Reef

A modern full-stack framework for Rust. One codebase, three deployment shapes: a thick desktop client, a 30 MB cloud binary, and an offline-capable edge node.

Reef sits on top of Dioxus 0.7 (rendering + routing + typed RPC), libSQL (SQLite-compatible storage with embedded replicas), and Tailscale (identity at L3, no per-endpoint auth). It's opinionated about the things that don't matter (file layout, build orchestration, schema-as-code) so you can spend the time on what does.

cargo install cargo-reef
cargo reef new my-app
cd my-app
cargo reef migrate run        # bootstrap the database
cargo reef dev                # launch the dev loop

What's in this repo

This is a Cargo workspace publishing three crates that ship in lockstep:

Crate	Purpose	Where users see it
cargo-reef	CLI scaffolder + migration runner + db:push	cargo install cargo-reef
reef	Runtime: #[reef::table] attribute, Json<T> / Jsonb<T> wrappers, future Db helpers	reef = "0.2" in user Cargo.toml
reef-macros	Proc-macro impls for reef (transitive dep, never named directly)	—

Plus a template/ directory that's embedded into the cargo-reef binary at compile time and copied out by cargo reef new.

.
├── crates/
│   ├── cargo-reef/      ← the CLI
│   ├── reef/            ← user-facing runtime
│   └── reef-macros/     ← proc-macro impls
├── template/            ← what `cargo reef new` scaffolds
└── docs/                ← design docs (cli, build, deploy, migrations, db-push)

Status

v0.2 — schema-as-code released. What works today:

• cargo reef new <name> — scaffold a Dioxus 0.7 fullstack app
• cargo reef dev — wraps dx serve --web
• cargo reef migrate run | new | status | revert — file-based SQL migrations with checksum drift detection
• cargo reef db:push — Drizzle-style schema-as-code: edit src/server/db/schema.rs, diff against the live DB, preview, apply
• #[reef::table] with the full SQLite/libSQL feature surface: composite PKs, composite FKs, FK actions, generated columns (stored + virtual), STRICT, WITHOUT ROWID, named CHECKs, expression indexes (json_extract etc.)
• Json<T> / Jsonb<T> newtype wrappers for typed JSON columns (TEXT and BLOB respectively)
• --features X,Y for cfg-aware multi-deployment schemas (one schema.rs, N binaries via Cargo features)
• Cross-table FK validation with "did you mean?" suggestions
• --allow-drop belt-and-suspenders for destructive diffs

See docs/db-push.md for the full schema-as-code surface and docs/cli.md for the rest of the CLI.

What's planned

• v0.3 — cargo reef build orchestrator, cargo reef deploy (Fly / Cloudflare / NixOS targets), CHECK-constraint introspection, the SQLite 12-step rebuild dance for currently-flagged-as-manual changes, cargo reef doctor
• v0.5+ — cargo reef db:reset, cargo reef db:seed, codemod-based cargo reef upgrade

See docs/ for the design notes that drive each piece.

Reefer Ruleset

Framework principles, one line each. Long-form in scaffolded projects' docs/ruleset.md.

1. Code cleanliness is next to godliness — delete more than you write
2. Deployment is a hardware distinction, not software — same binary, different roles
3. One binary per role, not per environment
4. Offline is a first-class state
5. Trust the type system, not the README
6. Identity at L3, not L7
7. The wire format is the contract — typed RPC, no OpenAPI specs
8. Dependencies are debt
9. Vendors come and go; standards remain — SQLite over X, OIDC over home-grown auth
10. Async is the default; sync is the special case
11. Compile times are a tax — pay them at CI, not at every keystroke
12. unsafe and Box<dyn Trait> should make you stop and think
13. A crate marks a binary or target boundary; otherwise it's a module

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0