spacedrive/xtask

xtask

Build automation tasks for Spacedrive using the xtask pattern.

What is xtask?

The xtask pattern is the idiomatic Rust way to handle project-specific build automation. Instead of using shell scripts, Makefiles, JavaScript, or external build tools, you write your build tasks as Rust code in a workspace member called xtask.

This approach is used by major Rust projects including:

• rust-analyzer - IDE support
• tokio - async runtime
• cargo itself - Rust's package manager

Benefits

• ✅ Pure Rust - No shell scripts or JavaScript tooling
• ✅ Type-safe - Catch errors at compile time
• ✅ Debuggable - Use standard Rust debugging tools
• ✅ Cross-platform - Works on Windows, macOS, Linux
• ✅ No external tools - Just cargo and rustup
• ✅ Self-contained - No need for pnpm, node, or JavaScript

Usage

Run tasks using cargo xtask:

# Setup development environment (replaces pnpm prep)
cargo xtask setup

# Build iOS framework (device + simulator)
cargo xtask build-ios

# Or use the convenient alias:
cargo ios

Available Commands

setup

Replaces pnpm prep with a pure Rust implementation!

Sets up your development environment:

1. Downloads native dependencies (FFmpeg, protoc, OpenSSL, libheif, etc.)
2. Extracts them to apps/.deps/
3. Downloads iOS-specific deps if iOS targets are installed
4. Creates symlinks for shared libraries (macOS/Linux)
5. Generates .cargo/config.toml from the template

Usage:

cargo xtask setup

First time setup:

# Install Rust if you haven't already
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

# Add iOS targets (macOS only, optional)
rustup target add aarch64-apple-ios aarch64-apple-ios-sim x86_64-apple-ios

# Run setup
cargo xtask setup

# Build the CLI
cargo build

build-ios

Builds the sd-ios-core library for iOS (macOS only):

1. Compiles for aarch64-apple-ios (physical devices)
2. Compiles for aarch64-apple-ios-sim (M1/M2 simulator)
3. Compiles for x86_64-apple-ios (Intel simulator)
4. Creates universal simulator library (ARM64 + x86_64) using lipo
5. Updates the existing XCFramework that Xcode is already using

Output: apps/ios/sd-ios-core/sd_ios_core.xcframework/

The XCFramework structure looks like:

sd_ios_core.xcframework/
├── Info.plist                           # Top-level XCFramework metadata
├── ios-arm64/
│   ├── libsd_ios_core.a                 # Device library
│   └── Info.plist                       # Device metadata
└── ios-arm64-simulator/
    ├── libsd_ios_core.a                 # Universal simulator library (ARM64 + x86_64)
    └── Info.plist                       # Simulator metadata

How It Works

The xtask pattern works through Cargo's workspace and alias features. When you run:

cargo ios

Cargo:

1. Looks for an alias in .cargo/config.toml
2. Expands it to cargo run --package xtask -- build-ios
3. Builds and runs the xtask binary
4. Passes build-ios as an argument

The xtask binary is just a regular Rust program that uses std::process::Command to invoke cargo builds and file operations.

Migration from Old Setup

Replaced: pnpm prep (JavaScript)

Old way:

pnpm i              # Install JS dependencies
pnpm prep           # Run JavaScript setup script

New way:

cargo xtask setup   # Pure Rust, no JS needed!

Replaced: scripts/build_ios_xcframework.sh (Bash)

Old way:

./scripts/build_ios_xcframework.sh

New way:

cargo ios           # Convenient alias
# or
cargo xtask build-ios

Why the Change?

• ❌ Old: Required pnpm, node, JavaScript dependencies, bash scripts
• ✅ New: Only requires Rust toolchain (cargo/rustup)
• 🚀 Result: Faster setup, fewer dependencies, more maintainable

Requirements

• Rust toolchain with iOS targets installed:

  rustup target add aarch64-apple-ios aarch64-apple-ios-sim x86_64-apple-ios
  

• Xcode with iOS SDK (for lipo command)

Adding New Tasks

To add a new task:

1. Add a new function in src/main.rs
2. Add a match arm in main() to call your function
3. Document it in the help message
4. Optionally add a cargo alias in .cargo/config.toml

Example:

fn clean_ios() -> Result<()> {
    // Clean iOS builds
    todo!()
}

// In main():
match args[1].as_str() {
    "build-ios" => build_ios()?,
    "clean-ios" => clean_ios()?, // Add this
    _ => { /* ... */ }
}

Further Reading

• matklad's blog post on xtask (creator of rust-analyzer)
• cargo-xtask documentation