ridl_diff/

lib.rs

//! The `ridl diff` IR-snapshot compare engine.
//!
//! The engine compares two resolved IR v2 snapshots and classifies every
//! difference as a [`Change`] with a [`Category`] and a [`Verdict`]. It reads
//! only the IR — never source — so the comparison is honest against exactly
//! what a backend sees (ADR-0008 decision 14, concept note §9.1). Placement is
//! deliberate: this crate is an engine surfaced by the `ridl` facade, never by
//! `ridlc`, so the compiler stays a pure source→IR function (the ISO 26262
//! tool-qualification boundary, ADR-0008 decision 9).
//!
//! The comparison has two halves. The walk ([`walk`]) says *what* structurally
//! differs, emitting one [`Change`] per difference with a [`Category`]; the
//! classifier ([`classify`]) says which *direction* that difference moved
//! in and settles its [`Verdict`]. Splitting them is what lets a single
//! structural category — an appended interaction, a changed timing — carry
//! opposite verdicts depending on the direction, without the walk needing both
//! snapshots at every emission site.
//!
//! This module owns the vocabulary ([`Verdict`], [`Category`], [`Change`],
//! [`DiffReport`]), the set-level comparison ([`diff_sets`], and
//! [`diff_workspaces`] with the system headings of [`system`]), snapshot
//! loading ([`load_ir_json`]), and rendering ([`render_text`],
//! [`render_json`]). The
//! classification table itself is documented per category by [`explain`], which
//! `ridl diff --explain` prints.

use std::path::Path;

use ridl_ir::v2::{Package, System};

mod classify;
pub mod system;
mod walk;

pub use classify::{absence_refused, category_from_word, classify, explain};
pub use system::{SystemChange, SystemHeading, diff_systems};

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests;

/// The compatibility verdict of a change or of a whole report — ordered so
/// `Breaking > Compatible > Identical` and a report's verdict is the maximum
/// over its changes.
#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash)]
pub enum Verdict {
    /// No differences at all.
    Identical,
    /// A consumer built against the old snapshot still works.
    Compatible,
    /// A consumer built against the old snapshot may break.
    Breaking,
}

/// Declares the [`Category`] vocabulary once (ADR-0008 decision 21).
///
/// One list of variants expands to both the enum and the [`CATEGORIES`] array
/// that `ridl diff --explain` iterates, so a variant that never reaches
/// `CATEGORIES` cannot be written: there is no second list to forget. This
/// replaces the guard PR #163 shipped, which expanded one list into an
/// exhaustive `match` and an array *inside the test* — that narrowed the gap but
/// left `CATEGORIES` shadowed rather than produced, and an assertion comparing
/// two lists can be defeated by editing what feeds it.
///
/// A new variant therefore stops three functions compiling — [`classify`],
/// [`explain`], and [`category_word`] — and reaches `CATEGORIES` with no second
/// edit. The escape rustc's own `help:` text proposes for those three errors is
/// a wildcard arm. Each of the three functions denies
/// `clippy::wildcard_enum_match_arm` and
/// `clippy::match_wildcard_for_single_variants` for exactly that reason. The
/// second lint is the load-bearing one: the first does not fire when the
/// wildcard covers a single variant, which is precisely the added-variant case,
/// so denying it alone leaves clippy green.
///
/// How far the wildcard gets before clippy stops it depends on what its body
/// says. `_ => todo!()` panics the `--explain` coverage test, and a bare
/// `_ => "unknown"` fails it — the row names no verdict. A wildcard whose text
/// happens to contain "compatible" passes all 115 tests. So the escape is real
/// but narrow, and `cargo test` alone catches the two careless spellings of it.
/// `just build` runs clippy so that the third is caught too.
///
/// What this does **not** close: rustc forces *an* arm, not the right one. A
/// new variant given an explicit arm that classifies compatible, or whose rule
/// row describes the wrong rule, still compiles and still passes. The [`explain`]
/// coverage test checks that each row names a verdict and that its word
/// round-trips; neither is proof that the row is correct.
macro_rules! declare_categories {
    (
        $(#[$enum_meta:meta])*
        $vis:vis enum $name:ident {
            $(
                $(#[$variant_meta:meta])*
                $variant:ident,
            )+
        }
    ) => {
        $(#[$enum_meta])*
        $vis enum $name {
            $(
                $(#[$variant_meta])*
                $variant,
            )+
        }

