Change Log

All notable changes to the BASH Consultants repository will be documented in this file.

Check Keep a Changelog for recommendations on how to structure this file.

[Unreleased]

Platform transformation: activated the site’s dormant AI capabilities, wired the dead conversion paths, added CI quality gates, and expanded the content and services catalog.

Added

• Upstream sync automation — .github/workflows/pr-to-upstream.yml opens (and keeps) a pull request from bamr87:main up to the repository this was forked from (amr-bash/bashconsultants) on every push to main. Idempotent (won’t duplicate an open PR, skips when already in sync) and safe (skips cleanly when the UPSTREAM_PR_TOKEN secret is absent). Landed alongside a keep-ours reconcile merge so bamr87/main cleanly supersedes upstream’s older post pass, keeping those PRs conflict-free.
• Native Claude context framework — turned the repo’s AI tooling into a first-class Claude Code framework and made the repository its own reference implementation of the governed-AI model the site sells. Added a root CLAUDE.md (the canonical Claude entry point, routing into the existing AGENTS.md/instructions/prompts plus the operating rules) and .claude/README.md (the map of the layer). Codified the brand as a single source of truth (.github/instructions/brand.instructions.md — name/etymology, mission, voice, doctrine, colors, logo). Added four skills (.claude/skills/{content-editorial,toolkit-doc,wikilinks,brand}), two subagents (.claude/agents/{jekyll-build-validator,brand-guardian}), and three commands (.claude/commands/{lint-content,new-toolkit-doc,brand-check}) — the agents the practice describes at /ai-operations/ now exist as files. Documented the whole pattern on-site as a partner-track guide, pages/_toolkit/claude-context-framework.md (/tools/partners/claude-context-framework/), with a mermaid architecture diagram.
• The BASH toolkit collection — turned the single /tools/ page into a two-track docs/training library (toolkit collection under pages/_toolkit/, served at /tools/business/… and /tools/partners/…). The business track is 10 plain-English DIY guides for SMB owners (IT foundations, adopting AI, cloud migration, outgrowing QuickBooks, faster close, dashboards, integrations, IT roadmap, security baseline, backups); the partner track is 10 advanced technical references for consultants (engagement method, deterministic-first doctrine, AI-native practice, production AI/RAG, cloud landing zones, ERP architecture, record-to-report, modern data stack, integration architecture, security architecture), several with mermaid architecture diagrams. Data-driven hub + track landings, a toolkit sidebar nav, and a “Toolkit” top-nav dropdown; the old internal-tooling content moved into the partner-track “Running an AI-native consulting practice” doc. Cross-linked with Obsidian wiki-links; every doc cites a verified-live primary source.
• Two new service pages — pages/_services/ai.md (/services/ai/) and pages/_services/managed-it.md (/services/managed-it/), completing the eight-service catalog; the flagship AI offering previously existed only as a hub section with the landing card mis-linked to /services/dev/.
• Case studies collection — pages/_case_studies/ (six anonymized engagement snapshots + index), registered in _config.yml, surfaced in the landing proof band.
• /tools/ and /ai-operations/ — root pages presenting the firm’s own AI toolchain (prompt playbook, VS Code orchestrator, image pipeline, governance stack) as client-relevant proof, with _data/playbook.yml auto-generated from the prompt/instruction files by scripts/generate_playbook_data.py.
• Four pillar posts (2026-07-06) — an SMB AI acceptable-use policy, cyber-insurance renewal questions, MCP for the back office, and the AI audit trail for finance; plus the promoted bashos post from drafts/.
• AI chat proxy — api/ Azure Functions app implementing the theme’s chat-proxy contract (server-held Anthropic key, model pinned server-side, per-IP rate limiting keyed on the trusted proxy hop, body-size and token caps); staticwebapp.config.json pins the managed-functions runtime to Node 20.
• CI and automation — .github/workflows/build-validate.yml (builds both production stacks + content lint on every push/PR), site-health.yml (nightly), and content-gardener.yml (weekly draft PRs); scripts/content_lint.py mechanically enforces the editorial contract.
• AI-search layer — /llms.txt, site-wide + per-type JSON-LD (Article/Service) in _includes/structured-data.html, and a wired /search/ page over search.json.
• _data/taxonomy.yml, docs/preview-images.md, docs/automation.md, and .devcontainer/ — codified the section voice profiles, preview-image and automation runbooks, and a container dev environment.

