settings Directory Refactoring Implementation

This document details the refactoring steps executed to group local configuration settings and secrets into a dedicated ./settings/ directory, keeping the project root clean and secure.

Refactoring Steps

The refactoring was carried out sequentially:

1. Directory Scaffolding

• Created the new ./settings/ directory at the root of the repository.

2. Environment Configurations Setup

• Scaffolded settings/.env.local to store the Azure DevOps configuration variables (ADO_ORG_URL, ADO_PROJECT_NAME = "EventRouteOptimiser", ADO_PAT) and the GEMINI_API_KEY.
• Scaffolded settings/.dev.vars to store local Wrangler environment variables (GEMINI_API_KEY).

3. Legacy Files Cleanup

• Safely removed .env.local and .dev.vars from the root workspace directory to prevent duplication and ensure a single source of truth for settings.

4. Git Ignore Enforcement

• Updated .gitignore to add settings/ to the ignore rules, ensuring that all local environment settings and access tokens are strictly blocked from version control.

5. Documentation Updates

• Updated 09-environment-secrets-setup.md to instruct developers to place env and secret files in the new settings/ directory.
• Updated 11-ado-mcp-setup.md validation step to check for configuration parameters under the settings/ path.