DO NOT - Huntable CTI Studio Anti-Patterns¶

Critical mistakes to avoid in the Huntable CTI Studio codebase.

CRITICAL DATABASE OPERATIONS¶

DO NOT: Use SQLite or Local Database Connections¶

Bash

# WRONG
sqlite3 cti_scraper.db "SELECT * FROM articles;"
psql -U cti_user -d cti_scraper

# CORRECT
docker exec -it cti_postgres psql -U cti_user -d cti_scraper -c "SELECT * FROM articles;"

DO NOT: Use Wrong Column/Table Names¶

SQL

-- WRONG
SELECT url FROM article;
SELECT success FROM source;

-- CORRECT
SELECT canonical_url FROM articles;
SELECT identifier FROM sources;

DO NOT: Use docker compose down -v¶

Bash

# WRONG - Removes all data volumes
docker compose down -v

# CORRECT - Preserve data volumes
docker compose down

SECURITY ANTI-PATTERNS¶

DO NOT: Hardcode Credentials or API Keys¶

Python

# WRONG
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://user:password@localhost/db"
API_KEY = "sk-1234567890abcdef"

# CORRECT
DATABASE_URL = os.getenv('DATABASE_URL')
API_KEY = os.getenv('OPENAI_API_KEY')

DO NOT: Skip Input Validation¶

Python

# WRONG - SQL injection risk
sql = f"SELECT * FROM articles WHERE content LIKE '%{query}%'"

# CORRECT - Parameterized queries
sql = "SELECT * FROM articles WHERE content ILIKE %s"
execute_sql(sql, (f"%{query}%",))

DO NOT: Expose Debug Information in Production¶

Python

# WRONG
print(f"Processing article: {article.title}")

# CORRECT
logger.info(f"Processing article: {article.title}")

DOCKER OPERATION MISTAKES¶

DO NOT: Run CLI Tools Locally¶

Bash

# WRONG
python -m src.cli.main collect

# CORRECT
./run_cli.sh collect

DO NOT: Mix Local and Containerized Services¶

Bash

# WRONG
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://cti_user:password@localhost:5432/cti_scraper"
python src/web/modern_main.py

# CORRECT
docker compose up -d

DO NOT: Use Wrong Container Names¶

Bash

# WRONG
docker exec -it postgres psql -U cti_user -d cti_scraper

# CORRECT
docker exec -it cti_postgres psql -U cti_user -d cti_scraper

DATA PERSISTENCE MISTAKES¶

DO NOT: Lose Data During Updates¶

Bash

# WRONG - No backup before major changes
docker compose down
git pull
docker compose up -d

# CORRECT - Always backup first
./run_cli.sh backup create
docker compose down
git pull
docker compose up -d

DO NOT: Use Development Volumes in Production¶

YAML

# WRONG
volumes:
  - postgres_data_dev:/var/lib/postgresql/data

# CORRECT
volumes:
  - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

CONFIGURATION ANTI-PATTERNS¶

DO NOT: Commit Sensitive Configuration¶

Bash

# WRONG
git add .env
git commit -m "Add configuration"

# CORRECT
git add .env.example
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

DO NOT: Use Default Passwords¶

Bash

# WRONG
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
REDIS_PASSWORD=redis

# CORRECT
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=cti_postgres_secure_2024_$(openssl rand -hex 8)
REDIS_PASSWORD=cti_redis_secure_2024_$(openssl rand -hex 8)

TESTING MISTAKES¶

DO NOT: Skip Quality Gates¶

Bash

# WRONG
git push origin main

# CORRECT
python3 run_tests.py smoke
python3 run_tests.py unit
python3 run_tests.py api

DO NOT: Use Production Data for Testing¶

Python

# WRONG
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://cti_user:password@cti_postgres:5432/cti_scraper"

# CORRECT
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://cti_user:password@cti_postgres:5432/cti_scraper_test"

CODE QUALITY ANTI-PATTERNS¶

DO NOT: Ignore Type Hints¶

Python

# WRONG
def process_article(article):
    return article.title.upper()

# CORRECT
def process_article(article: ArticleTable) -> str:
    return article.title.upper()

DO NOT: Use Generic Exception Handling¶

Python

# WRONG
try:
    result = risky_operation()
except:
    pass

# CORRECT
try:
    result = risky_operation()
except DatabaseError as e:
    logger.error(f"Database error: {e}")
    raise

