ocaml-project-setup

name	ocaml-project-setup
description	Standards for OCaml project metadata files. Use when initializing a new OCaml library/module, preparing for opam release, setting up CI, discussing project structure, or ensuring proper .mli/.ocamlformat files exist.
license	ISC

OCaml Project Setup

Required Files

Every OCaml project needs:

File	Purpose
dune-project	Build configuration, opam generation
dune (root)	Top-level build rules
.ocamlformat	Code formatting (required)
.gitignore	VCS ignores
LICENSE.md	License file
README.md	Project documentation
CI config	GitHub Actions / GitLab CI / Tangled

Interface Files (.mli)

Every library module must have an .mli file for:

• Clear API boundaries
• Proper encapsulation
• Documentation surface

(* lib/user.mli *)

(** User management.

    This module provides types and functions for user operations. *)

type t
(** A user. *)

val create : name:string -> email:string -> t
(** [create ~name ~email] creates a new user. *)

val name : t -> string
(** [name u] is the user's name. *)

val pp : t Fmt.t
(** [pp] is a pretty-printer for users. *)

Documentation style:

• Functions: [name args] is/does ...
• Values: [name] is ...
• End with period

Standard Module Interface

For modules with a central type t:

type t
val v : ... -> t                           (* pure constructor *)
val create : ... -> (t, Error.t) result    (* constructor with I/O *)
val pp : t Fmt.t                           (* pretty-printer - required *)
val equal : t -> t -> bool                 (* equality *)
val compare : t -> t -> int                (* comparison *)
val of_json : Yojson.Safe.t -> (t, string) result
val to_json : t -> Yojson.Safe.t

OCamlFormat Configuration

Required: .ocamlformat in project root.

version = 0.28.1

Run dune fmt before every commit.

Logging Setup

Each module using logging should declare a source:

let log_src = Logs.Src.create "project.module"
module Log = (val Logs.src_log log_src : Logs.LOG)

Log levels:

• Log.app - Always shown (startup)
• Log.err - Critical errors
• Log.warn - Potential issues
• Log.info - Informational
• Log.debug - Verbose debugging

User Configuration

Read from ~/.claude/ocaml-config.json:

{
  "author": { "name": "Name", "email": "[e-mail]" },
  "license": "ISC",
  "ci_platform": "github",
  "git_hosting": { "type": "github", "org": "username" },
  "ocaml_version": "5.2.0"
}

License Headers

Every source file starts with license header:

(*---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Copyright (c) {{YEAR}} {{AUTHOR}}. All rights reserved.
  SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------*)

Project Structure

project/
├── dune-project
├── dune
├── .ocamlformat
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE.md
├── README.md
├── lib/
│   ├── dune
│   ├── foo.ml
│   └── foo.mli         # Required for every .ml
├── bin/
│   ├── dune
│   └── main.ml
├── test/
│   ├── dune
│   ├── test.ml
│   └── test_foo.ml
├── .github/workflows/  # GitHub Actions
├── .gitlab-ci.yml      # GitLab CI
└── .tangled/workflows/ # Tangled CI

dune-project

(lang dune 3.21)
(name project_name)
(generate_opam_files true)

(license ISC)
(authors "Name <[e-mail]>")
(maintainers "Name <[e-mail]>")
(source (tangled user.domain/project_name))

(package
 (name project_name)
 (synopsis "Short description")
 (description "Longer description")
 (depends
  (ocaml (>= 5.2))
  (alcotest (and :with-test (>= 1.7.0)))))

Note: Don't add (version ...) - added at release time.

Tangled Source Syntax

For projects hosted on tangled.org, use the succinct source stanza:

(source (tangled user.domain/project-name))

Examples:

• (source (tangled anil.recoil.org/ocaml-brotli))
• (source (tangled user.example.org/my-library))

Tangled CI Configuration

For projects hosted on tangled.org, create .tangled/workflows/build.yml:

when:
  - event: ["push", "pull_request"]
    branch: ["main"]

engine: nixery

dependencies:
  nixpkgs:
    - shell
    - stdenv
    - findutils
    - binutils
    - libunwind
    - ncurses
    - opam
    - git
    - gawk
    - gnupatch
    - gnum4
    - gnumake
    - gnutar
    - gnused
    - gnugrep
    - diffutils
    - gzip
    - bzip2
    - gcc
    - ocaml
    - pkg-config

steps:
  - name: opam
    command: |
      opam init --disable-sandboxing -a -y

    
     
    
     
    
     
    
     

Tangled Workflow Syntax

Field	Description
when	Trigger conditions: event (push/pull_request) and branch
engine	Build engine, use nixery for Nix-based builds
dependencies.nixpkgs	List of Nix packages to include
environment	Global or per-step environment variables
steps	Build steps with name and command

Per-step environment variables:

steps:
  - name: test
    environment:
      MY_VAR: value
    command: |
      echo $MY_VAR

Templates

See templates/ directory for:

• dune-project.template
• dune-root.template
• ci-github.yml
• ci-gitlab.yml
• ci-tangled.yml
• gitignore
• ocamlformat
• LICENSE-ISC.md
• LICENSE-MIT.md
• README.template.md