Changed

• Founder page redesigned (/about/amr/) — added a designed profile hero (avatar, identity, social links, consultation call-to-action), a stat band mixing career numbers with live GitHub stats for @bamr87 (30 repos, 19 stars, 17 followers, coding in public since 2015), a row of open-source project cards (it-journey, zer0-mistakes — the theme this site runs on — bamr87.github.io, aieo), and technical-skills and strengths as badge groups; the full CV detail is preserved. The GitHub stats are deterministic-first: real static values render without JavaScript and a small client-side script only ever updates them from the GitHub API, never blanks them. The Education, Professional experience, and Project record sections were then restyled to match — education as cards, experience as a blue timeline (with each role’s dates, and Navistar’s three roles and nested location lists preserved), the project record as per-employer panels with project-count pills, and the contact block as a grid of icon tiles with tel:/mailto: links — with all CV detail intact. Accent color uses the UI blue per the brand palette — the brand-guardian agent caught an initial use of logo-teal as the UI accent, which the brand SSOT forbids.
• Registered the Claude layer and standardized the brand name — AGENTS.md and .github/copilot-instructions.md now point to CLAUDE.md, the brand SSOT, and the .claude/ primitives; the file-scoped instruction map routes brand-bearing files to brand.instructions.md. Aligned the BASH expansion to the canonical Bourne Again Solutions Hero (the form that actually spells the acronym) in llms.txt, matching README.md.
• Landing page rebuilt as data-driven sections (_layouts/landing.html + index.md frontmatter + _data/entity/*.yml): hero, eight service cards, six industry pain-point cards, process, an “AI-augmented practice” section, proof band, and FAQ; removed the Thrasymachus epigraph.
• Hero particle background fixed — the #particles-js element was a Bootstrap .container (capped at 1140px, centered), so the particle canvas rendered as a bounded box; it now fills the hero edge-to-edge with the content layered above.
• Obsidian wiki-links — internal cross-references across service, post, and case-study pages now use pipeless [[Page Title]] wiki-links (Obsidian-native, vault-portable), resolved to real links by the theme’s client-side resolver over wiki-index.json. Pipeless is required: the server-side plugin can’t run under GitHub Pages safe mode, and kramdown mangles the | of aliased wiki-links into broken tables. Root-page and CTA links (/tools/, /ai-operations/, /contact/) stay markdown.
• powered_by refreshed — corrected to the real toolchain (Ruby 3.3, Jekyll 3.10, zer0-mistakes 1.26.0, Bootstrap 5.3.3, Claude, OpenAI gpt-image, Python 3.13, Docker, GitHub Pages/Actions, Azure Static Web Apps); dropped the removed Algolia and the stale HTML/CSS/JS/jQuery filler.
• Conversion forms wired — the contact and newsletter forms now POST to config-driven endpoints (site.forms.*) with graceful mailto: fallbacks; previously both had no handler.
• Theme pinned — remote_theme pinned to bamr87/zer0-mistakes@v1.26.0 and Gemfile.azure raised to the matching ~> 1.26.0 (with jekyll-include-cache); a registered aqua skin replaces the invalid dark value; theme_color hex values quoted so they stop parsing as null.
• Editorial debt burn-down — sentence-cased service-page titles, removed unbacked “robust/seamless/scalable”, stripped trailing periods from service descriptions, retitled the ERP section off its self-labeling name, and realigned article-review.prompt.md and the reviewer agent to the house rules they enforce.
• content_statistics_generator.rb made Jekyll-3/4 compatible (Azure stack was crashing on Theme#root_dir).

Removed

• Azure Static Web Apps deploy workflow — retired .github/workflows/azure-static-web-apps-proud-pond-06dc10c1e.yml. It was failing the CI gate independently of any change (its deployment token is unset, and its Oryx build can’t run bundle), while GitHub Pages is the primary and working deploy target. The Azure build is still validated by build-validate.yml (Gemfile.azure + _config.azure.yml), and staticwebapp.config.json / api/ remain for a future reconfiguration if Azure hosting is revived.
• Stale artifacts — the drifted scripts/lib/preview_generator.py, clipboard-era scripts/{vscode-integration.sh,demo-docs-generation.js,test-docs-prompt.js}, the broken Rakefile, and the stale Algolia config block; rewrote the root README.md from stale marketing copy (wrong bash-365.com contact, 3-of-8 services) into a repo-facing developer doc.

