mediacast-netcatalog

Vendor command catalog + version matcher + protocol probe for multi-vendor network automation. Rust core; Python bindings via PyO3.

What this is

A YAML-backed library that maps abstract command types (e.g. ARP_TABLE, MAC_TABLE, PORT_VLAN_ASSIGN) to concrete CLI strings, protocol alternatives (NETCONF / RESTCONF / gNMI / vendor-specific), and parser hints — selectable by (vendor, firmware version).

It comes seeded with research-grade catalogs for seven switch platforms:

See catalog/FINDINGS.md for cross-vendor synthesis, catalog/SCHEMA.md for the YAML format, and catalog/COMMAND_TYPES.md for the abstract command vocabulary.

Why

Most multi-vendor tooling hard-codes per-vendor command strings inside per-vendor handler classes, with no awareness of firmware-version drift. That works until:

• Cisco IOS-XE 12.x emits a 5-column ARP table and 17.x emits 6 — your parser silently truncates.
• NX-OS uses ip dhcp relay address not ip helper-address — your IOS parser ignores DHCP servers entirely on Nexus.
• Aruba AOS-CX firmware strings look like FL.10.13.1000 — your SemVer comparator throws.
• Arista EOS defaults STP to MSTP and L2 MTU to 9214, not PVST+/1500 — your drift detector flags every port as misconfigured.

This library is the data layer that lets a runtime pick the right command for the right (vendor, firmware) instead of guessing. It also ships a protocol-capability probe (CLI tool + library) that fingerprints which programmatic interfaces a real device actually exposes.

Status

v0.2 — research data + working library. Citation-backed catalog YAML for seven vendors. Rust loader + version matcher + sync stdlib-only protocol probe, all with PyO3 Python bindings. First production consumer is Mediacast NetCaster. API may still evolve toward v1.0; pin a specific minor version.

Quick start (Rust)

[dependencies]
mediacast-netcatalog = "0.1"

use mediacast_netcatalog::{Catalog, CommandType};

fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    let catalog = Catalog::load_bundled()?;            // ships embedded YAML
    let entry = catalog
        .lookup("cisco_ios", "17.6.4", CommandType::ArpTable)?
        .expect("arp table is universal on cisco_ios");

    println!("CLI: {}", entry.cli);
    if let Some(gnmi) = &entry.protocol_alternatives.gnmi {
        println!("gNMI path: {}", gnmi.path);
    }
    Ok(())
}

Quick start (Python)

pip install mediacast-netcatalog

from mediacast_netcatalog import Catalog, CommandType

catalog = Catalog.load_bundled()
entry = catalog.lookup("aruba_aoscx", "FL.10.13.1000", CommandType.ARP_TABLE)
print(entry.cli)
print(entry.protocol_alternatives.rest_api)   # AOS-CX has proprietary REST

The Python bindings are zero-copy where possible and re-export the same type vocabulary as the Rust crate.

Protocol probe

cargo install mediacast-netcatalog --features bin
mediacast-netcatalog probe --host 10.0.0.1 --vendor cisco_ios

Or from Python:

from mediacast_netcatalog.probe import probe_device
report = probe_device(host="10.0.0.1", vendor="cisco_ios")
print(report.netconf_available, report.gnmi_available, report.firmware)

The probe uses stdlib-only Rust (no Netmiko, no Paramiko) — it issues TCP connects + minimal protocol handshakes for NETCONF (830), gNMI (9339), RESTCONF (443/HTTPS), and the vendor's text CLI banner.

Catalog as data

If you don't want a Rust dependency, just consume the YAML directly:

git clone https://github.com/Mediacastnet/mediacast-netcatalog
cd mediacast-netcatalog/catalog
ls *.yaml

The schema is documented in catalog/SCHEMA.md. Files are pure YAML — load them with whatever tool you prefer.

Project layout

mediacast-netcatalog/
├── catalog/                   # Canonical YAML data + research docs
│   ├── cisco-ios-xe.yaml
│   ├── cisco-nxos.yaml
│   ├── aruba-aoscx.yaml
│   ├── juniper-junos.yaml
│   ├── arista-eos.yaml
│   ├── hpe-procurve.yaml
│   ├── meraki-mx-ms.yaml
│   ├── SCHEMA.md
│   ├── COMMAND_TYPES.md
│   ├── STATUS.md
│   └── FINDINGS.md
├── src/                       # Rust core
│   ├── lib.rs
│   ├── catalog.rs             # YAML → typed Catalog
│   ├── version.rs             # Version range matcher (handles AOS-CX FL./GL.)
│   ├── command_types.rs       # CommandType enum
│   ├── error.rs
│   ├── probe.rs               # Protocol-capability probe
│   └── python.rs              # PyO3 bindings (feature = "python")
├── examples/
│   └── basic_lookup.rs
├── tests/
│   ├── catalog_load.rs
│   └── version_matcher.rs
├── pyproject.toml             # maturin build config
├── Cargo.toml
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── LICENSE-MIT
└── LICENSE-APACHE

Contributing

Contributions welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md. High-value contributions:

• New vendor catalogs (Extreme, FortiSwitch, MikroTik, Brocade/RUCKUS). See catalog/SCHEMA.md; aim for ≥80% coverage of the abstract command set with citation links.
• Firmware-version drift entries for vendors already covered. If you hit an output-format change between firmware revisions, file a PR with a versions: block + sample output.
• Probe protocol additions — currently NETCONF/gNMI/RESTCONF/SSH-banner; IPMI, ONIE, and SONiC discovery would round it out.

Related projects

• NetCaster — venue-centric network management product (Mediacast Network Solutions). First production consumer of this crate.
• Mediacast Platform — broader Rust-first platform from the same org.

License

Dual-licensed under either of:

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

at your option.

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual-licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.

Provenance

Catalog data was produced by Mediacast NetCaster's 2026-04 vendor doc-crawl effort: seven parallel research agents working from vendor command references, YANG model repos, and community sources. Every entry in catalog/<vendor>.yaml cites its source; entries marked unverified: true are heuristic and want validation against real gear. See catalog/FINDINGS.md §7 for the doc-access friction encountered and fallback sources used.