inclean

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A C/C++ #include path normalizer.

Many legacy C/C++ libraries #include headers by bare filename (#include "bar.h") even though the actual header lives several directories deep (src/internal/bar.h). To consume such a library a caller must add every internal directory to their -I list — which pollutes their include namespace and breaks the library's encapsulation.

inclean does a one-shot, source-level normalization. It scans every source file in the library and rewrites each #include so it resolves cleanly against a small, explicit set of allowed include directories. After running inclean, consumers only -I the allowed directories.

Install

inclean is published to crates.io, PyPI, and as prebuilt binaries on GitHub Releases. Pick whichever ecosystem you already have on your machine.

Via PyPI (Python wheels — no Rust toolchain needed)

Three options:

uv tool install inclean      # isolated, fastest
pipx install inclean         # isolated
pip install inclean          # into the current environment

The wheels ship the native binary built by maturin; inclean lands on your PATH the same way ruff or uv do. Requires Python ≥ 3.8.

Via cargo

Two options:

cargo binstall inclean       # prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases (no compilation)
cargo install inclean        # build from crates.io

cargo binstall fetches inclean's binstall metadata from crates.io and downloads the matching prebuilt archive from this repo's GitHub Releases (no compilation). cargo binstall is a third-party cargo subcommand — install it first via cargo-bins/cargo-binstall if you don't already have it.

cargo install downloads the source from crates.io and compiles it locally.

Prebuilt binaries (no package manager)

Download a tarball for your platform from the latest GitHub Release and put inclean (or inclean.exe) on your PATH. Released targets:

• x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
• aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
• x86_64-apple-darwin
• aarch64-apple-darwin
• x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

From repo source

Clone this repo and build from source:

git clone https://github.com/inaku-Gyan/inclean.git
cd inclean
cargo install --path .

Quick start

inclean is driven by an inclean.toml placed at the root of the library you want to clean up. A typical workflow:

inclean init                # write a documented starter inclean.toml
$EDITOR inclean.toml        # tell it where your headers live
inclean check               # dry-run: report every proposed change
inclean diff                # see the rewrites as a unified diff
inclean apply               # write the rewrites in place

Every command except explain takes an optional [DIR] argument — the directory containing the root inclean.toml. It defaults to ..

Example

Take a "flat" library where headers live at include/mylib/internal/foo.h but internal #includes use just the basename. The fixture under tests/fixtures/flat-library/ ships this config:

[project]
root = "."
version = "0.2.0"

[[rule]]
name = "base"
paths = ["src/**", "include/**"]
forms = ["quote"]
allowed_include_dirs = ["include"]
original_include_dirs = ["include/mylib/internal"]

A source line #include "foo.h" is rewritten to #include "mylib/internal/foo.h" — so the consumer only needs -Iinclude.

Commands

inclean check runs at one of three levels (-l config | rules | full, default full). Each level is a strict superset of the previous; see docs/configuration.md for the full breakdown.

Editor support

inclean.toml ships with a JSON Schema for editor completion and validation. Editors that understand the #:schema directive (VS Code with Even Better TOML, Helix, Zed) automatically pick it up:

#:schema https://raw.githubusercontent.com/inaku-Gyan/inclean/v0.2.0/schemas/inclean.toml.schema.json

[project]
root = "."
version = "0.2.0"

inclean init writes both the #:schema line (for the editor) and the [project].version field (the CLI's own version gate), each pinned to the CLI version that generated the file. To upgrade schema validation, edit the v0.2.0 segment in the URL to a newer release tag; to always track the development schema, replace it with main (not recommended for shared repos — new fields will appear in the schema before your CLI knows about them).

#:schema and [project].version are independent. The #:schema URL is purely for editor tooling; the CLI reads only [project].version and compares it to its built-in MIN_SUPPORTED_INCLEAN_TOML_VERSION. inclean is pre-1.0 and does not ship migration shims for breaking schema changes — see CLAUDE.md.

You can also dump a local copy:

inclean schema --output inclean.toml.schema.json

Documentation

• docs/configuration.md — full inclean.toml schema: the five-layer matching model, inheritance, @std.* constants, actions, placeholders, exit codes.
• docs/architecture.md — code-level architecture: module map, pipeline phases, key invariants.
• CONTRIBUTING.md — toolchain, dev workflow, conventions, scope.
• CHANGELOG.md — release history.

Status

0.2.0 — current. Introduces JSON Schema generation, editor #:schema support, and a required [project].version field that the CLI uses as a hard version gate. inclean is pre-1.0 / beta and does not provide migration shims between breaking schema changes; see CLAUDE.md for the project policy.

License

BSD 3-Clause.