ark

Architectural boundary enforcer for .NET solutions. Parses .csproj project graphs and C# source files to catch layer violations before they reach CI.

$ ark check

  × Domain → Infrastructure dependency forbidden
   ╭─[MyApp.Domain/Repositories/UserRepo.cs:3:7]
 3 │ using MyApp.Infrastructure.Data;
   ·       ────────────────────────
   ╰─

What it checks

Violations are reported with source spans pointing directly to the offending line.

Quick start

# 1. Generate a starter config in your solution root
ark init

# 2. Edit architecture.toml to match your layers, then:
ark check

Installation

cargo install ark-cli

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/TheEskhaton/ark
cd ark
cargo build --release
# binary: target/release/ark

Configuration

ark reads architecture.toml from the solution root. Run ark init to generate a starter file, or write one by hand:

[[layers]]
name = "Domain"
patterns = ["*.Domain", "*.Core"]
# Optional: enables C# using-directive checks for this layer
namespace_patterns = ["MyApp.Domain.*"]

[[layers]]
name = "Application"
patterns = ["*.Application", "*.UseCases"]

[[layers]]
name = "Infrastructure"
patterns = ["*.Infrastructure"]

[[layers]]
name = "Presentation"
patterns = ["*.Api", "*.Web", "*.Host"]

[[dependency_rules]]
from = "Presentation"
to = "Application"
allowed = true

[[dependency_rules]]
from = "Application"
to = "Domain"
allowed = true

[[dependency_rules]]
from = "Infrastructure"
to = "Domain"
allowed = true

[[dependency_rules]]
from = "Domain"
to = "Infrastructure"
allowed = false

[[package_policies]]
layer = "Domain"
forbidden = ["Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore", "Microsoft.AspNetCore"]

ignore_patterns = ["*.Tests", "*.Specs", "*.IntegrationTests"]

Layer patterns use glob syntax (* matches any sequence of non-separator characters). Any dependency not listed in dependency_rules is forbidden by default.

namespace_patterns activates the C# source scan for a layer — omit it to skip tree-sitter parsing for that layer.

Commands

ark check

Run all architectural checks and report violations.

ark check                  # check; exit 1 if any violations
ark check --strict         # also exit 1 on warnings (unmatched projects)
ark check --no-baseline    # ignore ark-baseline.json even if present

ark baseline

Snapshot current violations so ark check only fails on new ones. Useful for gradual adoption in brownfield solutions — lock in existing debt without silencing the tool.

ark baseline               # write all current violations → ark-baseline.json
ark check                  # now reports only violations introduced since the snapshot

ark-baseline.json should be committed alongside your config. Stale entries (violations that no longer exist) are reported as warnings so you can clean them up over time.

ark explain

Show which layer a project belongs to and what it can and cannot depend on.

ark explain MyApp.Domain

Project: MyApp.Domain
Layer:   Domain

Dependency rules:
  → Application              forbidden  [default]
  → Infrastructure           forbidden  [explicit]
  → Presentation             forbidden  [explicit]

Other projects in this layer:
  MyApp.Core

Useful when a project shows up as unmatched, or when onboarding to an unfamiliar solution.

ark graph

Export the project dependency graph.

ark graph                               # Mermaid to stdout
ark graph --format dot -o graph.dot     # Graphviz DOT file

ark init

Generate a starter architecture.toml in the solution root.

cd /path/to/solution
ark init

CI integration

GitHub Actions

- name: Check architecture
  run: |
    cargo install ark-cli --quiet
    ark check

ark exits 0 on clean, 1 on violations — no external dependencies required.

Global flags

ark --root <path>     # solution root (default: current directory)
ark --config <path>   # config file (default: architecture.toml)

These apply to all subcommands and are useful when running ark from a different directory:

ark --root /path/to/solution check

Exit codes

Use --strict to also exit 1 on warnings (e.g. projects that match no layer).

Performance

ark uses rayon for parallel project and file parsing.

License

MIT