[1.5.0] - 2026-06-21

Added

• pages/_posts/muses/2025-01-24-bash-consulting-breaking.md — New satirical press-release post (“If a press release about ethical capitalism wrote itself”) covering ESG accounting for Denver SMBs; includes a straight practical section on what’s buildable on QuickBooks today.
• .github/prompts/article-write.prompt.md — New /article-write agent prompt for drafting new bashconsultants.com posts end-to-end.

Changed

• pages/_posts/muses/2025-08-12-innovation-paradox.md — Frontmatter updated (author, description, keywords, lastmod, tags normalized); content rewritten for voice and SMB focus.
• pages/_posts/tech/2025-08-12-ai-integration-reality.md — Frontmatter updated; content rewritten with honest SMB-first framing on AI implementation.
• pages/_posts/tech/2025-11-19-prompts-are-the-new-command-line.md — Frontmatter normalized (author, lastmod, categories/tags as YAML lists); content already updated to SMB voice.
• Site-wide content review — Rewrote about.md, contact.md, and all service pages (pages/_services/{cloud,erp,data,dev,fintech,strat}.md) to comply with content-style.instructions.md: removed banned marketing phrases, switched to sentence-case headings and the 8-section service-page structure, defined acronyms on first use, and added inline images with descriptive alt text.
• pages/_services/index.md — Rebuilt as a card-based hub linking to all six real service pages (it previously listed generic categories that did not match the site’s actual services).
• _data/entity/info.yml — Cleaned banned phrases from the About / Founder / Mission copy that feeds the landing page.
• Blog posts — Added a next-step call-to-action to posts that lacked one; normalized preview: paths to the /assets/images/previews/ convention; bumped lastmod on edited posts.
• All 11 blog posts (pages/_posts/{corp,erp,muses,tech}/*.md) — Full editorial pass aligning every post to content-style.instructions.md and posts.instructions.md: heavy rewrite to the business-outcome-first voice, acronyms defined on first use, banned marketing phrases removed, sentence-case headings, and a single next-step CTA plus one outbound primary-source link in every post. Tightened titles to sentence case ≤ 60 chars and description to 120–155 chars.
• Creative voice — show, don’t announce — Removed raw genre/device labels (“satire”, “parody”, “reality show”, “Broadway-style musical number”, “exposé”) from reader-facing text so each post enacts its device (the press release, the show conceit, the song, the Frankenstein metaphor) instead of narrating it.
• pages/_posts/tech/2025-08-12-ai-integration-reality.md — Published the post (was draft: true with duplicated author/description keys); kept the stronger “AI for small business: what the pilots don’t tell you” version and rewrote the body as an SMB-first AI-adoption guide.
• Post frontmatter normalized site-wide — author: "Amr Abdel-Motaleb" everywhere (replacing “BASH Consulting Team” / “bamr87”); lowercase categories; flow-style tags / keywords lists; duplicate keys removed; lastmod set to 2026-06-21.
• Preview images — Regenerated 9 AI preview banners (gpt-image-2, retro pixel-art) to match the rewritten titles and content; standardized all post preview: paths to the /images/previews/<slug>.png short form (auto-normalized by the theme).

Removed

• pages/_posts/tech/2025-01-24-bash-consulting-breaking.md — Deleted from tech/; replaced by the muses rewrite above.
• Invented case studies and unverifiable metrics — Removed fabricated results (“40% cost reduction”, “99.9% uptime”, “300% revenue increase”, “30+ ERP projects”, “over 15 years”) and overreaching capability claims (e.g., AI/ML clinical decision support, fraud detection) from the service pages, per the “never invent customer wins” rule.

Fixed

• Broken images — Renamed assets/images/red-rocks.JPG → red-rocks.jpg so the lowercase reference resolves on case-sensitive production builds; repointed the missing office-594119.png og_image to office.jpg in _config.yml and pages/_about/site/_config.yml; repointed the missing bamr-avatar.png avatar to Amr-Headshot_v2.jpg.
• Contact-info consistency — Standardized all customer pages to bashconsultants.com / info@bashconsultants.com / (720) 352-4641; replaced the stale bash-365.com details on about.md and contact.md; fixed the contact-email: info@consultants.com typo in _config.yml that broke the landing page’s “Email Now” button.

