generate / lint — CUE + gomplate Configuration

sayt generate runs code generation rules. sayt lint runs lightweight verification rules. Both are driven by configuration in .say.{cue,yaml,toml,nu} files.

How It Works

1. •sayt loads and merges all .say.* config files in the current directory
2. •The merged config also includes sayt's built-in config.cue which provides default rules
3. •For generate: executes each rule's cmds in order, passing them through nushell
4. •For lint: executes each rule's cmds, which must produce no outputs (validation only)

Config Loading Order

sayt finds files matching .say.{cue,yaml,yml,json,toml,nu} and merges them:

• •.say.nu files are executed as nushell scripts (their output is piped to CUE)
• •All other files are passed to cue export for unified evaluation
• •sayt's own config.cue provides default schemas and built-in rules

Configuration Schema

say.generate.rules

Rules are defined via an ordered map (rulemap) that gets flattened to a list:

say:
  generate:
    rulemap:
      my-rule:
        cmds:
          - do: "buf generate"
            outputs: ["gen/"]

Each rule has:

• •cmds — Array of nushell command blocks
• •cmds[].do — The nushell expression to run inside do { ... }
• •cmds[].use (optional) — A nushell module to import before running
• •cmds[].args (optional) — Additional arguments
• •cmds[].outputs (optional) — Files/dirs the command produces
• •cmds[].inputs (optional) — Files/dirs the command depends on

say.lint.rules

Same structure as generate rules, but lint commands must not produce output files:

say:
  lint:
    rulemap:
      check-formatting:
        cmds:
          - do: "prettier --check ."

The Ordered Map Pattern (#MapAsList)

sayt uses an "ordered map" pattern for rules. Keys allow granular modification:

• •Add: Introduce a new unique key
• •Modify: Reference an existing key to merge/update fields
• •Delete: Set an existing key to null
• •Order: Control position via the optional priority field

say:
  generate:
    rulemap:
      # Delete a built-in rule
      "auto-cue": null
      # Add a custom rule
      my-protobuf:
        priority: 10
        cmds:
          - do: "buf generate"

Built-in Rules

auto-gomplate (generate)

Finds *.tmpl files and processes them with gomplate, using CUE data:

*.tmpl → gomplate (with data from matching *.cue) → output file

For example: Dockerfile.tmpl + Dockerfile.cue → Dockerfile

auto-cue (generate)

Finds *.cue files whose stem matches an existing file, then exports the CUE to overwrite that file:

compose.cue (if compose.yaml exists) → cue export → compose.yaml

auto-cue (lint)

Validates that CUE-generated files match their CUE definitions:

compose.cue + compose.yaml → cue vet (must pass)

CUE Basics for sayt Config

CUE is sayt's native configuration language. Key concepts:

package say

say: {
  generate: {
    rulemap: {
      "my-rule": {
        cmds: [{
          do: "echo hello"
        }]
      }
    }
  }
}

• •CUE unifies values (merges rather than overwrites)
• •Default values use *value | type syntax
• •Null deletion works via the ordered map pattern

.say.yaml Examples

Disable built-in CUE generation:

say:
  generate:
    rulemap: { "auto-cue": null }

Add a protobuf generation rule:

say:
  generate:
    rulemap:
      protobuf:
        cmds:
          - do: "buf generate ../../libraries/xproto"
            outputs: ["gen/"]

Add a custom lint rule:

say:
  lint:
    rulemap:
      eslint:
        cmds:
          - do: "pnpm eslint ."

.say.cue Examples

Custom generate rule in CUE:

package say

say: generate: rulemap: "generate-types": {
  cmds: [{
    do: "openapi-typescript api.yaml -o types.ts"
    outputs: ["types.ts"]
    inputs: ["api.yaml"]
  }]
}

Using gomplate with custom data:

package say

say: generate: rulemap: "render-config": {
  cmds: [{
    use: "./gomplate.nu"
    do:  "gomplate auto-gomplate | ignore"
  }]
}

.say.nu for Dynamic Config

For configuration that needs runtime logic, use .say.nu:

# .say.nu — Dynamic config generation
# Output YAML/JSON that gets merged with other .say.* files
{
  say: {
    generate: {
      rulemap: {
        dynamic-rule: {
          cmds: [{
            do: $"echo (date now | format date '%Y')"
          }]
        }
      }
    }
  }
} | to yaml

The --force Flag

sayt generate --force sets SAY_GENERATE_ARGS_FORCE=true in the environment. Rules can check this to overwrite existing files:

# In a rule's do block
save --force=($env.SAY_GENERATE_ARGS_FORCE? | default false) output.yaml

Current flags

!sayt help generate 2>&1 || true !sayt help lint 2>&1 || true