towl 0.3.7

A fast CLI tool to scan codebases for TODO comments and output them in multiple formats
Documentation
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html lang="en" class="navy sidebar-visible" dir="ltr">
    <head>
        <!-- Book generated using mdBook -->
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <title>Processor - towl Documentation</title>


        <!-- Custom HTML head -->

        <meta name="description" content="Documentation for towl - a fast CLI tool to scan codebases for TODO comments">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
        <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff">

        <link rel="icon" href="../favicon.svg">
        <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../favicon.png">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/variables.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/general.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/chrome.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/print.css" media="print">

        <!-- Fonts -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="../FontAwesome/css/font-awesome.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="../fonts/fonts.css">

        <!-- Highlight.js Stylesheets -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" id="highlight-css" href="../highlight.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" id="tomorrow-night-css" href="../tomorrow-night.css">
        <link rel="stylesheet" id="ayu-highlight-css" href="../ayu-highlight.css">

        <!-- Custom theme stylesheets -->


        <!-- Provide site root and default themes to javascript -->
        <script>
            const path_to_root = "../";
            const default_light_theme = "navy";
            const default_dark_theme = "navy";
            window.path_to_searchindex_js = "../searchindex.js";
        </script>
        <!-- Start loading toc.js asap -->
        <script src="../toc.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
    <div id="mdbook-help-container">
        <div id="mdbook-help-popup">
            <h2 class="mdbook-help-title">Keyboard shortcuts</h2>
            <div>
                <p>Press <kbd></kbd> or <kbd></kbd> to navigate between chapters</p>
                <p>Press <kbd>S</kbd> or <kbd>/</kbd> to search in the book</p>
                <p>Press <kbd>?</kbd> to show this help</p>
                <p>Press <kbd>Esc</kbd> to hide this help</p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div id="body-container">
        <!-- Work around some values being stored in localStorage wrapped in quotes -->
        <script>
            try {
                let theme = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-theme');
                let sidebar = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-sidebar');

                if (theme.startsWith('"') && theme.endsWith('"')) {
                    localStorage.setItem('mdbook-theme', theme.slice(1, theme.length - 1));
                }

                if (sidebar.startsWith('"') && sidebar.endsWith('"')) {
                    localStorage.setItem('mdbook-sidebar', sidebar.slice(1, sidebar.length - 1));
                }
            } catch (e) { }
        </script>

        <!-- Set the theme before any content is loaded, prevents flash -->
        <script>
            const default_theme = window.matchMedia("(prefers-color-scheme: dark)").matches ? default_dark_theme : default_light_theme;
            let theme;
            try { theme = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-theme'); } catch(e) { }
            if (theme === null || theme === undefined) { theme = default_theme; }
            const html = document.documentElement;
            html.classList.remove('navy')
            html.classList.add(theme);
            html.classList.add("js");
        </script>

        <input type="checkbox" id="sidebar-toggle-anchor" class="hidden">

        <!-- Hide / unhide sidebar before it is displayed -->
        <script>
            let sidebar = null;
            const sidebar_toggle = document.getElementById("sidebar-toggle-anchor");
            if (document.body.clientWidth >= 1080) {
                try { sidebar = localStorage.getItem('mdbook-sidebar'); } catch(e) { }
                sidebar = sidebar || 'visible';
            } else {
                sidebar = 'hidden';
                sidebar_toggle.checked = false;
            }
            if (sidebar === 'visible') {
                sidebar_toggle.checked = true;
            } else {
                html.classList.remove('sidebar-visible');
            }
        </script>

        <nav id="sidebar" class="sidebar" aria-label="Table of contents">
            <!-- populated by js -->
            <mdbook-sidebar-scrollbox class="sidebar-scrollbox"></mdbook-sidebar-scrollbox>
            <noscript>
                <iframe class="sidebar-iframe-outer" src="../toc.html"></iframe>
            </noscript>
            <div id="sidebar-resize-handle" class="sidebar-resize-handle">
                <div class="sidebar-resize-indicator"></div>
            </div>
        </nav>

