inclean 0.3.0a1

A C/C++ #include path normalizer that rewrites includes to resolve cleanly against a minimal -I set.

inclean

English | 简体中文

A C/C++ #include path normalizer.

Many legacy C/C++ libraries #include headers by bare filename (#include "bar.h") even though the actual header lives several directories deep (src/internal/bar.h). To consume such a library a caller must add every internal directory to their -I list — which pollutes their include namespace and breaks the library's encapsulation.

inclean does a one-shot, source-level normalization. It scans every source file in the library and rewrites each #include so it resolves cleanly against a small, explicit set of allowed include directories. After running inclean, consumers only -I the allowed directories.

---

Install

inclean is published to crates.io, PyPI, and as prebuilt binaries on GitHub Releases. Pick whichever ecosystem you already have on your machine.

Via PyPI (Python wheels — no Rust toolchain needed)

Three options:

uv tool install inclean      # isolated, fastest
pipx install inclean         # isolated
pip install inclean          # into the current environment

The wheels ship the native binary built by maturin; inclean lands on your PATH the same way ruff or uv do. Requires Python ≥ 3.8.

Via cargo

Two options:

cargo binstall inclean       # prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases (no compilation)
cargo install inclean        # build from crates.io

cargo binstall fetches inclean's binstall metadata from crates.io and downloads the matching prebuilt archive from this repo's GitHub Releases (no compilation). cargo binstall is a third-party cargo subcommand — install it first via cargo-bins/cargo-binstall if you don't already have it.

cargo install downloads the source from crates.io and compiles it locally.

Prebuilt binaries (no package manager)

Download a tarball for your platform from the latest GitHub Release and put inclean (or inclean.exe) on your PATH. Released targets:

• x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
• aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
• x86_64-apple-darwin
• aarch64-apple-darwin
• x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

From repo source

Clone this repo and build from source:

git clone https://github.com/inaku-Gyan/inclean.git
cd inclean
cargo install --path .

Quick start

inclean is driven by an inclean.toml placed at the root of the library you want to clean up. A typical workflow:

inclean init                # write a documented starter inclean.toml
$EDITOR inclean.toml        # tell it where your headers live
inclean check               # dry-run: report every proposed change
inclean diff                # see the rewrites as a unified diff
inclean apply               # write the rewrites in place

check / diff / apply optionally take [PATHS...] to restrict which files are processed; with no paths they consider every source file under the project root. -c PATH overrides the upward inclean.toml walk; -j N sets the worker thread count.

Example

A simple replace-action config that rewrites #include "foo.h" to #include "lib/foo.h":

[project]
root = "."
version = "0.3.0"
min_inclean_version = "0.3.0"

[[rule]]
name = "lib-prefix"
file_paths = ["src/**/*"]
include_match = ["foo.h", "bar.h"]
action = { type = "replace", with = "lib/${original}" }

See tests/golden_tests/ for runnable end-to-end examples.

Commands

Command	Purpose
inclean init [PATH]	Generate a documented starter inclean.toml. Alias of inclean config new.
inclean check [SUBCOMMAND]	Read-only check. Subcommands: config validates the file alone (-c PATH); unfixable runs the full pipeline and reports only unfixable violations; all runs the full pipeline and reports every per-include outcome. Bare inclean check is equivalent to inclean check all. The full forms accept [-c PATH] [-j N] [PATHS...].
inclean diff [-o PATH] [-c PATH] [-j N] [PATHS...]	Print a unified diff of every proposed rewrite. Optional -o writes to a file instead of stdout.
inclean apply [-c PATH] [-j N] [PATHS...]	Apply rewrites in place. Files free of unfixable violations are written; files with errors / conflicts / evaluation failures are skipped and reported at end.
inclean config check [-c PATH]	Alias of inclean check config.
inclean config new [PATH]	Alias of inclean init.
inclean config schema [-o PATH] [--check]	Emit / validate the JSON Schema for inclean.toml. --check requires -o and exits non-zero if the file drifts.

The default action when no rule specifies one is keep with output_form = preserve — a rule that omits action is a no-op.

Editor support

inclean.toml ships with a JSON Schema for editor completion and validation. Editors that understand the #:schema directive (VS Code with Even Better TOML, Helix, Zed) automatically pick it up:

#:schema https://raw.githubusercontent.com/inaku-Gyan/inclean/v0.3.0/schemas/inclean.toml.schema.json

[project]
root = "."
version = "0.3.0"
min_inclean_version = "0.3.0"

inclean init writes both the #:schema line (for the editor) and the [project].version + [project].min_inclean_version fields, each pinned to the CLI version that generated the file. To upgrade schema validation, edit the v0.3.0 segment in the URL to a newer release tag.

#:schema and the [project] version fields are independent. The #:schema URL is purely for editor tooling; the CLI runs its own two-direction compatibility check (CLI_COMPAT_MIN <= cfg.version AND cfg.min_inclean_version <= CLI_CURRENT). inclean is pre-1.0 and does not ship migration shims for breaking schema changes — see CLAUDE.md.

You can also dump a local copy:

inclean schema --output inclean.toml.schema.json

Documentation

• docs/configuration.md — full inclean.toml schema: the four-layer matching model, copied_from copy semantics, @std.* constants, six action variants, ${copied} and other placeholders, exit codes.
• docs/architecture.md — code-level architecture: module map, pipeline phases, key invariants.
• CONTRIBUTING.md — toolchain, dev workflow, conventions, scope.
• CHANGELOG.md — release history.

Status

0.3.0 — current. Reshapes the configuration around copied_from (a single-level transitive copy that replaces extends AND-merge), 4-layer matching (file_paths / file_suffixes / match_forms / include_match), six action variants (resolve / replace / keep / remove / comment_out / error), suppression_comments_regex off-limits regions, a new trailing_comment.transform model, and conflict-detection by final-line text rather than rule-tree invariants. The CLI gains check unfixable, check all, [PATHS...] filtering, and a unified-diff output via inclean diff -o. inclean is pre-1.0 / beta and does not provide migration shims between breaking schema changes; see CLAUDE.md for the project policy.

License

BSD 3-Clause.