Tooling

This page lists the tools used to develop fiction. For build requirements and presets, see Getting started. For contribution and review commands, see Contributing.

C++

Tool	Purpose	Configuration and use
CMake and Ninja	Configure and build the library’s tests, experiments, and Python bindings.	CMakeLists.txt and CMakePresets.json; see CMake Presets.
Catch2 and CTest	Write and run C++ tests and micro-benchmarks.	test/; see Building the tests.
clang-format	Format C++ code.	.clang-format; runs through prek.
clang-tidy	Analyze C++ code.	.clang-tidy; uvx nox -s cpp_lint -- --all runs the CI configuration.
ccache	Cache compilations.	FICTION_ENABLE_CACHE; see CMake Presets for the PCH setting.

Python bindings and packaging

Tool	Purpose	Configuration and use
nanobind	Expose C++ APIs to Python and generate type stubs.	bindings/ and python/mnt/pyfiction/; see Bindings Architecture. uvx nox -s stubs regenerates stubs.
scikit-build-core	Build Python packages with CMake.	pyproject.toml.
cibuildwheel	Build and test platform wheels.	pyproject.toml and .github/workflows/cd.yml.
uv	Manage Python dependencies and isolated environments.	pyproject.toml and uv.lock.
nox	Run tests, lint, documentation, and stub-generation sessions.	noxfile.py; uvx nox -l lists sessions.
pytest	Run Python tests.	test/python/ and pyproject.toml; uvx nox -s tests tests supported Python versions, and uvx nox -s minimums checks dependency floors.
Ruff and ty	Format, lint, and type-check Python code.	pyproject.toml; run through prek.

Documentation

Tool	Purpose	Configuration and use
Sphinx, MyST, and Furo	Build and style the documentation from Markdown.	docs/conf.py; see Building the Documentation for previews, HTML builds, and link checks.
Doxygen and Breathe	Render C++ API comments in Sphinx.	docs/Doxyfile; the docs session generates XML for Breathe.
sphinxcontrib-bibtex and bibtex-tidy	Render and format publication references.	docs/references.bib; see Citing Publications.
rumdl	Format and lint MyST Markdown.	.rumdl.toml and .pre-commit-config.yaml; run through prek.

CI and quality checks

Tool	Purpose	Configuration and use
prek	Run formatting and validation hooks.	.pre-commit-config.yaml; prek install installs the commit hook, and prek run -a checks all files.
license-tools	Maintain copyright headers.	.license-tools-config.json; run through prek instead of editing headers by hand.
GitHub Actions	Run builds, tests, packaging, and static analysis.	.github/workflows/; see Contributing for check names and review rules.
Codecov	Report C++ and Python test coverage.	.codecov.yml.
CodeRabbit	Provide automated pull request reviews.	.coderabbit.yaml; see Code Review.
pre-commit.ci	Run hooks and submit formatting fixes.	The ci section in .pre-commit-config.yaml skips ty; GitHub Actions runs the type check.
Renovate	Open dependency-update pull requests.	.github/renovate.json5.