WORKFLOW ANTI-PATTERNS¶

DO NOT: Use Sycophantic Language¶

Python

# WRONG
"You're absolutely right!"
"Excellent point!"
"That's a great decision!"

# CORRECT
"Got it."
"I understand."
[Proceed with action]

DO NOT: Commit Without User Confirmation¶

Bash

# WRONG
git commit -m "Auto-generated changes"
git push origin main

# CORRECT - Wait for user confirmation
# Only commit/push when user says "LG" (Looks Good)

DO NOT: Skip Documentation Updates¶

Python

# WRONG
def new_feature():
    # New functionality
    pass

# CORRECT
def new_feature():
    """
    New feature description.

    Args:
        param: Description

    Returns:
        Description
    """
    pass

WEB APPLICATION MISTAKES¶

DO NOT: Use Fragile UI Selectors¶

Python

# WRONG
page.locator("button")  # Too generic
page.locator(".btn-primary")  # CSS class changes

# CORRECT
page.locator("button[data-testid='submit-button']")
page.locator("h1:has-text('Dashboard')")

DO NOT: Skip Error Handling in UI Tests¶

Python

# WRONG
expect(page.locator(".loading")).to_be_hidden()

# CORRECT
try:
    expect(page.locator(".loading")).to_be_hidden(timeout=10000)
except TimeoutError:
    page.screenshot(path="debug-loading-timeout.png")
    raise

PERFORMANCE ANTI-PATTERNS¶

DO NOT: Use Synchronous Operations in Async Context¶

Python

# WRONG
async def process_articles():
    for article in articles:
        result = requests.get(article.url)  # Blocking
        process(result)

# CORRECT
async def process_articles():
    async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
        tasks = [client.get(article.url) for article in articles]
        results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
        for result in results:
            process(result)

DO NOT: Ignore Connection Pooling¶

Python

# WRONG
def get_article(id):
    conn = create_connection()
    result = conn.execute(f"SELECT * FROM articles WHERE id = {id}")
    conn.close()
    return result

# CORRECT
async def get_article(id: int):
    async with get_db_session() as session:
        result = await session.execute(
            select(ArticleTable).where(ArticleTable.id == id)
        )
        return result.scalar_one_or_none()

THREAT INTELLIGENCE SPECIFIC MISTAKES¶

DO NOT: Mix Article-Level Logic With Annotation Labels¶

Python

# WRONG
articles = get_huntable_articles()  # Articles don't have a "huntable" flag; annotations do

# CORRECT
huntable_annotations = get_annotations_by_label("huntable")

(Note: Article-level chosen/rejected classification has been deprecated and removed.)

DO NOT: Skip Content Validation¶

Python

# WRONG
def save_article(article):
    db.save(article)

# CORRECT
def save_article(article):
    issues = validate_content(article.title, article.content, article.url)
    if issues:
        logger.warning(f"Content issues: {issues}")
    db.save(article)

DEPLOYMENT ANTI-PATTERNS¶

DO NOT: Deploy Without Health Checks¶

Bash

# WRONG
docker compose up -d

# CORRECT
docker compose up -d
curl http://localhost:8001/health
docker compose ps

DO NOT: Skip Backup Before Deployment¶

Bash

# WRONG
git pull
docker compose up -d

# CORRECT
./run_cli.sh backup create
git pull
docker compose up -d

SUMMARY CHECKLIST¶

Before making any changes: - [ ] Database: Use cti_postgres container, correct column names - [ ] Security: No hardcoded credentials, validate inputs - [ ] Docker: Use containerized services, preserve volumes - [ ] Testing: Run quality gates, use test data - [ ] Documentation: Update docs for new features - [ ] Backup: Create backup before major changes - [ ] Health: Verify services after deployment - [ ] Workflow: Wait for user confirmation before commit/push

EMERGENCY RECOVERY¶

If you've made a mistake: 1. Stop: docker compose down 2. Restore: ./run_cli.sh backup list to find the backup name, then ./run_cli.sh backup restore <BACKUP_NAME>3. Verify: docker exec -it cti_postgres psql -U cti_user -d cti_scraper -c "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM articles;" 4. Restart: docker compose up -d 5. Check: curl http://localhost:8001/health

When in doubt, don't. Ask for clarification.

Last updated: 2026-07-17 Last reviewed: 2026-09-01