        /// Every category, in the order `--explain` lists them when asked for an
        /// unknown one.
        ///
        /// Generated from the [`Category`] declaration by
        /// [`declare_categories!`], not maintained beside it.
        //
        // The length counts the variants rather than being written down:
        // `${count(...)}` is still unstable (rust-lang/rust#83527), so the
        // count comes from the same repetition that fills the array.
        pub const CATEGORIES: [$name; [$(stringify!($variant)),+].len()] =
            [$($name::$variant),+];
    };
}

declare_categories! {
    /// The kind of a single difference. The walk emits the structural categories;
    /// the classifier maps them to directional verdicts.
    #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
    pub enum Category {
        /// A package-level declaration, interface, or service present only in the
        /// new snapshot.
        DeclAdded,
        /// A package-level declaration, interface, or service present only in the
        /// old snapshot. An interface is matched by its `interfaces.lock`
        /// number (lock design §7), so an interface here is one whose number
        /// is gone from the new snapshot and not retired there.
        DeclRemoved,
        /// An interface whose `interfaces.lock` number is the same on both
        /// sides and whose name changed (lock design §7). The number is the
        /// interface's identity and its routing key, so nothing moves on the
        /// wire; a rename is visible in source — it changes the generated
        /// identity-table names in both wire backends — so the text report
        /// lists it under the heading ([`heading`]). The path carries the new
        /// name; the detail carries the old and the new name.
        InterfaceRenamed,
        /// An interface whose number the old snapshot held and the new
        /// snapshot's retired entries list (lock design §7): the sanctioned
        /// removal of an interface, recorded by `ridl lock --retire`.
        InterfaceRetired,
        /// A surviving composite member whose slot in the body changed — a
        /// struct field, enum value, enum-set bit or union arm — reported only
        /// when both bodies hold the same member names. For a struct field or
        /// union arm the slot is the ordinal, which is wire identity (typl
        /// §7.4), and the detail carries the old and new ordinal. An enum value
        /// or enum-set bit carries an explicit number instead (typl §8, §9),
        /// but the walk compares positions, not those numbers, so a textual
        /// reorder of an enum or enum-set body is reported the same way,
        /// conservatively, even when no number changed; its detail carries the
        /// old and new position.
        MemberReordered,
        /// A new interaction added at the end of an interface (no earlier
        /// interaction shifted).
        InteractionAppended,
        /// A new interaction added before the end — an earlier interaction now
        /// sits after it (ridl §11: insert shifts ordinals, a wire break).
        InteractionInserted,
        /// A surviving interaction whose relative order within the interface
        /// changed (ridl §11: reorder shifts ordinals, a wire break).
        InteractionReordered,
        /// An interaction removed without leaving a `reserved` tombstone.
        InteractionRemoved,
        /// An interaction removed and replaced by a `reserved` tombstone in the
        /// same slot (ridl §11).
        InteractionRetired,
        /// A surviving interaction whose kind changed (signal ↔ event, etc.).
        KindChanged,
        /// A signal/event/fixed payload type changed.
        PayloadChanged,
        /// A query return type changed.
        ReturnChanged,
        /// A command/query parameter list changed.
        ParamsChanged,
        /// A signal/event resolved timing changed.
        TimingChanged,
        /// A command/query declared RPC bound changed (ADR-0015 decision 8).
        /// Separate from [`Category::TimingChanged`] because the direction of
        /// `min` inverts: on an RPC it constrains the caller, not the
        /// provider, so the signal/event rule must not be inherited silently.
        RpcBoundChanged,
        /// A command/query require/ensure clause set changed.
        ContractChanged,
        /// A derived wire width or scalar backing changed.
        WidthChanged,
        /// A scalar constraint (range, step, length, pattern) changed, or a
        /// composite member changed in place.
        ConstraintChanged,
        /// A resolved or declared init value changed.
        InitChanged,
        /// A name that was a `reserved` tombstone is live again — an
        /// interaction inside an interface body.
        ReservedNameRedeclared,
        /// A service switched between the named list and an inline shape.
        /// Narrowed to the form switch by ADR-0015 decision 19: a changed
        /// list is read as a set by the two `ServiceInterface*` categories
        /// below.
        ServiceChanged,
        /// An interface in a service's set that the old snapshot's set did not
        /// hold (ADR-0015 decision 19 as amended on 2026-09-15: a service's
        /// list is a set of interface references).
        ServiceInterfaceAdded,
        /// An interface the old snapshot's set held that the new one does not.
        /// Compatible on the wire — the routing key does not contain the
        /// service — and visible in source, so the text report lists it under
        /// that heading ([`heading`]).
        ServiceInterfaceRemoved,
        /// Only doc comment, labels, or deprecation metadata changed.
        DocOnly,
        /// The visibility a declaration is published at changed. Separate from
        /// [`Category::DocOnly`] because `internal` removes the declaration from
        /// every out-of-package consumer (ADR-0002 §8), so the change has a
        /// direction.
        VisibilityChanged,
    }
}

