Changes Summary - Automatic Output to Results Folder

Date: October 1, 2025

Overview

Successfully implemented automatic output functionality for both scan_starred_repos.py and repo_recommender.py scripts to save all generated files to a centralized results/ folder with timestamped filenames.

Files Modified

1. .gitignore

  • Added results/ directory to gitignore
  • Added exception for !results/.gitkeep to preserve directory structure
  • Ensures all generated outputs are excluded from version control

2. scripts/scan_starred_repos.py

Changes:

  • Modified scan() method to auto-generate output filename if not provided
  • Default output format: results/starred_repos_{username}_{YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS}.json
  • Automatically creates results/ directory if it doesn’t exist
  • Fixed deprecated datetime.utcnow() → datetime.now(timezone.utc)
  • Updated docstring to reflect new default behavior
  • Maintains backwards compatibility with custom --output paths

New Behavior:

# Without --output: saves to results/starred_repos_authenticated_user_20251001_184444.json
python3 scripts/scan_starred_repos.py --enhance-description --limit 50

# With --output: uses specified path (unchanged)
python3 scripts/scan_starred_repos.py --output custom/path.json

3. scripts/repo_recommender.py

Changes:

  • Modified main() to auto-generate output filename if not provided
  • Default output format: results/recommendations_{YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS}.{md|txt}
  • Changed default --starred-repos path to look in results/ folder
  • Automatically creates results/ directory if it doesn’t exist
  • Fixed deprecated datetime.utcnow() → datetime.now(timezone.utc)
  • Updated to always save to file and show preview on stdout
  • Maintains backwards compatibility with custom --output paths

New Behavior:

# Without --output: saves to results/recommendations_20251001_184511.md
python3 scripts/repo_recommender.py --min-score 30

# With --output: uses specified path (unchanged)
python3 scripts/repo_recommender.py --output custom/report.md

4. New Files Created

results/.gitkeep

  • Empty marker file to preserve results/ directory in git
  • Ensures directory exists even when all generated files are gitignored

docs/guides/automatic-output-results-folder.md

  • Comprehensive documentation of the feature
  • Usage examples and migration notes
  • Technical details and benefits explanation

Testing Results

Scanner Test

✅ Successfully created results/starred_repos_authenticated_user_20251001_184444.json

  • Tested with --limit 5 for quick verification
  • File contains 5 repositories with enhanced descriptions
  • Timestamp correctly formatted in UTC

Recommender Test

✅ Successfully created results/recommendations_20251001_184511.md

  • Used the scanner output as input
  • Generated categorized recommendations
  • Preview shown on stdout while full report saved to file

Benefits Achieved

  1. Organization: All outputs centralized in one location
  2. Git-friendly: Outputs automatically ignored, directory preserved
  3. Traceability: Timestamps show when each analysis was performed
  4. No Breaking Changes: Existing scripts with custom paths still work
  5. Zero Configuration: Works out of the box without user setup

Technical Improvements

  1. Timezone Awareness:
    • Replaced deprecated datetime.utcnow()
    • Now using datetime.now(timezone.utc)
    • Ensures consistent UTC timestamps
  2. Automatic Directory Creation:
    • Both scripts use os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
    • No errors if directory already exists
    • Works on fresh clones
  3. Improved UX:
    • Recommender now shows preview + saves file
    • Clear feedback on where files are saved
    • Timestamp format is sortable (YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS)

Commit Type

Type: feat (feature) Scope: scripts Breaking: No

Suggested Commit Message 

feat(scripts): add automatic timestamped output to results/ folder

- Scanner and recommender now save outputs to results/ by default
- Automatic timestamp generation in YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS format
- Backwards compatible with custom --output paths
- Fixed deprecated datetime.utcnow() calls
- Added results/ to .gitignore with .gitkeep
- Created comprehensive documentation

BREAKING CHANGE: None - all existing functionality preserved

Next Steps (Optional)

  1. Consider adding a cleanup utility for old results files
  2. Add configuration file for default settings
  3. Implement result file discovery/listing utility
  4. Add compression for large result files

Status

✅ All changes implemented and tested ✅ Documentation complete ✅ Ready for commit