# Path: platform engineer

From the one rule to a merged pull request: the pages and exercises that take an engineer through the API, the search and verification engines, the data pin and the delivery pipeline, in order.

- Page: <https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/learning-paths/platform-engineer/>
- Updated: 2026-09-25
- From the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji — Knowledge Base wiki. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is quoted verbatim, cited by Ang, and never altered.

---

You will change `webapp/`, `frontend/`, `tools/` or the wiki. Two days, in this order.

On the rendered wiki each step has a checkbox remembered in your browser; on GitHub, tick them in
your head.

1. Read the [reverence checklist](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/onboarding/reverence-checklist/) and
   [what Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/scripture/what-sggs-is/) — the one rule, in your words.
2. [Run it locally](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/onboarding/run-it-locally/): `make doctor`, `make dataset`,
   `python3 webapp/serve.py`, and open `/api/health`.
3. [How the three repositories fit](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/onboarding/how-the-repos-fit/) and
   [the dataset pin](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/data/dataset-pin/): where the database comes from and why you never edit it.
4. [Architecture overview](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/architecture/overview/), then the
   [request lifecycle](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/architecture/request-lifecycle/) and
   [bounded contexts and the gateway](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/architecture/bounded-contexts-and-gateway/).
5. [Anatomy of a line record](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/data/line-record/) — use the Ang explorer on Angs 1, 712 and 1256.
6. [The search waterfall](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/architecture/search-waterfall/), then
   [modes and tiers](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/search/modes-and-tiers/) and [the Roman fold](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/search/the-roman-fold/).
7. **[Exercise 01 — trace a search](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/exercises/01-trace-a-search/).**
8. [The verification engine](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/search/verification-engine/) and
   [harnesses and golden vectors](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/search/harnesses-and-golden-vectors/).
9. [The JSON API](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/api/), [API routes](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/api/routes/),
   [contract and OpenAPI](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/api/contract-and-openapi/), [versioning and caching](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/api/versioning-and-caching/).
10. **[Exercise 02 — add a route and watch the gates](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/exercises/02-add-a-route/).**
11. [Engineering invariants](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/engineering/invariants/) — read every bullet; they are what a reviewer checks.
12. [CI gates](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/process/ci-gates/), [branching and delivery](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/process/branching/),
    [the deploy runbook](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/process/runbooks/deploy/).
13. **[Exercise 03 — bump a pin in a scratch branch](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/exercises/03-bump-a-pin/).**
14. [Your first pull request](https://docs.gurbanisoul.com/onboarding/your-first-pr/) — then open a real one.

When you are done you can explain, without notes, why `/api/search` reports a `mode`, why the
fold lives in three places, why a deploy is verified by commit, and why none of it may touch a
single character of the text.