Added

• .github/instructions/ — Six file-scoped instruction files for AI agents:
  • content-style.instructions.md (applyTo pages/**, index.md, about.md, contact.md) — shared editorial voice, audience profile (Denver SMBs 5–200 employees), target-industry table, banned phrases, SEO + accessibility rules
  • posts.instructions.md (applyTo pages/_posts/**/*.md) — blog post structure + subfolder routing (corp/erp/muses/tech)
  • services.instructions.md (applyTo pages/_services/**/*.md) — service-page conversion structure + industry-fit naming
  • jekyll-theme.instructions.md (applyTo theme override paths) — local override rules for the remote theme
  • extension.instructions.md (applyTo extension/**) — VS Code Prompt Orchestrator dev rules
  • prompts.instructions.md (applyTo .github/{prompts,instructions}/**) — schema + slash-hard body style
• AGENTS.md — Cross-tool entry point for AI coding agents (Copilot, Codex, Cursor, Aider, Claude Code). Points to canonical guidance.
• .github/prompts/commit-publish.prompt.md — Standard commit + push + deploy workflow for the direct-to-main publishing model.
• Canonical frontmatter reference — .github/FRONTMATTER.md documents the required schema for .prompt.md and .instructions.md files.

Changed

• .github/copilot-instructions.md — Rewritten to reflect the actual dual-purpose repo (Jekyll site + extension/ sub-project). Previous content described only the extension and was stale.
• .github/prompts/ frontmatter normalized — All .prompt.md files updated to canonical mode: agent + description + date + lastmod schema. Body content already concise (≤100 lines per file); no further compression needed.

Removed

• .github/prompts/docs.prompt.md — superseded by documentation.prompt.md.

[1.4.0] - 2026-04-06

Changed

• Theme Upgrade: Updated zer0-mistakes theme from v0.21.6 to v0.22.10
  • Gemfile.azure: Updated jekyll-theme-zer0 from ~> 0.21.2 to ~> 0.22.10
  • pages/_about/site/_config.yml: Updated remote_theme pin from v0.21.6 to v0.22.10
  • _data/README.md and _data/navigation/README.md: Updated version references to v0.22+
  • Notable theme changes since v0.21.6:
    • Admin layout and configuration dashboards (v0.22.10)
    • Cross-platform installation compatibility fixes (v0.22.8)
    • Hero layout and scroll animation stabilization (v0.22.3)
    • Various documentation and CI improvements

[1.3.0] - 2026-03-31

Changed

• Theme Upgrade: Updated zer0-mistakes theme from v0.18.0 to v0.21.6
  • Gemfile: Updated jekyll-theme-zer0 from ~> 0.18.0 to ~> 0.21.2 (latest on RubyGems)
  • Gemfile.azure: Added version pin ~> 0.21.2
  • _config.yml: Pinned remote_theme to bamr87/zer0-mistakes@v0.21.6
• Layout Standardization: Aligned post and section layouts with theme v0.20.3+ conventions
  • Changed default post layout from journals to article in _config.yml defaults
  • Updated 9 posts with explicit layout: journals or layout: blog to layout: article
  • Updated 6 category/index pages to use layout: default (theme’s section layout uses /news/ URLs)
  • Renamed category pages with date prefixes for proper Jekyll _posts processing
• New Features Enabled:
  • Added search.json for GitHub Pages compatible search (theme v0.20.2 feature)
  • Added mermaid diagram configuration for client-side rendering
  • Added jekyll-include-cache plugin for improved build performance
  • Updated vendor exclusion paths to support assets/vendor/ publishing
• Configuration Updates:
  • Updated Bootstrap version reference from 5.2.0 to 5.3.3 in powered_by
  • Updated version references in _data/README.md and _data/navigation/README.md to v0.21+
  • Synced pages/_about/site/_config.yml remote_theme pin and post layout default

Fixed

• 404 Page: Fixed broken /blog navigation link to use correct /posts path
• Navigation: Removed broken links to non-existent pages (/docs/, /about/org/, /about/portfolio/)
• Navigation: Fixed /home/ links to / across navigation data files
• Blog Index: Fixed hardcoded post URLs using slug format to use date-based format
• Category Pages: Added missing permalink to muses category page

