# svccat
**Service catalog drift detection for multi-service repositories.**
svccat reads your declared service manifest and compares it against what
actually exists in the repo — flagging missing services, undeclared additions,
and stale metadata before they become operational toil.
---
## Why svccat?
In any multi-service repo the architecture docs, service inventory, and the
codebase evolve at different speeds. A new service appears in `services/` but
never makes it into the manifest. A deprecated service stays in the YAML long
after the directory is gone. `docs:` and `ci:` references silently rot.
svccat makes drift visible in your terminal and in CI, so your declared
architecture stays honest.
---
## Installation
```bash
cargo install svccat
```
Or build from source:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/rodmen07/svccat
cd svccat
cargo build --release
# binary at target/release/svccat
```
---
## Quick start
```
svccat init # scaffold services.yaml from your repo
svccat check # inspect drift in the current repo
svccat check --fail-on-drift # gate CI on zero drift (exit 1 on drift)
svccat check --format json # machine-readable output
svccat graph # Mermaid diagram grouped by platform
svccat graph --format markdown # Markdown table
svccat export --format json # full catalog snapshot with drift
svccat export --format markdown # Markdown catalog + drift table
```
Manifest is auto-detected: svccat tries `svccat.yaml`, `svccat.yml`,
`services.yaml`, `services.yml` in order.
---
## `svccat init`
Bootstrap a `services.yaml` in seconds by letting svccat discover what's
already in your repo:
```bash
svccat init # writes services.yaml in the current directory
svccat init --force # overwrite an existing file
svccat init --output path/to/svccat.yaml # custom output path
```
The generated file includes every detected service with language inferred from
marker files (`Cargo.toml` → Rust, `go.mod` → Go, `package.json` → TypeScript,
`pyproject.toml` / `requirements.txt` → Python), plus `~` placeholders for
`platform`, `role`, and `url` that you fill in before committing.
Example output:
```yaml
# Generated by `svccat init`
# Fill in the ~placeholder~ fields and commit this file.
# Run `svccat check` to verify there is no drift.
version: "1"
discovery:
paths:
- services/*
- microservices/*
- apps/*
- packages/*
services:
- name: api-gateway
path: services/api-gateway
language: Go
platform: ~ # e.g. gcp-cloud-run, fly.io, vercel, aws-lambda
role: ~ # e.g. api, worker, frontend, database
url: ~ # e.g. https://my-service.example.com
- name: auth-service
path: services/auth-service
language: Rust
platform: ~
role: ~
url: ~
```
---
## Manifest format
```yaml
# svccat.yaml (or services.yaml for backwards compat)
version: "1"
# Optional: configure how svccat discovers services in the repo.
discovery:
paths: # glob patterns for candidate service directories
- "services/*"
- "microservices/*"
markers: # files that identify a directory as a service
- Cargo.toml
- Dockerfile
- go.mod
- package.json
- pyproject.toml
- requirements.txt
services:
- name: api-gateway # required
language: Go # recommended
platform: Cloud Run # recommended
role: Rate-limiting reverse proxy # required (error if missing)
url: https://gateway.example.com # optional
path: infra/gateway # optional: explicit path (overrides name matching)
submodule: go-gateway # optional: git submodule path (Portfolio-compatible)
docs: docs/api-gateway.md # optional: warn if file missing
ci: .github/workflows/api-gateway.yml # optional: warn if file missing
```
### Default discovery paths
When `discovery.paths` is empty svccat tries `services/*`, `microservices/*`,
`apps/*`, and `packages/*`.
### Matching declared ↔ discovered
1. If the entry has `path:` → check that path exists.
2. Else if the entry has `submodule:` → check that path exists.
3. Else → match by name against discovered service directory names.
---
## Drift types
| `declared_missing_from_repo` | **error** | Service is in the manifest but its directory is not found in the repo. |
| `undeclared_in_repo` | warning | A service directory was discovered but is not listed in the manifest. |
| `missing_field` | error / warning | A recommended metadata field is absent (`role` = error; `language`, `platform` = warning). |
| `missing_referenced_file` | warning | A `docs:` or `ci:` path is declared but the file does not exist. |
---
## CI integration
Add a step to your pipeline to gate merges on zero drift:
```yaml
# .github/workflows/catalog.yml
name: Catalog check
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
catalog:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1
with: { toolchain: stable }
- run: cargo install svccat
- run: svccat check --fail-on-drift
```
Exit codes:
- `0` — no drift (or drift present but `--fail-on-drift` not set)
- `1` — drift detected and `--fail-on-drift` is set
- `2` — fatal error (unreadable manifest, parse failure, etc.)
---
## Example output
### Terminal
```
svccat: 3 declared, 3 discovered [services.yaml]
OK No drift detected
```
```
svccat: 4 declared, 3 discovered [services.yaml]
DRIFT DETECTED (1 error, 2 warnings)
x [MISSING] 'legacy-worker' is declared in the manifest but not found in the repo
! [UNDECLARED] 'services/experimental-api' exists in the repo but is not listed in the manifest
! [FIELD] 'event-stream' is missing recommended field: platform
x 1 error(s)
! 2 warning(s)
```
### Mermaid graph (`svccat graph`)
````markdown
```mermaid
graph TD
subgraph Cloud_Run["Cloud Run"]
api_gateway["api-gateway\nGo\nRate-limiting reverse proxy"]
auth_service["auth-service\nPython / FastAPI\nJWT issuance and OAuth"]
end
subgraph GitHub_Pages["GitHub Pages"]
frontend["frontend\nTypeScript / React\nSingle-page application"]
end
```
````
---
## Try the sample monorepo
```bash
cd examples/sample-monorepo
svccat check
svccat graph
svccat export --format json
```
---
## Project status
`v0.1` — core drift detection, terminal/JSON/Mermaid/Markdown output, CI integration.
Planned for later releases:
- `depends_on` edges in `svccat graph` for explicit dependency graphs
- Remote URL health checks (`svccat check --ping`)
- Config file (`svccat.toml`) for workspace-level defaults
- GitHub Actions action for zero-install CI usage
---
## Contributing
Bug reports and pull requests welcome.
Please run `cargo clippy -- -D warnings` and `cargo fmt` before opening a PR.
## License
MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).