# 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
```sh
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](LICENSE-MIT))
- Apache License, Version 2.0 ([LICENSE-APACHE](LICENSE-APACHE))
at your option.
---
## Project Status
| API completeness | 📋 0% (inventoried, not implemented) |
| ABI compatibility | 🔴 Not started |
| Parser parity | 🔴 Not started |
| XPath parity | 🔴 Not started |
| XSLT parity | 🔴 Not started |
| CLI parity | 🔴 Not started |
| Historical atlas | 🟡 30% (current versions captured, historical gaps open) |
| Oracle infrastructure | 🟡 Scaffolded (not yet built) |
| Court coverage | 🟡 Scaffolded (framework exists, no cases executed) |
| Downstream testing | 🔴 Not started |
See [`atlas/PARITY_MATRIX.md`](atlas/PARITY_MATRIX.md) for the detailed,
evidence-bounded parity matrix.