Add CLAUDE.md

Assisted-by: Claude code
Signed-off-by: Dale Haiducek <[email protected]>

Author: dhaiducek

CLAUDE.md

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+# CLAUDE.md
+
+This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.
+
+## Overview
+
+The Configuration Policy Controller is a Kubernetes controller that enforces and evaluates ConfigurationPolicy resources in Open Cluster Management. It monitors objects on managed clusters, checks compliance against policy templates, and can automatically remediate non-compliant resources when set to enforce mode.
+
+## Build, Test, and Run Commands
+
+### Building
+```bash
+# Build the controller binary
+make build
+
+# Build the dryrun CLI tool
+make build-cmd
+
+# Build container image (configurable with REGISTRY, IMG, TAG env vars)
+make build-images
+```
+
+### Testing
+```bash
+# Run unit tests
+make test
+
+# Run unit tests with coverage
+make test-coverage
+
+# Run E2E tests (requires KinD cluster)
+make e2e-test
+
+# Run specific E2E tests
+TESTARGS="--focus=<pattern>" make e2e-test
+
+# Setup KinD cluster for development
+make kind-bootstrap-cluster-dev
+
+# Deploy controller to KinD and run E2E tests
+make kind-tests
+```
+
+### Running Locally
+```bash
+# Run controller locally (must set WATCH_NAMESPACE)
+export WATCH_NAMESPACE=<namespace>
+make run
+
+# The controller requires a Kubernetes cluster configured via kubectl
+```
+
+### Linting and Formatting
+```bash
+# Format code
+make fmt
+```
+
+### Generate Manifests
+```bash
+# Generate CRDs and RBAC manifests
+make manifests
+
+# Generate DeepCopy implementations
+make generate
+```
+
+## Architecture
+
+### Core Components
+
+**ConfigurationPolicyReconciler** (`controllers/configurationpolicy_controller.go`)
+- Main reconciler that evaluates ConfigurationPolicy resources
+- Handles both `inform` (report-only) and `enforce` (remediate) modes
+- Uses dynamic client to work with any Kubernetes resource type
+- Supports templating with Go templates and sprig functions
+- Implements watch-based evaluation for efficient resource monitoring
+
+**OperatorPolicyReconciler** (`controllers/operatorpolicy_controller.go`)
+- Manages OperatorPolicy resources for OLM operator lifecycle management
+- Controls operator subscriptions, CSV status, and upgrade behavior
+
+**Evaluation Flow**:
+1. Policy is reconciled based on evaluation interval or watch events
+2. Templates are resolved (if present) using go-template-utils library
+3. Namespace selector determines target namespaces
+4. For each object template:
+   - Determine desired objects (resolving selectors if needed)
+   - Compare with existing cluster state
+   - If enforce mode: create, update, or delete objects as needed
+   - If inform mode: report compliance status only
+5. Status is updated with compliance details and related objects
+6. Events are emitted to parent Policy resource
+
+### Key Packages
+
+**pkg/common** - Shared utilities:
+- `namespace_selection.go`: NamespaceSelector reconciler for efficient namespace filtering
+- `common.go`: Helper functions for environment detection
+
+**pkg/dryrun** - CLI tool for testing policies without a cluster:
+- Simulates policy evaluation using fake clients
+- Supports reading cluster resources or using local YAML files
+- Provides diff output and compliance message reporting
+
+**pkg/mappings** - API resource mappings for the dryrun CLI
+
+**pkg/triggeruninstall** - Handles controller uninstallation cleanup
+
+### Template Processing
+
+The controller supports Go templating in object definitions with these special features:
+- Hub templates: can reference objects from the hub cluster (when configured)
+- Context variables: `.Object`, `.ObjectName`, `.ObjectNamespace` for dynamic templating per namespace/object
+- Template functions: `fromSecret`, `fromConfigMap`, `fromClusterClaim`, `lookup`, plus sprig functions
+- `skipObject` function: allows conditional object creation based on template logic
+- Encryption support: templates can include encrypted values using AES encryption
+
+### Compliance Types
+
+- **musthave**: Object must exist and match the specified fields (partial match)
+- **mustnothave**: Object must not exist
+- **mustonlyhave**: Object must exist and match exactly (no extra fields)
+
+### Watch vs Polling
+
+The controller supports two evaluation modes:
+- **Watch mode** (default): Uses Kubernetes watches for efficient real-time evaluation
+- **Polling mode**: Periodically evaluates policies based on evaluationInterval
+
+The dynamic watcher (kubernetes-dependency-watches) automatically manages watches on related objects.
+
+### Hosted Mode
+
+The controller can run in "hosted mode" where:
+- Controller runs on hub cluster
+- Evaluates/enforces policies on a separate managed cluster
+- Configured via `--target-kubeconfig-path` flag
+- Uses separate managers for hub and managed cluster clients
+
+## Important Patterns
+
+### Object Comparison
+The comparison logic in `handleSingleKey` and `mergeSpecsHelper` is critical:
+- Merges template values into existing object to avoid false negatives
+- Handles arrays specially (preserves duplicates, matches by "name" field)
+- Dry-run updates verify actual API behavior before enforcement
+- `zeroValueEqualsNil` parameter controls empty value handling
+
+### Caching and Evaluation Optimization
+- `processedPolicyCache`: Tracks evaluated objects by resourceVersion to avoid redundant comparisons
+- `lastEvaluatedCache`: Prevents race conditions with controller-runtime cache staleness
+- Evaluation backoff (`--evaluation-backoff`): Throttles frequent policy evaluations
+
+### Pruning Behavior
+When `pruneObjectBehavior` is set:
+- **DeleteIfCreated**: Removes objects created by the policy
+- **DeleteAll**: Removes all objects matching the template
+- Tracked via finalizers and object UIDs in status.relatedObjects
+
+### Dry Run CLI
+The `dryrun` command provides policy testing without cluster modification:
+```bash
+# Test policy against local resources
+build/_output/bin/dryrun -p policy.yaml resource1.yaml resource2.yaml
+
+# Test policy against live cluster (read-only)
+build/_output/bin/dryrun -p policy.yaml --from-cluster
+
+# Compare status against expected
+build/_output/bin/dryrun -p policy.yaml resources.yaml --desired-status expected-status.yaml
+```
+
+## Testing Guidelines
+
+### E2E Test Structure
+- Tests are in `test/e2e/` with descriptive case names
+- Use Ginkgo/Gomega framework
+- Tests can filter by label: `--label-filter='!hosted-mode'`
+- Helper functions in `test/e2e/case_utils.go` for common operations
+
+### Writing Tests
+- Use `utils.GetWithTimeout` for eventually-consistent checks
+- Clean up resources in AfterEach blocks
+- Use unique names to avoid test conflicts
+- Test both inform and enforce modes where applicable
+
+## Configuration
+
+### Controller Flags
+Key flags when running the controller:
+- `--evaluation-concurrency`: Max concurrent policy evaluations (default: 2)
+- `--evaluation-backoff`: Seconds before re-evaluation in watch mode (default: 10)
+- `--enable-operator-policy`: Enable OperatorPolicy support
+- `--target-kubeconfig-path`: Path to managed cluster kubeconfig (hosted mode)
+- `--standalone-hub-templates-kubeconfig-path`: Hub cluster for template resolution
+
+### Environment Variables
+- `WATCH_NAMESPACE`: Namespace to monitor for policies (required when running locally)
+- `POD_NAME`: Used to detect controller pod name