Awesome

what

Zigbo is a custom build step for the Zig build system. You can use this step to render a diagram of the Zig build graph.

example build graph (zigbo's)

flowchart TD
	subgraph tls_0 [Copy build artifacts to prefix path]
	step_0[Opaque Top Level Step]
	step_0 --> step_1["InstallArtifactStep: (install zigbo)\ndestination: build.InstallDir{ .lib = void }"]
	step_1 --> step_2["LibExeObjStep (zigbo)\nkind: lib\nmode: Debug\nlinkage: static\nroot_src: '/Users/haze/Code/zigbo/src/main.zig'"]
	end
	subgraph tls_1 [Remove build artifacts from prefix path]
	step_3[Opaque Top Level Step]
	end
	subgraph tls_2 [Run library tests]
	step_4[Opaque Top Level Step]
	step_4 --> step_5["LibExeObjStep (test)\nkind: test\nmode: Debug\nroot_src: '/Users/haze/Code/zigbo/src/main.zig'"]
	end
	subgraph tls_3 [Output the build graph as a mermaid diagram]
	step_6[Opaque Top Level Step]
	step_6 --> step_7["Opaque Custom Step (Graph Output)"]
	end

usage

Zigbo exports a GraphOutputStep comptime function, which accepts a type of a reader. You can use this to configure the output of the diagram. Below is a simple example of configuring a top level graph step to export the graph to stdout.

const stdout = std.io.getStdOut().writer();
const build_graph = zigbo.graphOutputStep(b, stdout);
const build_graph_step = b.step("graph", "Output the build graph as a mermaid diagram");
build_graph_step.dependOn(&build_graph.step);

If you have custom steps within your build graph, Zigbo by default cannot display all the details of your step (all of the information is opt-in). Below is an example of using a callback function to provide information for specific steps based on their step name.

build_graph.setCustomStepCallback(struct{
    fn customCallback(step: *std.build.Step, writer: anytype) !?zigbo.GraphOutputWriteFnInstruction {
        if (std.mem.startsWith(u8, step.name, "has-")) {
            libressl_build.CDependencyTestStep.mermaidDescribe(step, writer) catch |err| {
                try writer.print("error.{s}", .{@errorName(err)});
            };
            return null;
        } else if (std.mem.endsWith(u8, step.name, "WideCDependencyStep")) {
            libressl_build.WideCDependencyStep.mermaidDescribe(step, writer) catch |err| {
                try writer.print("error.{s}", .{@errorName(err)});
            };
            return null;
        } else if (std.mem.endsWith(u8, step.name, "DeferredLibExeObjStep")) {
            libressl_build.DeferredLibExeObjStep.mermaidDescribe(step, writer) catch |err| {
                try writer.print("error.{s}", .{@errorName(err)});
            };
            return null;
        }

        return .use_default_implementation;
    }
}.customCallback);

how

The Zig build system only asks you to not modify the build graph during "maketime" (build step execution). We are allowed to READ it then. Knowing this, we can traverse the build graph (in the same way that calling make would) and output a diagram (for now, only mermaid) allowing you to analyse, inspect, and digest your entire build graph.

who

Zigbo was originally written by haze and donated to InKryption for maintenance.

when

Zigbo was initially built between January 21st and January 24th.

where

Zigbo was proudly built in New York City.