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SRED Project Summary — 2026 Remove Compat Shim Layer

Project Description

micboard/manufacturers/ was a backward-compatibility shim layer. Its __init__.py (93 lines) dynamically mirrored micboard.integrations.* modules into sys.modules under the old micboard.manufacturers namespace. The directory also contained base.py (98 lines) duplicating abstract base classes (BaseAPIClient, BasePlugin, ManufacturerPlugin) now owned by micboard/services/common/base/. Actual plugin implementations lived in micboard/integrations/shure/ and micboard/integrations/sennheiser/. The shim created confusion about canonical import paths, used fragile sys.modules manipulation, duplicated class definitions, and added maintenance burden for zero functional value.

Project Goals

Remove micboard/manufacturers/ entirely in a single PR. Update all import references from micboard.manufacturers.* to micboard.integrations.*. Use canonical contracts in micboard/services/common/base/; do not create another shared hierarchy or compatibility export. Remove all sys.modules patching logic. Audit import statements from the repository root, including tests and configuration code. Historical ADR and SRED documents may name the removed namespace, but no executable file may import it.

Technical Uncertainties

Uncertainty #1: Single-PR Migration Across 15-25 Import Sites Without Breaking CI Mid-Migration

Description: Estimated 15-25 files imported from micboard.manufacturers. A partial migration would break CI (some files using old path, some new). No deprecation window — the shim had existed long enough that actively maintained code should already be migrated. Coordinating all changes atomically across admin, tasks, services, integrations, and tests was the uncertainty.

Experiments:

  • Pre-migration audit: grep -r "micboard.manufacturers" --include="*.py" | grep -v "__pycache__" | grep -v ".pyc" — found 23 import sites across 12 files
  • Strategy: create branch, update all 12 files in single commit, delete micboard/manufacturers/ in same commit, run full test suite
  • Risk mitigation: run tests locally before push; if any import missed, CI catches it (fail-fast)

Results / Learnings / Success:

  • 23 import sites updated in single PR; micboard/manufacturers/ deleted (191 lines removed)
  • CI passed on first push; no follow-up fixes needed
  • Repository-root audit confirmed no executable import of micboard.manufacturers; historical documentation references remain as an explicit exception

Uncertainty-Specific Documentation & Links:

Uncertainty #2: Canonical Contract Location Without Creating New Shared Hierarchy

Description: The shim’s base.py defined BaseAPIClient, BasePlugin, ManufacturerPlugin. These were duplicated in micboard/services/common/base/. Removing the shim required confirming services/common/base/ was the true canonical location and no code still depended on the shim’s versions.

Experiments:

  • Verified: all active integrations (shure/, sennheiser/) already imported base classes from services.common.base
  • Verified: PluginRegistry constructed plugins using services.common.base contracts
  • Decision: do not re-export from integrations/; callers import directly from services.common.base

Results / Learnings / Success:

  • Single source of truth for plugin contracts at micboard/services/common/base/
  • No new compatibility layer created
  • New integrations follow same pattern: import contracts from services.common.base, implement in integrations/<vendor>/

Uncertainty-Specific Documentation & Links:

Participants

Name Role % Yearly Time Contribution
(team lead) Architecture / Audit ~15% Import site audit, ADR-008
(engineer) Migration Implementation ~30% 23 import updates, shim deletion
(engineer) CI Guard / Verification ~15% Grep check in CI, local test run

Project Documentation & Links

Project Docs:

PRs:

  • (single migration PR: import updates + shim deletion + CI guard)