Glossary
Key terms used in Structyl documentation.
Terms
Artifact
A file produced by a build process. Examples: compiled binaries, packages (.nupkg, .whl, .crate), documentation.
Auxiliary Target
A target with type: "auxiliary". Used for supporting tools like image generation, documentation, or websites. Included in build but not test or demo.
Command
An action performed on a target. Standard commands: clean, restore, check, lint, format, build, test, bench, demo, pack, doc.
Dependency
A target that must be built before another. Specified via depends_on.
Fail-Fast
Execution stops on first failure. Default behavior. Use --continue to run all targets.
Idempotent
A command that produces the same result when run multiple times on unchanged inputs. clean and restore are idempotent. build is not.
Language Target
A target with type: "language". Represents a library implementation in a specific programming language. Included in test and demo.
Marker File
A file indicating a toolchain. Examples:
Cargo.toml→ cargogo.mod→ gopackage.json→ npm
Meta Command
A command operating across multiple targets. Examples: structyl build, structyl test, structyl ci.
Project Root
The directory containing .structyl/config.json.
Reference Test
A JSON test case in tests/ shared across all language implementations.
Slug
The target key in configuration. Used in commands like structyl build cs.
Suite
A directory of related test cases under tests/.
Target
A buildable unit in a project. Either a language implementation or auxiliary tool.
Toolchain
A preset providing default commands for a build ecosystem. Examples: cargo, dotnet, npm, uv.
Variant
A command using colon notation. Example: build:release is a variant of build.
Version Source
The file containing the project version. Default: VERSION.
Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CI | Continuous Integration |
| CWD | Current Working Directory |
| RE2 | Regular Expression 2 (Google's regex engine) |
| SPDX | Software Package Data Exchange |
| ULP | Unit in the Last Place (floating-point precision) |
See Also
- Semantic Versioning - Version format
- RE2 Syntax - Regex syntax