libxml-rs

Phase 0: Archaeological Seizure — Not yet a drop-in replacement.

Custodial native-Rust reimplementation of the libxml2 + libxslt ecosystem: a forensic reconstruction of observable behavior, implemented in native Rust, with C ABI compatibility for drop-in replacement.

This is not an XML crate. This is not an XSLT crate. This is not a wrapper. This is a custodial forensic archive and native-Rust reimplementation of the complete observable behavior of libxml2 and libxslt across their historical lifetimes.

Current Status: Phase 0 — Archaeological Seizure (§85)

The project is in its first phase: building the forensic atlas before writing any implementation code. Per §7 of the project specification:

Do not begin by writing a new XML parser from memory. Begin with archaeology.

What exists now

• Release manifests: 183 libxml2 + 92 libxslt releases cataloged from git history
• API atlas: Complete public API inventory for libxml2 2.15.3 (1403 header functions, 312 typedefs, 76 structs, 39 enums) and libxslt 1.1.45 (231 header functions, 63 typedefs, 16 structs, 7 enums)
• ABI atlas: Symbol-table comparison between headers and DSO exports
• Standards atlas: W3C XML/XPath/XSLT/XInclude/C14N standards mapping
• History atlas: Complete release history from 1998 to present
• Oracle infrastructure: Docker build environment scaffold (not yet built)
• Court framework: Differential testing casefile schema and runner
• Tooling: Automated archaeology pipeline (manifest generation, API extraction, ABI comparison, delta analysis)
• Module scaffold: Complete module tree matching upstream subsystem boundaries

What does NOT exist yet

No actual libxml2/libxslt functionality has been implemented. The Rust code is scaffolding — module declarations, documentation, and stubs only. Implementation begins in Phase 1 (Compatibility Skeleton) after the archaeological atlas is complete.

Why publish in Phase 0?

Per §103: "README claims must be evidence bounded." This initial publication establishes the project identity, archives the archaeological tooling, and provides transparency about the project's actual state. No compatibility claims are made — the parity matrix explicitly shows 0% implementation status.

Project Structure

libxml-rs/
├── Cargo.toml              # Single Cargo package (no workspace)
├── src/
│   ├── lib.rs              # Library entry point
│   ├── abi/                # C ABI compatibility layer (§4, §14)
│   ├── xml/                # libxml2 implementation (§1, §3, §31)
│   ├── xslt/               # libxslt implementation (§31–§34)
│   ├── exslt/              # EXSLT modules (§35)
│   ├── compatibility/      # Historical profiles, quirks, platform (§68, §69)
│   └── bin/                # CLI tools: xmllint, xmlcatalog, xsltproc (§36)
├── include/                # Compatible C headers (§15)
├── atlas/                  # Forensic archive (§7–§12)
│   ├── releases/           # Release manifests per version
│   ├── api/                # Public API inventories
│   ├── abi/                # ABI snapshots
│   ├── symbols/            # Symbol table comparisons
│   ├── config/             # Build configuration profiles
│   ├── standards/          # Standards mapping
│   ├── HISTORY.md          # Complete release history
│   ├── LORE.md             # Undocumented behavior archive
│   ├── QUIRKS.md           # Confirmed compatibility quirks
│   ├── PARITY_MATRIX.md    # Current parity status
│   ├── RESIDUAL_LEDGER.md  # Unexplained differences
│   └── SECURITY_HISTORY.md # Vulnerability custody
├── oracle/                 # Reproducible upstream build environment (§39)
├── courts/                 # Differential testing framework (§40–§50)
│   ├── schema.json         # Casefile schema
│   ├── suites/             # Court case suites
│   ├── receipts/           # Execution receipts
│   └── tools/              # Court runner
├── tools/                  # Archaeology and analysis tooling
│   ├── archaeology/        # manifest.py, apiatlas.py, symbols.py, delta.py, profileconfig.py
│   └── courts/             # Court runner
├── docker/                 # Reproducible Docker oracle images
├── docs/                   # Technical documentation
└── archaeology/            # Upstream git clones (immutable, offline)

Build

cargo build              # Build the library
cargo build --lib        # Build only the library (not CLI stubs)
cargo test               # Run tests (Phase 0: limited)

License

Licensed under either of:

• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT)
• Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE)

at your option.

Project Status

See atlas/PARITY_MATRIX.md for the detailed, evidence-bounded parity matrix.