/// One difference between two snapshots, with an honest path into the IR and
/// the rendered before/after values where they apply.
#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
pub struct Change {
    /// A slash-separated path, e.g. `veh.cluster/VehicleStatus/doorOpened`.
    pub path: String,
    pub category: Category,
    pub verdict: Verdict,
    /// The rendered old value, absent when the change is an addition.
    pub before: Option<String>,
    /// The rendered new value, absent when the change is a removal.
    pub after: Option<String>,
}

/// The result of a comparison: every change and the report-level verdict (the
/// maximum verdict over the changes; [`Verdict::Identical`] when there are
/// none).
#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
pub struct DiffReport {
    pub changes: Vec<Change>,
    pub verdict: Verdict,
    /// The changes to the lowered system, each under its heading and with no
    /// verdict (rsdl reference §14). They never enter `verdict`. Empty unless
    /// both sides carry a system ([`diff_workspaces`]).
    pub system: Vec<SystemChange>,
}

/// An error loading an `.ir.json` snapshot.
#[derive(Debug)]
pub enum LoadError {
    /// The file could not be read.
    Io(std::io::Error),
    /// The file was not valid IR v2 JSON.
    Parse(String),
}

impl std::fmt::Display for LoadError {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
        match self {
            LoadError::Io(err) => write!(f, "cannot read the IR snapshot: {err}"),
            LoadError::Parse(err) => write!(f, "the IR snapshot is not valid IR v2 JSON: {err}"),
        }
    }
}

impl std::error::Error for LoadError {}

/// Appends one change.
///
/// The verdict is stamped breaking here and settled by [`classify`] once the
/// walk of the containing package pair is complete — the classifier needs both
/// snapshots, which the walk does not carry down to every emission site.
/// Breaking is the safe placeholder: a change that somehow escaped
/// classification would gate rather than pass.
pub(crate) fn emit(
    changes: &mut Vec<Change>,
    path: String,
    category: Category,
    before: Option<String>,
    after: Option<String>,
) {
    changes.push(Change {
        path,
        category,
        verdict: Verdict::Breaking,
        before,
        after,
    });
}

/// Whether an interface carries an identity: a frozen, non-zero number from
/// its package's `interfaces.lock` (lock design §7). A provisional number is
/// no identity, and `number` 0 — never allocated — marks a snapshot published
/// before the lock existed. The walk matches by number only when both sides
/// have one, and the classifier re-finds the old side the same way.
pub(crate) fn frozen(interface: &ridl_ir::v2::Interface) -> bool {
    interface.number != 0 && !interface.provisional
}

/// Settles the verdict of every change the walk of one package pair produced.
/// `scope` is every package a reference to another package's declaration
/// resolves against ([`classify::classify_in`]).
fn classify_all(changes: &mut [Change], old: &Package, new: &Package, scope: &[&Package]) {
    for change in changes {
        change.verdict = classify::classify_in(change, old, new, scope);
    }
}

/// Assembles a [`DiffReport`], deriving the report verdict as the maximum over
/// its changes.
pub(crate) fn report(changes: Vec<Change>) -> DiffReport {
    let verdict = changes
        .iter()
        .map(|change| change.verdict)
        .max()
        .unwrap_or(Verdict::Identical);
    DiffReport {
        changes,
        verdict,
        system: Vec::new(),
    }
}

/// Compares two resolved packages. Matched packages share a name; the new
/// package's name is used as the path prefix.
///
/// Only the pair is in hand, so a type from another package does not resolve,
/// and a type the diff cannot resolve is reported as breaking: a struct field
/// appended with such a type classifies breaking (driftsys/ridl#598).
/// [`diff_sets_in`] resolves it.
pub fn diff_packages(old: &Package, new: &Package) -> DiffReport {
    let mut changes = Vec::new();
    walk::walk_packages(old, new, &mut changes);
    classify_all(&mut changes, old, new, &[]);
    report(changes)
}

