package.json and package-lock.jsonYou may notice package.json and package-lock.json files in the root of this repository. These files are part of the Node.js ecosystem and are used to manage project dependencies and scripts.
base?The attogram/base template is designed to be language-agnostic. However, it does use a few Node.js-based tools for development purposes to ensure code quality and consistency.
package.json: This file lists the development dependencies required to work on this repository. Primarily, this includes prettier, a code formatter that automatically ensures all configuration files and documentation adhere to a consistent style. It may also contain simple scripts that can be run with npm run <script_name>.
package-lock.json: This is an auto-generated file that records the exact version of every dependency used. This guarantees that every developer (and every AI agent) uses the exact same version of the tools, preventing inconsistencies and “it works on my machine” problems. You should not edit this file manually.
Strictly speaking, you only need Node.js and npm installed if you intend to run the development tools yourself, such as running npx prettier --write . to format files.
The AI agents that work on this repository are expected to have these tools available and will use them to keep the codebase consistent. If you ask an AI agent to perform work, it will use these files to ensure its changes match the project’s standards.
If you are not a developer and are only using this repository to manage content, you can generally ignore these files. They are part of the “scaffolding” that keeps the project clean and maintainable.