[1.2.0] - 2026-01-24

Changed

• Development Port Standardization: Updated all development ports from 4002 to 4042 for consistency
  • Dockerfile: Changed EXPOSE and CMD to use port 4042
  • docker-compose.yml: Updated port mapping to 4042:4042
  • .vscode/tasks.json: Updated Jekyll local serve port to 4042
  • .vscode/launch.json: Updated all debug configuration URLs to localhost:4042
• VS Code Development Environment: Complete overhaul of development configurations
  • .vscode/launch.json: Added 6 new debug configurations:
    • 🐳 Debug BASH Consultants (Docker) - Primary Docker debugging
    • 🔗 Attach to Running Jekyll (Docker) - Attach to running container
    • 🔄 Docker Rebuild & Debug - Force rebuild with debugging
    • 🖥️ Debug BASH Consultants (Local) - Local development debugging
    • 📱 Mobile Debug (Docker) - Mobile responsive testing
    • 🎯 Performance Debug (Docker) - Performance profiling
  • .vscode/tasks.json: Added 12 comprehensive tasks:
    • Docker operations (up, stop, down, rebuild, logs)
    • Jekyll serve/build (Docker and Local)
    • Maintenance tasks (clean up, update dependencies)
• Theme Version: Updated jekyll-theme-zer0 to v0.18.0
  • Gemfile: Updated gem version constraint to ~> 0.18.0
  • _config.yml: Simplified remote_theme to bamr87/zer0-mistakes (uses latest)
• Gemfile Cleanup: Simplified dependencies
  • Removed redundant jekyll_plugins group (already included in github-pages gem)
  • Removed pinned versions for ffi and webrick (use latest compatible)
  • Removed commonmarker pin (resolved upstream)

Added

• .gitignore: Added logs/ directory for debug trace logs

Fixed

• Dockerfile: Added newline at end of file

[1.1.0] - 2026-01-24

Changed

• Navigation Data Structure (_data/navigation/): Updated to zer0-mistakes theme v0.17+ format
  • Migrated from sublinks to children property for nested navigation items
  • Added Bootstrap Icons (bi-* prefix) to all navigation items
  • Added consistent Home links to sidebar navigation files
  • Added trailing slashes to all URLs for consistency

Added

• New Navigation Files (_data/navigation/)
  • home.yml - Homepage quick navigation with icons
  • services.yml - Services sidebar navigation
  • README.md - Navigation schema documentation with migration guide

Fixed

• Fixed HTML entity & in about.yml to proper & character
• Fixed inconsistent URL trailing slashes across navigation files

[1.0.0] - 2026-01-24

Added

• Prompt Orchestrator VS Code Extension (extension/): New VS Code extension for orchestrating AI agent workflows using structured prompts
  • Discovers and loads prompt templates from .github/prompts/ directory
  • Execute prompts via Command Palette or sidebar tree view
  • Integration with VS Code Chat API and Language Model API
  • Commands: refreshPrompts, executePrompt, review, refactor, test, docs, debug
  • Configuration settings for prompts directory and auto-refresh
• Prompt Engineering Toolkit (.github/prompts/)
  • docs.prompt.md - Technical documentation generation
  • Additional prompts for requirements analysis, system design, code implementation, test generation, code refactoring, and debugging
• Automation Scripts (scripts/)
  • routine-maintenance.sh - Prepare prompt workflows for VS Code Chat
  • demo-docs-generation.js - Demonstrate documentation prompt generation
  • test-docs-prompt.js - Standalone test script for prompt loading
  • vscode-integration.sh - VS Code CLI integration helper
• Blog Posts (pages/_posts/)
  • “Prompts: The New Command Line” - Exploring the paradigm shift in development
  • “From Prompts to Pipelines: Agentic Workflows in VS Code” - Extension design and agentic workflows

Changed

• Repository Structure: Reorganized to separate Jekyll website from VS Code extension
  • Jekyll site configs remain at root level
  • Extension code moved to dedicated extension/ directory
  • Updated .gitignore for new structure
• VS Code Workspace Configuration (.vscode/)
  • Updated launch.json for Jekyll-focused development
  • Updated tasks.json for Jekyll build tasks
  • Updated settings.json for Liquid/Jekyll file associations
  • Updated extensions.json with Jekyll-relevant recommendations

• Root package.json: Clean Jekyll-only build configuration for Azure Static Web Apps

• README.md: Added Tools and Resources section documenting prompt engineering toolkit

Removed

• Extension files from root directory (moved to extension/)
  • tsconfig.json, esbuild.js, eslint.config.mjs (now in extension/)
  • src/, out/, dist/ directories (now in extension/)
  • .vscode-test.mjs, .vscodeignore, vsc-extension-quickstart.md, EXTENSION-README.md