Stillwater

"Still waters run pure"

A Rust library for pragmatic effect composition and validation, emphasizing the pure core, imperative shell pattern.

Philosophy

Stillwater embodies a simple idea:

• Still = Pure functions (unchanging, referentially transparent)
• Water = Effects (flowing, performing I/O)

Keep your business logic pure and calm like still water. Let effects flow at the boundaries.

What Problems Does It Solve?

1. "I want ALL validation errors, not just the first one"

use stillwater::Validation;

// Standard Result: stops at first error ❌
let email = validate_email(input)?;  // Stops here
let age = validate_age(input)?;      // Never reached if email fails

// Stillwater: accumulates all errors ✓
let user = Validation::all((
    validate_email(input),
    validate_age(input),
    validate_name(input),
))?;
// Returns: Err(vec![EmailError, AgeError, NameError])

2. "How do I test code with database calls?"

use stillwater::Effect;

// Pure business logic (no DB, easy to test)
fn calculate_discount(customer: &Customer, total: Money) -> Money {
    match customer.tier {
        Tier::Gold => total * 0.15,
        _ => total * 0.05,
    }
}

// Effects at boundaries (mockable)
fn process_order(id: OrderId) -> Effect<Invoice, Error, AppEnv> {
    IO::query(|db| db.fetch_order(id))        // I/O
        .and_then(|order| {
            let total = calculate_total(&order);  // Pure!
            IO::query(|db| db.fetch_customer(order.customer_id))
                .map(move |customer| (order, customer, total))
        })
        .map(|(order, customer, total)| {
            let discount = calculate_discount(&customer, total);  // Pure!
            create_invoice(order.id, total - discount)            // Pure!
        })
        .and_then(|invoice| IO::execute(|db| db.save(invoice))) // I/O
}

// Test with mock environment
#[test]
fn test_with_mock_db() {
    let env = MockEnv::new();
    let result = process_order(id).run(&env)?;
    assert_eq!(result.total, expected);
}

3. "My errors lose context as they bubble up"

use stillwater::Effect;

fetch_user(id)
    .context("Loading user profile")
    .and_then(|user| process_data(user))
    .context("Processing user data")
    .run(&env)?;

// Error output:
// Error: UserNotFound(12345)
//   -> Loading user profile
//   -> Processing user data

Core Features

• Validation<T, E> - Accumulate all errors instead of short-circuiting
• Effect<T, E, Env> - Separate pure logic from I/O effects
• Semigroup trait - Associative combination of values
• Monoid trait - Identity elements for powerful composition patterns
• Context chaining - Never lose error context
• Zero-cost abstractions - Compiles to same code as hand-written
• Works with ? operator - Integrates with Rust idioms
• No heavy macros - Clear types, obvious behavior

Quick Start

use stillwater::{Validation, Effect, IO};

// 1. Validation with error accumulation
fn validate_user(input: UserInput) -> Validation<User, Vec<Error>> {
    Validation::all((
        validate_email(&input.email),
        validate_age(input.age),
        validate_name(&input.name),
    ))
    .map(|(email, age, name)| User { email, age, name })
}

// 2. Effect composition
fn create_user(input: UserInput) -> Effect<User, AppError, AppEnv> {
    // Validate (pure, accumulates errors)
    Effect::from_validation(validate_user(input))
        // Check if exists (I/O)
        .and_then(|user| {
            IO::query(|db| db.find_by_email(&user.email))
                .and_then(|existing| {
                    if existing.is_some() {
                        Effect::fail(AppError::EmailExists)
                    } else {
                        Effect::pure(user)
                    }
                })
        })
        // Save user (I/O)
        .and_then(|user| {
            IO::execute(|db| db.insert_user(&user))
                .map(|_| user)
        })
        .context("Creating new user")
}

// 3. Run at application boundary
let env = AppEnv { db, cache, logger };
let result = create_user(input).run(&env)?;

Why Stillwater?

Compared to existing solutions:

vs. frunk:

• ✓ Focused on practical use cases, not type-level programming
• ✓ Better documentation and examples
• ✓ Effect composition, not just validation

vs. monadic:

• ✓ No awkward macro syntax (rdrdo! { ... })
• ✓ Zero-cost (no boxing by default)
• ✓ Idiomatic Rust, not Haskell port

vs. hand-rolling:

• ✓ Validation accumulation built-in
• ✓ Error context handling
• ✓ Testability patterns established
• ✓ Composable, reusable

What makes it "Rust-first":

• ❌ No attempt at full monad abstraction (impossible without HKTs)
• ✓ Works with ? operator via Try trait
• ✓ Zero-cost via generics and monomorphization
• ✓ Integrates with async/await
• ✓ Borrows checker friendly
• ✓ Clear error messages

Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
stillwater = "0.2"

# Optional: async support
stillwater = { version = "0.2", features = ["async"] }

Examples

Run any example with cargo run --example <name>:

See examples/ directory for full code.

Production Readiness

Status: 0.2 - Production Ready for Early Adopters

• ✅ 152 unit tests passing (includes property-based tests)
• ✅ 68 documentation tests passing
• ✅ Zero clippy warnings
• ✅ Comprehensive examples
• ✅ Full async support
• ✅ CI/CD pipeline with security audits

This library is stable and ready for use. The 0.x version indicates the API may evolve based on community feedback.

Documentation

• 📚 User Guide - Comprehensive tutorials
• 📖 API Docs - Full API reference
• 🤔 FAQ - Common questions
• 🏛️ Design - Architecture and decisions
• 💭 Philosophy - Core principles
• 🎯 Patterns - Common patterns and recipes
• 🔄 Comparison - vs other libraries

Migrating from Result

Already using Result everywhere? No problem! Stillwater integrates seamlessly:

// Your existing code works as-is
fn validate_email(email: &str) -> Result<Email, Error> {
    // ...
}

// Upgrade to accumulation when you need it
fn validate_form(input: FormInput) -> Validation<Form, Vec<Error>> {
    Validation::all((
        Validation::from_result(validate_email(&input.email)),
        Validation::from_result(validate_age(input.age)),
    ))
}

// Convert back to Result when needed
let result: Result<Form, Vec<Error>> = validation.into_result();

Start small, adopt progressively. Use Validation only where you need error accumulation.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! This is a young library with room to grow:

• 🐛 Bug reports and feature requests via issues
• 📖 Documentation improvements
• 🧪 More examples and use cases
• 💡 API feedback and design discussions

Before submitting PRs, please open an issue to discuss the change.

License

MIT © Glen Baker iepathos@gmail.com

"Like a still pond with water flowing through it, stillwater keeps your pure business logic calm and testable while effects flow at the boundaries."