resolve-rust-targets

name	resolve-rust-targets
description	Resolve Rust package names and verification scope from cargo metadata. Never guess package IDs.
argument-hint	[file-path | package-name | --touched]
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Bash
truth_contract	{"canonical_sources":["ops/state/config/repo-map.json"],"live_load_required":["cargo metadata --no-deps --format-version 1","git diff --name-only $(git merge-base HEAD origin/main)..HEAD"],"examples_only":[],"never_hardcode":["package names (always resolve via cargo metadata — human labels ≠ cargo IDs)","changed file list (always live-query from git)"]}

Use cargo metadata as the authoritative source for package names, manifests, and verification scope. Run before clippy, test, or build commands when the target package is even slightly uncertain.

The Problem This Solves

The transcript hit ledger → icn-ledger-app → icn-ledger-actor before landing on the right package. That cost two dead-end compile attempts. cargo metadata answers this in one call.

Steps

Mode 1: Resolve from changed files ($ARGUMENTS is --touched or empty)

# Get files changed on this branch
git diff --name-only $(git merge-base HEAD origin/main)..HEAD

# Get all workspace package names and their root dirs
cargo metadata --no-deps --format-version 1 \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
md = json.load(sys.stdin)
for p in md['packages']:
    root = p['manifest_path'].replace('/Cargo.toml','')
    print(f\"{p['name']:40s}  {root}\")
" | sort

Then for each changed file, find its containing package by matching path prefix to manifest root.

Mode 2: Resolve a human label ($ARGUMENTS is a name like "ledger")

cargo metadata --no-deps --format-version 1 \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json, difflib
name = '$ARGUMENTS'
md = json.load(sys.stdin)
packages = [(p['name'], p['manifest_path']) for p in md['packages']]
# Exact match first
exact = [p for p in packages if p[0] == name]
if exact:
    print('EXACT:', exact[0][0])
else:
    # Near-match suggestions
    names = [p[0] for p in packages]
    close = difflib.get_close_matches(name, names, n=5, cutoff=0.4)
    for c in close:
        m = next(p for p in packages if p[0] == c)
        print(f'NEAR:  {m[0]:40s}  {m[1]}')
"

Mode 3: Generate verification commands for a set of packages

Given a list of resolved package names, produce the minimal cargo command set:

# For scoped verification (preferred — faster):
cargo clippy -p <pkg1> -p <pkg2> --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test -p <pkg1> -p <pkg2>

# For cross-cutting changes (bins, icnd, core):
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace

Package taxonomy (ICN workspace)

Location	Pattern	Example
icn/crates/<name>/	icn-<name>	icn-ledger, icn-obs, icn-security
icn/apps/<name>/	icn-<name>-actor or icn-<name>-app	icn-ledger-actor, icn-governance-actor
icn/bins/<name>/	<name>	icnd, icnctl, icn-console

Common confusions from the transcript:

• "ledger" → icn-ledger (crate) or icn-ledger-actor (app) — both exist
• "ledger app" → icn-ledger-actor
• "icn-ledger-app" → does not exist; nearest is icn-ledger-actor
• "obs" → icn-obs
• "security" → icn-security
• "compute" → icn-compute

Output

Changed files → packages:
  icn/crates/icn-obs/src/attestation.rs     icn-obs
  icn/crates/icn-core/src/config/obs.rs     icn-core

Suggested scoped command:
  cargo clippy -p icn-obs -p icn-core --all-targets -- -D warnings
  cargo test -p icn-obs -p icn-core

Guardrails

• Never run cargo clippy --workspace when scoped commands are sufficient.
• When a package name yields "error: package ID specification did not match", immediately run this skill with the human label to find the correct name before retrying.
• Bins (icnd) depend on everything; touching icnd/src/main.rs requires workspace-wide verify.