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Cullinan — A pluggable IoC/DI web framework

Project description

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Cullinan

A lightweight, modular Python web framework with built-in IoC/DI

Cullinan is built on Tornado (HTTP/WebSocket), but the developer-facing model is not "grab an app object and register everything by hand". Instead, Cullinan focuses on:

  • Decorator-first business development with @service, @controller, @get_api, ...
  • Runtime assembly from Python imports and decorator metadata, rather than manual app wiring
  • Optional module boundaries with @module when you need ownership, reload, hot-plugging, and higher runtime stability
  • Built-in IoC/DI with request scope and service lifecycle hooks

✨ Features

Core Framework

  • Simple decorator-based routing (@controller, @get_api, @post_api, ...)
  • Type-safe parameter system with Path, Query, Body, Header, File (v0.90+)
  • Unified parameter syntax: param: Type = Type(...) (v0.90a5+)
  • Pure type annotation as Query: page: int automatically becomes Query parameter (v0.90a5+)
  • as_required() shortcut: File.as_required(), Body.as_required() (v0.90a5+)
  • DynamicBody for flexible request body access with safe accessors (v0.90a4+)
  • RawBody for raw unparsed request body (bytes) (v0.90a5+)
  • FileInfo/FileList for file upload with validation (v0.90a5+)
  • @field_validator for dataclass field validation (v0.90a5+)
  • ResponseSerializer for automatic response serialization (v0.90a5+)
  • Pluggable model handlers for Pydantic and custom model integration (v0.90a5+)
  • Auto type conversion and validation (ge, le, min_length, regex, etc.)
  • Modular runtime with decorator metadata, DI, lifecycle management, and runtime switching
  • Built-in IoC/DI with InjectByName and Inject support
  • Unified lifecycle hooks (on_post_construct, on_startup, on_shutdown, on_pre_destroy) on all components
  • Duck Typing lifecycle: no base class inheritance required (v0.92+)
  • Designed for tests: resettable registries and request-scoped dependencies

Services & WebSocket

  • Service registry with dependency resolution
  • WebSocket support via @websocket_handler and registry pattern
  • Request context / request scope for per-request objects

Deployment & Production

  • Packaging-friendly (Nuitka, PyInstaller)
  • Cross-platform: Windows, Linux, macOS
  • Based on production-tested Tornado

📚 Documentation

Language / 语言

Version Notes

  • Current series: v0.93a5
    • Application/runtime model centered on Application, current_app(), and the unified Web Runtime
    • Decorator-first component discovery based on Python import execution
    • @module as the structured boundary for ownership, reload, draining, and hot-pluggable runtime assembly
    • Unified lifecycle management with on_post_construct, on_startup, on_shutdown, on_pre_destroy
    • Built-in IoC/DI with Inject() and InjectByName()
    • Structured semantic diagnostics for discovery, injection, lifecycle, and compatibility APIs

🚀 Quick Start

Install

Use pip from PyPI:

pip install -U pip
pip install cullinan

Ensure you have a working Python 3.8+ environment (virtualenv/conda/system Python are all fine).

Minimal Application

# minimal_app.py
from cullinan import Inject, configure, controller, get_api, module, run, service


@service
class GreetingService:
    def greet(self) -> str:
        return "Hello from Cullinan!"


@controller(url="/hello")
class HelloController:
    greeting_service: GreetingService = Inject()

    @get_api(url="")
    def hello(self):
        return {"message": self.greeting_service.greet()}


@module
class RootModule:
    """Boundary declaration for owned packages and runtime assembly."""


configure(root_module=RootModule)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    run()

Run:

python minimal_app.py
# GET: http://localhost:4080/hello

In this model, you mainly write business services, controllers, and methods. The app object above is the assembled runtime handle, not a manual registration center. When you need clearer module ownership, reload, draining, and hot-plugging semantics, @module becomes the boundary declaration that keeps the runtime stable.

For a more detailed onboarding, follow docs/getting_started.md (or docs/zh/getting_started.md).


💡 Dependency Injection Patterns

Cullinan ships with a core IoC/DI system. Recommended patterns:

1. InjectByName (recommended default)

from cullinan import service, Service
from cullinan.core import InjectByName

@service
class EmailService(Service):
    def send_email(self, to, subject, body):
        print(f"Sending email to {to}: {subject}")
        return True

@service
class UserService(Service):
    """Service for user management with email dependency."""

    # Name-based injection, no direct import needed
    email_service = InjectByName('EmailService')

    def create_user(self, name, email):
        user = {'name': name, 'email': email}
        self.email_service.send_email(email, "Welcome", f"Welcome {name}!")
        return user

2. Inject + TYPE_CHECKING (IDE autocomplete)

from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
from cullinan import service, Service
from cullinan.core import Inject

if TYPE_CHECKING:
    from services.email import EmailService

@service
class UserService(Service):
    # Type-hinted injection for better IDE support
    email_service: 'EmailService' = Inject()

    def create_user(self, name, email):
        self.email_service.send_email(email, "Welcome", f"Welcome {name}!")
        return {"name": name, "email": email}

Controllers and RESTful decorators

from cullinan.controller import controller, get_api, post_api
from cullinan.core import InjectByName
from cullinan.params import Query, Body

@controller(url='/api')
class UserController:
    # Inject the UserService by name
    user_service = InjectByName('UserService')

    # Type-safe query parameter (v0.90+)
    @get_api(url='/users')
    def get_user(self, id: Query(str)):
        return self.response_factory(
            status=200,
            body={"message": "User fetched successfully", "user_id": id},
        )

    # Type-safe body parameters (v0.90+)
    @post_api(url='/users')
    def create_user(self, name: Body(str, required=True), email: Body(str, required=True)):
        user = self.user_service.create_user(name, email)
        return self.response_factory(
            status=201,
            body={"message": "User created successfully", "data": user},
        )

Note: RESTful decorators are defined as def get_api(**kwargs) etc. Only keyword arguments are supported. Use @get_api(url='/users'), not @get_api('/users').

For full parameter system documentation, see docs/parameter_system_guide.md.

More DI patterns and controller examples are documented in docs/wiki/injection.md and docs/wiki/restful_api.md (and their Chinese counterparts).


📖 More Examples

The examples/ folder contains additional runnable demos (HTTP, middleware, DI). Refer to:

  • examples/hello_http.py – minimal HTTP example using the handler registry
  • examples/controller_di_middleware.py – controller + DI + middleware integration

Each example is referenced from the docs so you can cross-check behavior with tests (tests/ directory).


📖 Additional Documentation

For advanced topics, see the docs:

  • Configuration – environment and config options
  • Packaging – building executables with Nuitka/PyInstaller
  • Service Layer – service patterns and DI
  • Registry Pattern – unified registry behavior
  • Testing – running tests and using test registries
  • Troubleshooting – common issues and diagnostics

🔗 Links


📄 License

MIT License – see LICENSE for details.


💻 Maintainer

Plumeink

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