Owner: Engineering Team | Last Updated: 2026-01-30 | Status: Current
Welcome to WWAI (Walter AI)! This checklist guides you through your first day as a developer on the team. Follow each section in order. By the end, you will have all accounts configured, tools installed, repositories cloned, local development running, and your first pull request submitted.
Estimated total time: 4-6 hours (including breaks and reading time).
If you get stuck at any point, reach out on the #dev-help Slack channel. Every engineer on the team has been through this checklist -- we are happy to help.
Complete these first, as some access requests take time to be approved.
yourname@wwai.com) from IT/HRwwai GitHub organizationgithub.com/wwaiWWAI project boardinternal.wwai.comJoin these Slack channels on your first day:
| Channel | Purpose | Required |
|---|---|---|
#engineering |
Engineering-wide announcements | Yes |
#dev-help |
Questions and troubleshooting | Yes |
#standup |
Daily async standup posts | Yes |
#deployments |
Deployment notifications and status | Yes |
#pull-requests |
PR review requests and notifications | Yes |
#incidents |
Production incidents and postmortems | Yes |
#frontend |
Frontend-specific discussions | If on frontend |
#backend |
Backend-specific discussions | If on backend |
#mobile |
Mobile app discussions | If on mobile |
#plugins |
Plugin development discussions | If on plugins |
#infra |
Infrastructure and DevOps | Recommended |
#random |
Non-work banter | Optional |
#watercooler |
Social and casual chat | Optional |
Follow the Development Environment Setup guide in full. The key milestones are:
node --version outputs v20.9.0npm install -g pnpm@9python --version outputs Python 3.11.8flutter doctor shows no critical issuesdocker run hello-world succeedsuser.name and user.email (company email)pull.rebase truecore.editor to your preferred editorssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@wwai.com"ssh -T git@github.com shows authentication successRefer to the Repository Map for details on each repository.
Create your project directory
mkdir -p ~/projects/wwai && cd ~/projects/wwai
Clone all primary repositories
for repo in app-main backend mobile-app chrome-plugin shopify-plugin wordpress-plugin docs; do
git clone "git@github.com:wwai/${repo}.git"
done
Set up the web app (app-main)
cd app-main && nvm use && pnpm installcp .env.example .env.local.env.local with values from 1Password (Engineering vault)pnpm dev -- verify it runs at http://localhost:3000 Set up the backend (backend)
cd backend && python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activatepip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-dev.txtcp .env.example .env.env with values from 1Passworddocker compose up -d db redis -- start PostgreSQL and Redispython manage.py migrate -- run database migrationspython manage.py createsuperuser -- create your local admin accountpython manage.py runserver -- verify it runs at http://localhost:8000http://localhost:8000/api/docs/ and confirm the Swagger UI loadsVerify frontend-backend integration
http://localhost:3000(Optional) Set up remaining repositories based on your team assignment
cd mobile-app && flutter pub get && flutter run -d chromecd chrome-plugin && pnpm install && pnpm devcd shopify-plugin && pnpm install && pnpm devcd wordpress-plugin && npm install && composer install && npx wp-env startMeet your team lead -- They will walk you through:
Meet your onboarding buddy -- Your buddy is your go-to person for the first two weeks
Introduce yourself on #engineering
Review the team org chart
Read these pages thoroughly. They contain critical context for your daily work.
wiki/architecture/overview) -- System design, data flow, service boundarieswiki/api/reference) -- REST API endpoints, authentication, rate limitswiki/standards/code-style) -- Formatting, naming conventions, patternswiki/standards/git-workflow) -- Branching, commit messages, PR templateswiki/operations/incident-response) -- What to do when things breakCompleting your first PR on day one builds muscle memory for our development workflow. Your team lead will assign a small starter task (labeled good-first-issue in Jira), but if one isn't ready, follow this self-guided exercise.
Create a feature branch:
cd ~/projects/wwai/docs
git checkout -b feature/WWAI-onboarding-add-yourname
Make a small change -- Add your name to the team roster in wiki-content/team/roster.md:
| Your Name | your.name@wwai.com | [Team Name] | 2026-01-30 |
Commit your change:
git add wiki-content/team/roster.md
git commit -m "docs: add [Your Name] to team roster
Onboarding day-one PR. Adding myself to the engineering team roster.
Ticket: WWAI-onboarding"
Push and create a PR:
git push -u origin feature/WWAI-onboarding-add-yourname
Then open a Pull Request on GitHub:
docs: add [Your Name] to team rosteronboarding, docsRespond to review feedback -- Make any requested changes, push, and get it merged.
| Aspect | Standard |
|---|---|
| Branch naming | feature/WWAI-<ticket>-<description> |
| Commit message format | type: subject (e.g., feat:, fix:, docs:, refactor:, test:, chore:) |
| PR size | Keep PRs small (< 400 lines changed ideally) |
| Reviews required | Minimum 1 approval |
| CI checks | All checks must pass before merge |
| Merge strategy | Squash and merge (default) |
Before wrapping up, confirm everything is in order:
app-main, backend, and docs:3000, backend API at :8000Don't worry. Here's what to do:
| Blocker | Action |
|---|---|
| Can't access a repository | Ask your team lead to check org membership |
| Installation failures | Post the error output in #dev-help |
| Environment variable issues | Ask your onboarding buddy for values |
| Docker problems | Check Dev Environment Troubleshooting |
| Build errors | Ensure you're on the correct Node/Python version |
Your second day and first week priorities:
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Day 2 | Finish essential reading. Attend your first standup. Pick up your first Jira ticket. |
| Day 3 | Submit your first code PR (not just docs). Pair with a teammate on a task. |
| Day 4 | Explore the staging environment. Understand the deployment pipeline. |
| Day 5 | End-of-week sync with your team lead. Discuss what's clear vs. what needs more context. |
| Week 2 | Start contributing independently. Begin attending sprint ceremonies (planning, retro). |
| Week 3-4 | Participate in code reviews. Take ownership of a small feature. |
| Month 2 | You should be fully autonomous on your team's codebase. |
| Date | Author | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-30 | Admin | Initial creation |
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