2023-11-22 21:43:20 +00:00
|
|
|
# spec
|
2023-11-22 21:39:27 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-11-22 21:43:20 +00:00
|
|
|
CLI utility for initializing projects in reproducible ways.
|
2023-11-22 21:39:27 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Problem
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nix supports the concept of [templates](https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-flake-init)
|
|
|
|
|
out of the box, but the usefulness of the implementation is dubious. In
|
|
|
|
|
particular,
|
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
|
|
|
> nix flake init
|
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
simply copies the files specified in the template directory to the current
|
|
|
|
|
local directory, with no means of configuring the copied files. This is
|
|
|
|
|
especially useless when working with projects that typically generate files
|
|
|
|
|
on initialization (i.e. most projects).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## How This Works
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Within the `specs` directory exists so-called *specs*. A spec is a directory
|
|
|
|
|
containing a `spec.json` file and a `run.sh` file. The former is configured like
|
|
|
|
|
so:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
```spec.json
|
|
|
|
|
{
|
|
|
|
|
versions: [...],
|
|
|
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The keys of this top-level JSON object correspond to the parameters that are
|
|
|
|
|
prompted by the `gen-flake` curses interface. The value is used to determine
|
|
|
|
|
what kind of prompt `gen-flake` provides for the given question. Possible value
|
|
|
|
|
types are:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* `[...]` (list)
|
|
|
|
|
* This indicates a select option prompt. The user chooses amongst the values
|
|
|
|
|
specified in the JSON list.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Once all prompts are evaluated, the keys of the object are converted into
|
|
|
|
|
uppercase environment variables and passed to the `run.sh` file relative to the
|
|
|
|
|
current directory.
|