/// Compares two sets of resolved packages, matching by package name. A package
/// present only on one side is a [`Category::DeclRemoved`] or
/// [`Category::DeclAdded`]; matched packages are walked pairwise.
///
/// [`diff_sets_in`] with no context: a type from a package outside `new`, such
/// as `ridl.std`, which no snapshot carries, does not resolve, and a type the
/// diff cannot resolve is reported as breaking.
pub fn diff_sets(old: &[Package], new: &[Package]) -> DiffReport {
    diff_sets_in(old, new, &[])
}

/// [`diff_sets`], with `context`: packages that a type reference resolves
/// against without being compared. The `ridl` CLI passes the built-in
/// `ridl.std` here, so a struct field appended with a `ridl.std` type is judged
/// by that type's declaration (driftsys/ridl#598).
pub fn diff_sets_in(old: &[Package], new: &[Package], context: &[Package]) -> DiffReport {
    use std::collections::BTreeMap;

    let scope: Vec<&Package> = new.iter().chain(context).collect();

    let old_by: BTreeMap<&str, &Package> = old.iter().map(|pkg| (pkg.name.as_str(), pkg)).collect();
    let new_by: BTreeMap<&str, &Package> = new.iter().map(|pkg| (pkg.name.as_str(), pkg)).collect();

    // Each matched pair is walked and classified against its own two snapshots,
    // because the classifier resolves a change's path back into the packages it
    // came from.
    let mut changes = Vec::new();
    for (name, old_pkg) in &old_by {
        match new_by.get(name) {
            Some(new_pkg) => {
                let mut pair = Vec::new();
                walk::walk_packages(old_pkg, new_pkg, &mut pair);
                classify_all(&mut pair, old_pkg, new_pkg, &scope);
                changes.append(&mut pair);
            }
            // A package present on one side only: the change classifies on its
            // category alone, so the one snapshot stands for both.
            None => {
                let mut pair = Vec::new();
                emit(
                    &mut pair,
                    (*name).to_string(),
                    Category::DeclRemoved,
                    Some(format!("package {name}")),
                    None,
                );
                classify_all(&mut pair, old_pkg, old_pkg, &[]);
                changes.append(&mut pair);
            }
        }
    }
    for (name, new_pkg) in &new_by {
        if !old_by.contains_key(name) {
            let mut pair = Vec::new();
            emit(
                &mut pair,
                (*name).to_string(),
                Category::DeclAdded,
                None,
                Some(format!("package {name}")),
            );
            classify_all(&mut pair, new_pkg, new_pkg, &[]);
            changes.append(&mut pair);
        }
    }
    report(changes)
}

/// Compares two workspaces at the system (rsdl reference §14): the packages by
/// the ridl categories, exactly as [`diff_sets`] does, and — when both sides
/// carry a lowered system — the system's placement and composition changes,
/// which carry no verdict. A system on one side only is not compared: there is
/// nothing to compare it against.
///
/// `context` is passed to [`diff_sets_in`].
pub fn diff_workspaces(
    old: &[Package],
    old_system: Option<&System>,
    new: &[Package],
    new_system: Option<&System>,
    context: &[Package],
) -> DiffReport {
    let mut report = diff_sets_in(old, new, context);
    if let (Some(old_system), Some(new_system)) = (old_system, new_system) {
        report.system = diff_systems(old_system, new_system);
    }
    report
}

/// Loads an `.ir.json` snapshot written by `ridl build --emit ir-json` —
/// canonical protobuf JSON, read through the one reader every surface shares
/// (ADR-0014 decision 1).
pub fn load_ir_json(path: &Path) -> Result<Package, LoadError> {
    let text = std::fs::read_to_string(path).map_err(LoadError::Io)?;
    ridl_ir::v2::from_json(&text).map_err(|err| LoadError::Parse(err.to_string()))
}

/// The stable lowercase word for a verdict — used by both the text and JSON
/// renderers so the two stay in lockstep.
pub(crate) fn verdict_word(verdict: Verdict) -> &'static str {
    match verdict {
        Verdict::Identical => "identical",
        Verdict::Compatible => "compatible",
        Verdict::Breaking => "breaking",
    }
}

