better-chatbot

# better-chatbot Contribution & Standards Skill

**Status**: Production Ready
**Version**: 3.0.0 (Optimized with progressive disclosure)
**Last Updated**: 2025-12-17
**Dependencies**: None (references better-chatbot project)
**Latest Versions**: Next.js 16.0.3, Vercel AI SDK 5.0.98, Better Auth 1.3.34, Drizzle ORM 0.41.0

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## Overview

**better-chatbot** is an open-source AI chatbot platform for individuals and teams, built with Next.js 15 and Vercel AI SDK v5. It combines multi-model AI support (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Ollama, OpenRouter) with advanced features like MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool integration, visual workflow builder, realtime voice assistant, and team collaboration.

**This skill teaches Claude the project-specific conventions and patterns** used in better-chatbot to ensure contributions follow established standards and avoid common pitfalls.

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## Quick Start

### Setup Development Environment

```bash
# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/cgoinglove/better-chatbot.git
cd better-chatbot
pnpm install

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# Add your API keys: OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, etc.
# Add database URL: DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."
# Add auth secret: BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="your-secret"

# Run development server
pnpm dev
```

### Core Commands

- `pnpm dev` - Start development server
- `pnpm build` - Production build
- `pnpm test` - Run unit tests
- `pnpm test:e2e` - Run E2E tests (requires DB + API keys)
- `pnpm check` - Lint + type check + tests (run before PR)

### Repository Structure

```
better-chatbot/
├── src/
│   ├── app/                # Next.js routes + API
│   ├── components/         # UI components by domain
│   ├── lib/               # Core logic (ai, db, validations)
│   ├── hooks/             # React hooks
│   └── types/             # TypeScript types
├── tests/                 # E2E Playwright tests
└── drizzle/              # Database migrations
```

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## Core Architecture

###