[INFRA] Establish unified project-wide standards across all AzureLocal repositories

[kristopherjturner]

Problem

We currently have three separate places defining standards, with overlap, gaps, and conflicts:

Location	What It Covers	Gap
azurelocal.github.io/standards/ (Docusaurus site)	Documentation, scripting, provisioning, infrastructure, variable mgmt, solutions, naming conventions (v3.1)	Written for TierPoint ProdTech context — needs adaptation for the AzureLocal org
project_management/repo-standard.md	Repo structure checklist: required files, labels, naming, release-please, workflows	Good scaffold but no scripting, variable, or IaC depth
azurelocal-sofs-fslogix/docs/standards/	Scripts, docs, variables, solutions, examples	Repo-specific — duplicates and diverges from the site standards

Specific Conflicts Discovered

• Naming: repo-standard.md says Verb-Noun.ps1 for scripts; the SOFS standards add Ansible/CLI conventions not in repo-standard; the Docusaurus site has the most comprehensive naming doc (v3.1) covering files, directories, variables, VMware, networking, git — but it's not referenced by any other repo
• Documentation: repo-standard.md says "MkDocs Material with golden config"; the Docusaurus site defines full documentation standards with frontmatter, badge library, admonitions, MDX reference — none of this is shared to MkDocs repos
• Fictional company: SOFS repo and Docusaurus site both use "Infinite Improbability Corp (IIC)" but repo-standard.md doesn't mention it — some repos may still use contoso
• No enforcement mechanism: Standards exist in docs but nothing validates compliance across repos

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Proposed Solution

1. Create a Single Standards Source of Truth

Use the Docusaurus site's standards/ section (already the most mature) as the authoritative org-wide reference. All repos link to it.

2. Adopt a Tiered Model

• Org-level standards (apply to ALL repos): naming conventions, required files, labels, commit messages, branch names, fictional company policy, documentation structure, variable naming rules
• Repo-level standards (solution-specific): solution-specific variable sections, tool-specific conventions

3. Consolidate from Three Sources

Use the Docusaurus site's standards/ as the base since it's the most comprehensive:

• Merge repo-standard.md's repo checklist into the org standards
• Merge SOFS repo's standards into the org standards (remove duplication from SOFS repo, replace with links)

4. Add Enforcement

• CI workflow that validates repo structure against the standard (required files, labels)
• Linting for variable naming (snake_case, max 50 chars)
• PR template checklist referencing the standards

5. Each Repo Points to Central Standards

Via a standards/ symlink, README reference, or CONTRIBUTING.md link.

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Standards Categories to Unify

Category	Best Source Available	Key Decisions
Repo Structure	repo-standard.md	Already good — add variable/config directory standard
Naming Conventions	Docusaurus naming-conventions.mdx (v3.1)	Most comprehensive — adopt as-is, adapt branding
Documentation	Docusaurus documentation-standards.mdx	Adapt for both Docusaurus and MkDocs repos
Scripting	Docusaurus scripting-standards.mdx + SOFS scripts.md	Merge — Docusaurus has more depth, SOFS has Ansible/CLI
Variables	Docusaurus variable-management/ suite	See companion issue on variable management
Solutions/IaC	Docusaurus solution-development-standard.mdx + SOFS solutions.md	Merge — multi-tool parity from Docusaurus, simplified patterns from SOFS
Examples	SOFS examples.md	Good template — adopt org-wide
Fictional Company	Both already use IIC	Formalize as mandatory org-wide policy

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Repos in Scope

• azurelocal.github.io (community portal / central docs)
• azurelocal-toolkit (platform toolkit)
• azurelocal-sofs-fslogix (SOFS + FSLogix solution)
• aurelocal-avd (Azure Virtual Desktop solution)
• azurelocal-loadtools (load testing tools)
• azurelocal-vm-conversion-toolkit (VM conversion)

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Acceptance Criteria

• Single authoritative standards location identified and documented
• All standard categories listed above have a unified document
• Every repo's README or CONTRIBUTING.md links to the central standards
• SOFS repo's docs/standards/ either removed or replaced with links to central
• CI check validates repo structure (required files from repo-standard.md checklist)
• PR template includes standards compliance checklist
• IIC fictional company policy documented and enforced org-wide

[kristopherjturner]

Related Issues

• Automation interoperability standard & variable framework azurelocal-sofs-fslogix#47 — Automation interoperability standard & variable framework (the existing per-repo effort this issue generalizes org-wide)
• [INFRA] Standardize variable management, naming, and structure across all repositories #15 — [INFRA] Standardize variable management, naming, and structure across all repositories (companion issue focused on variables)