/// The stable snake_case word for a category — the single source of truth for
/// both renderers and for `ridl diff --explain`, which takes a category exactly
/// as the report prints it.
// A new variant must be given a real arm here, not swept into a
// catch-all: rustc forces *an* arm, and the arm its `help:` text
// proposes is `_ =>`, which classifies the new variant silently. The
// two lints below reject a wildcard over `Category` — the first when
// it covers several variants, the second when it covers exactly one,
// which is the case one added variant creates.
#[deny(
    clippy::wildcard_enum_match_arm,
    clippy::match_wildcard_for_single_variants
)]
pub fn category_word(category: Category) -> &'static str {
    match category {
        Category::DeclAdded => "decl_added",
        Category::DeclRemoved => "decl_removed",
        Category::InterfaceRenamed => "interface_renamed",
        Category::InterfaceRetired => "interface_retired",
        Category::MemberReordered => "member_reordered",
        Category::InteractionAppended => "interaction_appended",
        Category::InteractionInserted => "interaction_inserted",
        Category::InteractionReordered => "interaction_reordered",
        Category::InteractionRemoved => "interaction_removed",
        Category::InteractionRetired => "interaction_retired",
        Category::KindChanged => "kind_changed",
        Category::PayloadChanged => "payload_changed",
        Category::ReturnChanged => "return_changed",
        Category::ParamsChanged => "params_changed",
        Category::TimingChanged => "timing_changed",
        Category::RpcBoundChanged => "rpc_bound_changed",
        Category::ContractChanged => "contract_changed",
        Category::WidthChanged => "width_changed",
        Category::ConstraintChanged => "constraint_changed",
        Category::InitChanged => "init_changed",
        Category::ReservedNameRedeclared => "reserved_name_redeclared",
        Category::ServiceChanged => "service_changed",
        Category::ServiceInterfaceAdded => "service_interface_added",
        Category::ServiceInterfaceRemoved => "service_interface_removed",
        Category::DocOnly => "doc_only",
        Category::VisibilityChanged => "visibility_changed",
    }
}

/// The heading a category's changes are grouped under in the text report, or
/// `None` for a category listed plainly. One heading exists: "compatible on
/// the wire, visible in source", for a change that exits 0 but that a
/// consumer sees in its source — an interface renamed on its number changes
/// the generated identity-table names in both wire backends, and an interface
/// leaving a service's set stops the `service.member` addresses of that
/// interface resolving under the service. Each such category's `--explain`
/// text states its own consequence; the JSON report carries the category word
/// and no heading field.
///
/// Wildcard arms are denied for the reason `category_word` gives.
#[deny(
    clippy::wildcard_enum_match_arm,
    clippy::match_wildcard_for_single_variants
)]
pub fn heading(category: Category) -> Option<&'static str> {
    match category {
        Category::InterfaceRenamed | Category::ServiceInterfaceRemoved => {
            Some("compatible on the wire, visible in source")
        }
        Category::DeclAdded
        | Category::DeclRemoved
        | Category::InterfaceRetired
        | Category::MemberReordered
        | Category::InteractionAppended
        | Category::InteractionInserted
        | Category::InteractionReordered
        | Category::InteractionRemoved
        | Category::InteractionRetired
        | Category::KindChanged
        | Category::PayloadChanged
        | Category::ReturnChanged
        | Category::ParamsChanged
        | Category::TimingChanged
        | Category::RpcBoundChanged
        | Category::ContractChanged
        | Category::WidthChanged
        | Category::ConstraintChanged
        | Category::InitChanged
        | Category::ReservedNameRedeclared
        | Category::ServiceChanged
        | Category::ServiceInterfaceAdded
        | Category::DocOnly
        | Category::VisibilityChanged => None,
    }
}

impl serde::Serialize for Verdict {
    fn serialize<S: serde::Serializer>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> {
        serializer.serialize_str(verdict_word(*self))
    }
}

impl serde::Serialize for Category {
    fn serialize<S: serde::Serializer>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> {
        serializer.serialize_str(category_word(*self))
    }
}

impl serde::Serialize for Change {
    fn serialize<S: serde::Serializer>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> {
        use serde::ser::SerializeStruct as _;
        let mut state = serializer.serialize_struct("Change", 5)?;
        state.serialize_field("path", &self.path)?;
        state.serialize_field("category", &self.category)?;
        state.serialize_field("verdict", &self.verdict)?;
        state.serialize_field("before", &self.before)?;
        state.serialize_field("after", &self.after)?;
        state.end()
    }
}

