docs: Add comprehensive GitHub Copilot development instructions for Gitify (#2155)

* Initial plan

* Create comprehensive GitHub Copilot instructions for Gitify development

Co-authored-by: setchy <[email protected]>

---------

Co-authored-by: copilot-swe-agent[bot] <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: setchy <[email protected]>

Author: Copilot

.github/copilot-instructions.md

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+# Gitify Development Instructions
+
+Gitify is a Node.js/Electron desktop application that displays GitHub notifications in the system tray. It's built with React, TypeScript, and uses pnpm for package management.
+
+**ALWAYS follow these instructions first and only fallback to additional search and context gathering if the information in the instructions is incomplete or found to be in error.**
+
+## Working Effectively
+
+### Prerequisites and Setup
+- **Install pnpm globally first**: `npm install -g pnpm`
+- **Node.js requirement**: This project requires Node.js >=22 (check .nvmrc), though it works with Node 20+ with warnings
+- **Bootstrap the repository**:
+  - `pnpm install` -- takes 2.5 minutes. NEVER CANCEL. Set timeout to 5+ minutes.
+
+### Development Workflow
+- **Build the application**:
+  - `pnpm build` -- takes 32 seconds. NEVER CANCEL. Set timeout to 60+ minutes.
+  - Builds both main (Electron process) and renderer (React UI) bundles
+  - Output goes to `build/` directory
+- **Development mode with hot reload**:
+  - `pnpm watch` -- starts webpack in watch mode for both main and renderer
+  - Takes ~15 seconds for initial compilation
+  - Leave running while developing
+- **Run the Electron app**:
+  - `pnpm start` -- launches the desktop application
+  - NOTE: Will fail in headless/container environments due to Electron sandbox restrictions (expected)
+  - Use `CmdOrCtrl+R` to reload when watch mode detects changes
+
+### Linting and Code Quality
+- **Check linting and formatting**:
+  - `pnpm lint:check` -- takes <1 second using Biome
+  - **ALWAYS run before committing** or CI will fail
+- **Auto-fix issues**:
+  - `pnpm lint` -- automatically fixes linting and formatting issues
+
+### Testing
+- **Run TypeScript compilation check**:
+  - `pnpm tsc --noEmit` -- takes 5 seconds. NEVER CANCEL. Set timeout to 10+ minutes.
+- **Run unit tests**:
+  - `pnpm test` -- takes 67 seconds. NEVER CANCEL. Set timeout to 30+ minutes.
+  - Uses Jest with jsdom environment
+  - NOTE: Some existing snapshot tests may fail but still return success - this is normal
+  - Update snapshots after legitimate UI changes with `pnpm test -u`
+- **Run tests with coverage** (CI format):
+  - `pnpm test --coverage --runInBand --verbose`
+
+## Validation Scenarios
+
+**CRITICAL**: After making changes, ALWAYS validate your work by running these scenarios:
+
+### Build Validation
+1. **Clean build test**: `rm -rf build && pnpm build`
+2. **Verify build outputs**: Check that `build/main.js`, `build/renderer.js`, and `build/styles.css` are created
+3. **File sizes should be reasonable**: main.js ~300KB, renderer.js ~2MB, styles.css ~1MB
+4. **Success indicators**: Look for "webpack compiled successfully" messages for both main and renderer
+
+### Code Quality Validation
+1. **Linting passes**: `pnpm lint:check` should show warnings but complete successfully (exit code 0)
+2. **TypeScript compiles**: `pnpm tsc --noEmit` should complete without errors
+3. **Tests pass**: Run `pnpm test` and ensure no new test failures (some existing ones may fail - focus on your changes)
+
+### Development Environment Testing
+1. **Watch mode works**: Start `pnpm watch`, make a small change to a file in `src/`, verify webpack recompiles (look for compilation success messages)
+2. **Development build**: The watch mode creates development builds with source maps in `build/` directory
+
+## Expected Command Outputs
+
+### Successful Build
+```
+webpack 5.101.2 compiled successfully in [time]
+```
+
+### Successful Tests (with some expected failures)
+```
+Test Suites: X failed, Y passed, Z total
