Discover and Evaluate Options for Hosting Experimental 'Pre-fill' Pattern Work

[msbtterswrth]

Background

As an engineer on the auth patterns team, I want to identify and evaluate the best place to host our 'pre-fill' pattern work, so that we can efficiently develop, test, and iterate on this pattern without disrupting our main codebase.

Tasks

1. Review and document the pros and cons of each potential hosting option:
   • vets-website _mock-form folder
   • Local vets-website repo branch with tunneling (Ngrok)
   • Online code prototyping tools (CodePen, CodeSandbox)
   • Separate repo with static site deployment (Netlify, GitHub Pages)
2. Investigate and document available tunneling solutions (if local option is considered viable)
   • Ngrok
   • PageKite
   • Localtunnel
   • others?
3. Set up proof-of-concept implementations in at least two of the most promising options
4. Evaluate each option based on:
   • Ease of setup and maintenance
   • Collaboration capabilities
   • Integration with existing workflows
   • Ability to mimic prod environment
5. Make recommendations and suggested next steps

Acceptance Criteria

• [x] Brief document comparing all considered options is produced
• [x] At least two proof-of-concept implementations are created, but can be very minimal mvps
• [x] A recommendation is made, and is justified with information on how it will support our pattern development and testing
• [x] Potential risks or limitations of the recommended approach are identified and addressed
• [x] A plan for implementing the chosen solution is outlined / further tickets are created

[bellepx0]

Adam and I met today to discuss our initial findings for each of the 4 hosting options. Link to discovery doc here Next steps: Belle

• Develop Proof-of-Concept for port forwarding (tunneling) alongside using yarn watch method to point to vets-api staging (instead of localhost:3000 for vets-api).
• Develop Proof-of-Concept for creating a new application under "_mock-form" in the vets-website repo.

Adam

• Develop Proof-of-Concept for using CodePen as an option
• Also look at Github Codespaces as a way to run an isolated instance of vets-website

[adamwhitlock1]

I created this document outlining the pros and cons of working on pattern prototypes in Codepen:

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/blob/master/products/authenticated-patterns/engineering/Codepen-notes.md

[adamwhitlock1]

Further work has been created in these tickets:

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/tmf-auth-exp-design-patterns/issues/51

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/tmf-auth-exp-design-patterns/issues/52

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/tmf-auth-exp-design-patterns/issues/53

https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/tmf-auth-exp-design-patterns/issues/54

[adamwhitlock1]

Okay, I am going to close this now.

We have our main doc here: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/blob/master/products/authenticated-patterns/engineering/%2332-Discover%20and%20Evaluate%20Options%20for%20Hosting%20Experimental%20'Pre-fill'%20Pattern%20Work.md which includs pros, cons, and all conclusions.