        <div id="page-wrapper" class="page-wrapper">

            <div class="page">
                <div id="menu-bar-hover-placeholder"></div>
                <div id="menu-bar" class="menu-bar sticky">
                    <div class="left-buttons">
                        <label id="sidebar-toggle" class="icon-button" for="sidebar-toggle-anchor" title="Toggle Table of Contents" aria-label="Toggle Table of Contents" aria-controls="sidebar">
                            <i class="fa fa-bars"></i>
                        </label>
                        <button id="theme-toggle" class="icon-button" type="button" title="Change theme" aria-label="Change theme" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="theme-list">
                            <i class="fa fa-paint-brush"></i>
                        </button>
                        <ul id="theme-list" class="theme-popup" aria-label="Themes" role="menu">
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="default_theme">Auto</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="light">Light</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="rust">Rust</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="coal">Coal</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="navy">Navy</button></li>
                            <li role="none"><button role="menuitem" class="theme" id="ayu">Ayu</button></li>
                        </ul>
                        <button id="search-toggle" class="icon-button" type="button" title="Search (`/`)" aria-label="Toggle Searchbar" aria-expanded="false" aria-keyshortcuts="/ s" aria-controls="searchbar">
                            <i class="fa fa-search"></i>
                        </button>
                    </div>

                    <h1 class="menu-title">towl Documentation</h1>

                    <div class="right-buttons">
                        <a href="../print.html" title="Print this book" aria-label="Print this book">
                            <i id="print-button" class="fa fa-print"></i>
                        </a>
                        <a href="https://github.com/glottologist/towl" title="Git repository" aria-label="Git repository">
                            <i id="git-repository-button" class="fa fa-github"></i>
                        </a>
                        <a href="https://github.com/glottologist/towl/edit/main/docs/src/src/api/processor.md" title="Suggest an edit" aria-label="Suggest an edit" rel="edit">
                            <i id="git-edit-button" class="fa fa-edit"></i>
                        </a>

                    </div>
                </div>

                <div id="search-wrapper" class="hidden">
                    <form id="searchbar-outer" class="searchbar-outer">
                        <div class="search-wrapper">
                            <input type="search" id="searchbar" name="searchbar" placeholder="Search this book ..." aria-controls="searchresults-outer" aria-describedby="searchresults-header">
                            <div class="spinner-wrapper">
                                <i class="fa fa-spinner fa-spin"></i>
                            </div>
                        </div>
                    </form>
                    <div id="searchresults-outer" class="searchresults-outer hidden">
                        <div id="searchresults-header" class="searchresults-header"></div>
                        <ul id="searchresults">
                        </ul>
                    </div>
                </div>

                <!-- Apply ARIA attributes after the sidebar and the sidebar toggle button are added to the DOM -->
                <script>
                    document.getElementById('sidebar-toggle').setAttribute('aria-expanded', sidebar === 'visible');
                    document.getElementById('sidebar').setAttribute('aria-hidden', sidebar !== 'visible');
                    Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('#sidebar a')).forEach(function(link) {
                        link.setAttribute('tabIndex', sidebar === 'visible' ? 0 : -1);
                    });
                </script>

