GitHub Repository Setup Guide for `gat`

This document provides recommended settings, metadata, and procedures for publishing and maintaining the gat repository on GitHub.

1. Repository Metadata

Repository Name: gat
One-Line Description:

A self-hosting, low-level systems programming language with ARC memory management and native Windows x86-64 PE code emission.
Website / Link: https://github.com/DanielcoderX/gat (or project site)
Topics / Tags:
- programming-language
- compiler
- self-hosting
- systems-programming
- windows
- x86-64
- arc
- pe-format
- lsp

2. Git & File Attributes

The repository uses .gitattributes to ensure proper handling of line endings and pre-built binaries:

*.exe binary prevents Git from corrupting Windows seed binaries (bin/gat.exe, bin/gatc.exe).
*.gat text eol=lf enforces LF line endings across source code.
*.ps1 text eol=crlf maintains Windows PowerShell script conventions.

3. Continuous Integration (CI)

A GitHub Actions workflow is provided in .github/workflows/test.yml:

Runs on windows-latest.
Automatically executes the full 3-stage bitwise self-compilation verification and language feature test suite via powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\test.ps1.
Verifies pull requests and commits to master/main.

4. Branch Protection & Workflow

For a single-developer repository:

Keep master (or main) as the default branch.
Automated CI will run on every push and PR.
When expanding to outside contributors, enable branch protection requiring status checks to pass before merging.

5. Binary Distribution & Release Strategy

Seed Binaries: The repo includes bin/gatc.exe (seed compiler) and bin/gat.exe (CLI driver) so new users can clone and build immediately without requiring any pre-existing compiler.
Releases: For tagged releases (e.g. v0.3.0), attach standalone zip archives containing the built binaries (gat.exe, gatc.exe) and standard library (std/) to GitHub Releases.