github.com/nathanjmcdougall","@type":"Person","name":"nathanjmcdougall"},"datePublished":"2026-04-07T03:49:13.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":1},"url":"https://github.com/1838/usethis-python/issues/1838"}