                <div id="content" class="content">
                    <main>
                        <h1 id="processor"><a class="header" href="#processor">Processor</a></h1>
<p>The processor replaces TODO comments in source files with GitHub issue links after issues are created.</p>
<h2 id="processor-1"><a class="header" href="#processor-1"><code>Processor</code></a></h2>
<pre><pre class="playground"><code class="language-rust"><span class="boring">#![allow(unused)]
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span>pub struct Processor;
<span class="boring">}</span></code></pre></pre>
<p>Stateless processor that operates on batches of <code>(TodoComment, CreatedIssue)</code> pairs. All methods are associated functions (no <code>self</code>).</p>
<h3 id="replace_todos"><a class="header" href="#replace_todos"><code>replace_todos</code></a></h3>
<pre><pre class="playground"><code class="language-rust"><span class="boring">#![allow(unused)]
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span>pub async fn replace_todos(
    repo_root: &amp;Path,
    replacements: &amp;[(TodoComment, CreatedIssue)],
) -&gt; ProcessorResult
<span class="boring">}</span></code></pre></pre>
<p>Replaces TODO comments in source files with <code>GH_ISSUE: &lt;issue_url&gt;</code> links.</p>
<p><strong>Behaviour:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Groups replacements by file path for efficient batch processing</li>
<li>For each file, validates the path stays within <code>repo_root</code></li>
<li>Reads file content, replaces each TODO line, writes back atomically</li>
<li>Returns a <code>ProcessorResult</code> with counts and per-file errors</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Path safety:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Both the file path and repo root are canonicalised before comparison</li>
<li>Files outside the repo root are rejected with <code>PathOutsideRoot</code></li>
<li>Issue URLs must start with <code>https://github.com/</code> or are rejected</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Replacement format:</strong></p>
<p>The comment prefix (e.g., <code>// </code>, <code># </code>, <code>/* </code>) is preserved. The TODO text after the prefix is replaced:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">// TODO: Implement caching    --&gt;    // GH_ISSUE: https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42
# FIXME: Handle timeout        --&gt;    # GH_ISSUE: https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/43
</code></pre>
<p><strong>Atomic writes:</strong></p>
<p>Files are written via a tempfile in the same directory, then atomically persisted. This prevents partial writes if the process is interrupted.</p>
<p><strong>Empty input:</strong></p>
<p>If <code>replacements</code> is empty, returns immediately with zero counts and no I/O.</p>
<h2 id="processorresult"><a class="header" href="#processorresult"><code>ProcessorResult</code></a></h2>
<pre><pre class="playground"><code class="language-rust"><span class="boring">#![allow(unused)]
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span>pub struct ProcessorResult {
    pub files_modified: usize,
    pub todos_replaced: usize,
    pub errors: Vec&lt;(PathBuf, TowlProcessorError)&gt;,
}
<span class="boring">}</span></code></pre></pre>
<p>Summary of a batch replacement operation. The <code>errors</code> field contains per-file errors that did not abort the overall operation -- other files continue processing.</p>
<h2 id="errors"><a class="header" href="#errors">Errors</a></h2>
<pre><pre class="playground"><code class="language-rust"><span class="boring">#![allow(unused)]
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span>pub enum TowlProcessorError {
    FileReadError(PathBuf, std::io::Error),
    FileWriteError(PathBuf, std::io::Error),
    LineOutOfBounds { path: PathBuf, line: usize, total_lines: usize },
    CommentPrefixNotFound { path: PathBuf, line: usize },
    PathOutsideRoot { path: PathBuf, root: PathBuf },
    InvalidIssueUrl { url: String },
}
<span class="boring">}</span></code></pre></pre>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table><thead><tr><th>Variant</th><th>Cause</th></tr></thead><tbody>
<tr><td><code>FileReadError</code></td><td>Failed to read source file</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>FileWriteError</code></td><td>Failed to write modified file</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>LineOutOfBounds</code></td><td>TODO line number exceeds file length</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>CommentPrefixNotFound</code></td><td>Column offset points past end of line</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>PathOutsideRoot</code></td><td>File is outside the repository root</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>InvalidIssueUrl</code></td><td>URL does not start with <code>https://github.com/</code></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<h2 id="example"><a class="header" href="#example">Example</a></h2>
<pre><pre class="playground"><code class="language-rust no_run"><span class="boring">#![allow(unused)]
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span>use towl::processor::Processor;

let replacements = vec![(todo, created_issue)];
let result = Processor::replace_todos(repo_root, &amp;replacements).await;

println!("Modified {} files, replaced {} TODOs", result.files_modified, result.todos_replaced);

for (path, err) in &amp;result.errors {
    eprintln!("Error in {}: {}", path.display(), err);
}
<span class="boring">}</span></code></pre></pre>

                    </main>

                    <nav class="nav-wrapper" aria-label="Page navigation">
                        <!-- Mobile navigation buttons -->
                            <a rel="prev" href="../api/llm.html" class="mobile-nav-chapters previous" title="Previous chapter" aria-label="Previous chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Left">
                                <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i>
                            </a>

                            <a rel="next prefetch" href="../api/tui.html" class="mobile-nav-chapters next" title="Next chapter" aria-label="Next chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Right">
                                <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i>
                            </a>

                        <div style="clear: both"></div>
                    </nav>
                </div>
            </div>

            <nav class="nav-wide-wrapper" aria-label="Page navigation">
                    <a rel="prev" href="../api/llm.html" class="nav-chapters previous" title="Previous chapter" aria-label="Previous chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Left">
                        <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i>
                    </a>

                    <a rel="next prefetch" href="../api/tui.html" class="nav-chapters next" title="Next chapter" aria-label="Next chapter" aria-keyshortcuts="Right">
                        <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i>
                    </a>
            </nav>

        </div>




        <script>
            window.playground_copyable = true;
        </script>


        <script src="../elasticlunr.min.js"></script>
        <script src="../mark.min.js"></script>
        <script src="../searcher.js"></script>

        <script src="../clipboard.min.js"></script>
        <script src="../highlight.js"></script>
        <script src="../book.js"></script>

        <!-- Custom JS scripts -->



    </div>
    </body>
</html>