+Tests:       A failed, B passed, C total
+```
+Note: Focus on ensuring no NEW test failures from your changes.
+
+### Successful Linting
+```
+Checked X files in Yms. No fixes applied.
+Found Z warnings.
+```
+Warnings are acceptable - the important part is that it completes successfully.
+
+## Common Tasks and File Locations
+
+### Key Files and Directories
+- **Main Electron process**: `src/main/` - Node.js backend code
+- **Renderer process**: `src/renderer/` - React frontend code  
+- **Shared code**: `src/shared/` - Common utilities and types
+- **Build configuration**: `config/` - Webpack configs and electron-builder settings
+- **Assets**: `assets/` - Icons, sounds, and static resources
+
+### Configuration Files
+- **package.json**: Main project configuration and scripts
+- **biome.json**: Linting and formatting rules
+- **jest.config.ts**: Test configuration
+- **tsconfig.json**: TypeScript configuration
+- **tailwind.config.ts**: CSS framework configuration
+
+### Frequently Modified Areas
+- **Notification logic**: `src/renderer/hooks/useNotifications.ts`
+- **GitHub API client**: `src/renderer/utils/api/`
+- **UI components**: `src/renderer/components/`
+- **Authentication**: `src/renderer/utils/auth/`
+- **Settings**: `src/renderer/routes/Settings.tsx`
+
+## Build and Release Process
+
+### Local Packaging (for testing)
+- **macOS**: `pnpm package:macos --publish=never`
+- **Windows**: `pnpm package:win --publish=never`  
+- **Linux**: `pnpm package:linux --publish=never`
+- **NOTE**: These require the full build first and additional platform-specific dependencies
+
+### Pre-commit Checks
+- **Automatic via Husky**: Git hooks run `pnpx lint-staged` on commit
+- **Manual validation**: Run `pnpm lint:check && pnpm tsc --noEmit && pnpm test`
+
+## Important Constraints and Limitations
+
+### Timing Expectations
+- **Dependency installation**: 2-3 minutes (normal for Electron projects)
+- **Full build (clean)**: 30-35 seconds
+- **Watch mode initial compilation**: 10-15 seconds
+- **Watch mode recompilation**: 5-8 seconds for incremental changes
+- **Test suite**: 60-70 seconds
+- **TypeScript compilation**: 5 seconds
+- **Linting**: <1 second
+
+### Environment Issues
+- **Electron in containers**: Will fail to start due to sandbox restrictions (expected behavior in headless environments)
+- **Node version warnings**: Project requires Node >=22, works with 20+ but shows warnings in `pnpm` commands
+- **Build warnings**: Some PostCSS/Tailwind warnings in renderer build are normal and expected
+- **Linting warnings**: Existing codebase has some linting warnings - focus only on your changes
+
+### Common Troubleshooting
+- **Build failures**: Check Node version, ensure `pnpm install` completed successfully
+- **Test snapshot failures**: Run `pnpm test -u` to update snapshots after legitimate UI changes
+- **Linting errors**: Run `pnpm lint` to auto-fix most issues
+- **Watch mode not updating**: Restart watch mode, check file permissions
+
+## Development Philosophy
+
+This project focuses on GitHub notification monitoring, not being a full GitHub client. Keep changes:
+- **Simple and focused** on core notification functionality
+- **Consistent** with existing UI patterns and design language
+- **Minimal** - avoid adding complexity for edge cases
+- **Cross-platform** compatible (macOS, Windows, Linux)
+
+## Technology Stack Reference
+
+**Core Technologies:**
+- **Electron 37+**: Desktop app framework
+- **React 19+**: UI library  
+- **TypeScript 5+**: Language
+- **pnpm 10+**: Package manager
+- **Biome**: Linting and formatting
+- **Jest**: Testing framework
+- **Webpack 5**: Build system
+- **Tailwind CSS**: Styling framework
+
+**Key Dependencies:**
+- **menubar**: System tray integration
+- **electron-updater**: Auto-update functionality
+- **@primer/react**: GitHub's React component library
+- **date-fns**: Date utilities
+- **axios**: HTTP client for GitHub API
+
+ALWAYS reference this information first before exploring the codebase or running commands to save time and avoid common pitfalls.