Document requests as a runtime prerequisite

[dmccoystephenson]

Summary

Stage A documentation accuracy sweep. One drift was found and is fixed here:

• main.py imports Viron's EnvironmentService and LocationService, and both modules import requests (Viron/src/main/python/preponderous/viron/services/environmentService.py:5, locationService.py:3). The README's Prerequisites and Setup sections only said to install Pygame, so following them literally ends in ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'requests' when python main.py is run. Requests is now listed as a prerequisite, and the setup command installs it alongside Pygame.

Everything else in the README and the batch scripts was checked against the source and found accurate: the CLI arguments and fallbacks in parseArgs, the environments.json key format, the 800x800 resizable window and 60 FPS cap, the RenderWindow API (close(), context manager, resizable), the create_environments.bat / up.bat / down.bat commands, the Tests workflow description, the headless harness scenarios, and the usage-reporting section.

One further observation is recorded but not changed: the README states Python 3.10+ is required. Static inspection suggests the real lower bound from the Viron import chain is 3.9 (the newest syntax found is the PEP 585 list[Environment] annotation at environmentService.py:16, which fails on 3.8). No 3.9 interpreter was available to confirm this, so the stated minimum is left as it is; stating a version that is too high is conservative and does no harm.

Test plan

• python3 -m py_compile main.py graphik.py __init__.py passes
• python3 -m unittest discover -s tests: 123 tests ran, OK (Python 3.8.10; docs-only change, so this only confirms nothing else was disturbed)
• The requests import was confirmed by reading the two Viron service modules, and by importing environmentService with requests stubbed out
• Manual render check against a live Viron instance: UNVERIFIED-not-applicable. Only README.md changes, and no Docker is available in this environment to run Viron.

Deferred issues

• Decide whether per-location colours should be stable across frames #24: gated on an owner decision (stable vs. animated colours), which an autonomous run cannot make.
• Add text-based UI support to library for users #11, Support drawing environments with multiple grids #2: feature work too large for a polish-sized cycle (a text-based UI with an example console app; multi-grid rendering).

No tracking issue: the gap was found during the documentation sweep.

This PR description was drafted during a Gardener session (https://github.com/Stephenson-Software/gardener).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson

[dmccoystephenson]

Self-review rubric (one intrinsic pass; anchor: py_compile + 123 unit tests OK locally, Tests workflow green on the PR head):

• Scope: PASS. Only README.md is touched (+2/−1), and both lines concern the missing requests prerequisite.
• Tests-new: PASS (not applicable). No code was added.
• Tests-fix: PASS (not applicable). The change is to docs only, so there is no fix to stash and re-run.
• Sibling structure: PASS. The new prerequisite bullet follows the Pygame bullet's [Name](link) (\pip install …`)` form.
• Sibling renames: PASS (not applicable). Nothing was renamed.
• Docs: PASS. The "Running the tests" and "Running without Docker or a display" sections still hold, because both stub Viron's service modules in sys.modules and so never import requests. The batch scripts are unaffected.
• Issue resolution: PASS (not applicable). No Closes, since the gap was found during the sweep.
• Manual validation: the anchor is green for what it covers. The live Viron render is UNVERIFIED-not-applicable: the change is README-only and no Docker is available here.

Judgment call recorded: Viron/requirements.txt pins requests==2.25.1 next to pytest==6.2.4. Pointing readers at pip install -r Viron/requirements.txt was considered and rejected, because that would also install a pytest pin Patchwork does not use, and that pin may not install on current Pythons. The unpinned requests keeps the install instruction minimal.

README.md:88: the Python 3.10+ minimum looks overstated; 3.9 is the likely floor. This is noted in the PR body and left unchanged, because no 3.9 interpreter was available to confirm it.

This review was drafted during a Gardener session (https://github.com/Stephenson-Software/gardener).

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drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson