package transom

Transom

Transom helps connect a Tauri/webview frontend to an OCaml native sidecar over newline-delimited JSON.

The v0.1 scope is small: a runtime protocol library, a manifest-driven code generator, a CLI, and one minimal project template. Users bring their own ATD files and ATD-generated JSON codecs.

Install From Source

opam install . --deps-only
dune build @all
dune install

During development, run the CLI without installing it:

dune exec transom -- version

Quickstart

Create a project from the minimal template:

transom new hello
cd hello/backend

Generate ATD codecs and Transom glue:

opam install atdgen
atdgen -t -o bin/api api.atd
atdgen -j -o bin/api api.atd
transom gen --manifest transom.json --out bin
dune build

The template is intentionally plain. It does not run npm, Cargo, opam, or Dune for you.

Manifest

Transom uses JSON for v0.1:

{
  "service_module": "Api_server",
  "types_module": "Api_t",
  "json_module": "Api_j",
  "typescript_types_module": "./api_types",
  "commands": [
    {
      "name": "ping",
      "request": "ping_req",
      "response": "ping_res",
      "ts_request": "PingReq",
      "ts_response": "PingRes"
    }
  ]
}

The generator writes:

transom gen --manifest transom.json --out generated

This creates api_server.mli, api_server.ml, and api_client.ts.

CLI

transom version
transom paths
transom doctor
transom check --manifest transom.json
transom gen --manifest transom.json --out generated
transom new NAME --template minimal

transom paths prints template search paths in order:

1. TRANSOM_TEMPLATE_DIR
2. ./templates
3. $OPAM_SWITCH_PREFIX/share/transom/templates

Not In v0.1

Transom v0.1 does not implement a Tauri replacement, native GUI toolkit, schema language, webview host, async runtime integration, plugin system, npm package, or Cargo crate. It also does not parse .atd files. ATD codecs are supplied by the user.