The vega-datasets repository currently lacks a straightforward, documented way to run code quality checks locally that match CI checks (.github/workflows/test.yml). This diverges from projects like Altair (@dangotbanned) that use uv and taskipy for an efficient developer workflow. Such an approach paves the way for a very user-friendly CONTRIBUTING.md in Altair.

Current Situation

Currently, developers can run each CI check manually using separate commands:

# TOML formatting check
uvx taplo fmt --check --diff
# Python linting
uvx ruff check
# Python formatting check
uvx ruff format --check

While this works, it's cumbersome to run multiple commands and inconsistent with related projects like Altair that provide a single command for all checks. There's no documented way to run all checks with one command.

Proposed Solutions

Option 1: Shell Script

A simple, direct approach:

1. Create run_checks.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -e
uvx taplo fmt --check --diff
uvx ruff check
uvx ruff format --check
echo "All checks passed!"

2. Usage: ./run_checks.sh

Advantages:

• No additional dependencies needed
• Simple to understand and maintain
• Directly mirrors CI commands
• Quick to implement
• Easy to modify or extend

Option 2: Full taskipy Implementation

Adopt an Altair-like taskipy setup for better structure and extensibility:

1. Add to pyproject.toml dependency groups:

[dependency-groups]
dev = ["taskipy>=1.14.1"]

2. Define individual tasks:

[tool.taskipy.tasks]
check-toml = "taplo fmt --check --diff"
check-lint = "ruff check"
check-format = "ruff format --check"
checks = "task check-toml && task check-lint && task check-format"

3. Usage: uv run task checks

Advantages:

• Structured approach matching Altair
• Centralized task definitions
• Extensible for future additions
• Familiar interface for Altair contributors (uv run task ...)

Disadvantages:

• Slightly more complex initial setup (though minimal)

What approach would work best?