/// Renders a report as a human-readable summary: the report verdict on the
/// first line, then one indented line per change. A change whose category has
/// no [`heading`] is listed first, in report order; then each heading is
/// printed once, as its own line ending in a colon, followed by the changes
/// under it, in report order. Headings come in [`CATEGORIES`] order.
///
/// After the contract changes come the system headings (rsdl reference §14):
/// each heading that has a change on its own line, then one indented line per
/// change under it, in the `path: before -> after` form and with no verdict.
pub fn render_text(report: &DiffReport) -> String {
    let mut out = String::new();
    out.push_str(verdict_word(report.verdict));
    out.push('\n');
    for change in &report.changes {
        if heading(change.category).is_none() {
            push_change_line(&mut out, change);
        }
    }
    let mut printed: Vec<&'static str> = Vec::new();
    for category in CATEGORIES {
        let Some(title) = heading(category) else {
            continue;
        };
        if printed.contains(&title) {
            continue;
        }
        printed.push(title);
        let mut under = report
            .changes
            .iter()
            .filter(|change| heading(change.category) == Some(title))
            .peekable();
        if under.peek().is_none() {
            continue;
        }
        out.push_str(title);
        out.push_str(":\n");
        for change in under {
            push_change_line(&mut out, change);
        }
    }
    for heading in [
        SystemHeading::PlacementChanged,
        SystemHeading::CompositionChanged,
    ] {
        let mut listed = report
            .system
            .iter()
            .filter(|change| change.heading == heading)
            .peekable();
        if listed.peek().is_none() {
            continue;
        }
        out.push_str(system::heading_text(heading));
        out.push('\n');
        for change in listed {
            out.push_str("  ");
            out.push_str(&change.path);
            push_values(&mut out, change.before.as_ref(), change.after.as_ref());
            out.push('\n');
        }
    }
    out
}

/// One change of the text report: `  [verdict] category path`, then
/// `: before -> after` where the sides apply.
fn push_change_line(out: &mut String, change: &Change) {
    out.push_str("  [");
    out.push_str(verdict_word(change.verdict));
    out.push_str("] ");
    out.push_str(category_word(change.category));
    out.push(' ');
    out.push_str(&change.path);
    push_values(out, change.before.as_ref(), change.after.as_ref());
    out.push('\n');
}

/// The rendered `before -> after` tail of one change line, shared by contract
/// changes and system changes.
fn push_values(out: &mut String, before: Option<&String>, after: Option<&String>) {
    match (before, after) {
        (Some(before), Some(after)) => {
            out.push_str(": ");
            out.push_str(before);
            out.push_str(" -> ");
            out.push_str(after);
        }
        (Some(before), None) => {
            out.push_str(": ");
            out.push_str(before);
            out.push_str(" -> (removed)");
        }
        (None, Some(after)) => {
            out.push_str(": (absent) -> ");
            out.push_str(after);
        }
        (None, None) => {}
    }
}

/// Renders a report as machine-readable JSON with the stable schema
/// `{"verdict", "changes": [{"path", "category", "verdict", "before",
/// "after"}]}`.
pub fn render_json(report: &DiffReport) -> String {
    #[derive(serde::Serialize)]
    struct JsonSystemChange<'a> {
        path: &'a str,
        before: Option<&'a str>,
        after: Option<&'a str>,
    }

    #[derive(serde::Serialize)]
    struct JsonReport<'a> {
        verdict: Verdict,
        changes: &'a [Change],
        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Vec::is_empty")]
        placement_changed: Vec<JsonSystemChange<'a>>,
        #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Vec::is_empty")]
        composition_changed: Vec<JsonSystemChange<'a>>,
    }

    let under = |heading: SystemHeading| -> Vec<JsonSystemChange<'_>> {
        report
            .system
            .iter()
            .filter(|change| change.heading == heading)
            .map(|change| JsonSystemChange {
                path: &change.path,
                before: change.before.as_deref(),
                after: change.after.as_deref(),
            })
            .collect()
    };
    serde_json::to_string_pretty(&JsonReport {
        verdict: report.verdict,
        changes: &report.changes,
        placement_changed: under(SystemHeading::PlacementChanged),
        composition_changed: under(SystemHeading::CompositionChanged),
    })
    .expect("a diff report holds only string-representable values, so serialization cannot fail")
}