Working without an AI agent¶

Everything below works without Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, or any AI tool. Perforce itself (P4V or the p4 CLI) plus exclusive checkout carry the workflow, so a manual engineer is fully covered.

Git/GitHub is legacy. Do not git pull / branch / commit / open PRs for day-to-day work — use Perforce.

Daily loop¶

Get latest (sync before you check anything out):
```
p4 sync
```
Or in P4V: right-click the project → Get Latest Revision.
Build once per day with the helper:
```
.\[OpenAfterPull]Build_Project.bat -check
```
then run the bat normally and open the LV_2ndPlayable level.
Start a task = open a described changelist (never work loosely in the default when you can help it):
```
p4 change
```
Put a <task_code> [Name] <description> line in the Description (e.g. UI-003 [Jiacheng Sun] gameplay controls overlay), save, note the changelist number. In P4V: New Changelist…. Set it as your current changelist so checkouts land in it.
Work in Unreal / VS. Files are checked out as you edit — binary .uasset/.umap get an exclusive lock so nobody else edits them concurrently. To check out manually:
```
p4 edit <files>
```
Review, then submit:
```
p4 submit -c <changelist>
```
In P4V: right-click the changelist → Submit. Revert unchanged files first (P4V Revert Unchanged, or p4 revert -a -c <changelist>).

There are no branches or pull requests. Keep checkouts short and changelists small — a held lock on a .umap blocks that level for the whole team.

Reviews without an agent¶

convention_check (MCP-only): self-check your C++ against the coding conventions before submit: ASCII-only UE_LOG, no banner comments, actor ids via GetActorNameOrLabel(), include order (own header → engine → project → third-party), no unused placeholder blocks. Without an agent, review the checklist by hand.
Team review (request_review, MCP-only): ask your lead or a teammate with an agent to run the review pass on your shelved changelist before you submit. A human reviews regardless. To shelve for them: p4 shelve -c <changelist>.
Compile + PIE: always yours — build in VS and playtest before you submit.

Devlog without an agent¶

Write the weekly entry by hand, following the devlogs README: one ## YYYY-MM-DD section per day, with a one-line summary, files touched, decisions/blockers, and the team task link if any. File lives at Rephrased Wiki/wiki/devlogs/YYYY-Www-<your-name>.md. Or ask a teammate with an agent to draft it via the devlog tool.

Keys and MCP¶

Not needed for manual work. The review key (rephr_...) only gates the agent-side tools. If you start using Codex / Claude Code / Cursor later, follow the two-phase "onboard me" flow in MCP setup — no manual config.

Change history¶

2026-09-05 — Gabriel Li — Rewrote the daily loop for Perforce (p4 sync / p4 change / p4 edit / p4 submit, exclusive checkout, shelve-for-review). Removed git branch/commit/push/PR steps; git is legacy.
2026-09-05 — Gabriel Li — Updated sandbox references to PreProShowcase (Content/Rephrased/Levels/Prepro/) after the content reorganization (PR #19).
2026-08-27 - Gabriel Li - Created manual workflow page so engineers without AI agents have a documented path.