cargo-rail: improving the 'unify' process end to end; tested across 8x cloned repos including jj, datafusion, convex-backend, deno, ferros, helixdb, wasmtime, and rustpython. All green.

Author: loadingalias

.gitignore

@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ AGENTS.md
 # Documentation
 docs/*
 audit.md
+fixes.md
+fixes_split.md
+fixes_cdtwm.md
 
 # Cargo-Rail (Testing)
 *rail.toml

Cargo.lock

@@ -1,46 +1,35 @@
 [package]
 name = "cargo-rail"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "1.0.0"
 edition = "2024"
 rust-version = "1.89.0"
 license = "MIT"
 authors = ["loadingalias"]
-description = "Split Rust crates from Cargo workspaces into standalone repos with bidirectional sync"
+description = "Zero-waste Rust monorepo orchestration: graph-aware CI, dependency unification, release automation, and history-preserving crate distribution"
 repository = "https://github.com/loadingalias/cargo-rail"
 homepage = "https://github.com/loadingalias/cargo-rail"
 documentation = "https://docs.rs/cargo-rail"
-categories = ["command-line-utilities", "development-tools", "git", "cargo", "monorepo-tools"]
-keywords = ["monorepo", "cargo", "workspace", "git", "split", "sync"]
+categories = [
+    "command-line-utilities",
+    "development-tools",
+    "development-tools::cargo-plugins",
+    "development-tools::build-utils",
+]
+keywords = ["monorepo", "cargo", "workspace", "ci", "release"]
 readme = "README.md"
 
 [dependencies]
 clap = { version = "4.5.53", features = ["derive", "cargo"] }
-
-# Workspace introspection
 cargo_metadata = "0.23.1"
-
-# Graph analysis
 petgraph = "0.8.3"
-
-# Lossless TOML editing (preserves formatting)
 toml_edit = { version = "0.23.7", features = ["serde"] }
-
-# Error handling
 anyhow = "1.0.100"
-
-# Serialization for config
 serde = { version = "1.0.228", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.145"
 semver = "1.0.27"
-
-# Parallelism and concurrency
 rayon = "1.11.0"
-
-# Parsing (zero-copy, minimal deps)
 winnow = "0.7.13"
-
-# Date/time handling for backup timestamps
-chrono = "0.4"
+chrono = "0.4.42"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempfile = "3.23.0"

Cargo.toml

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 [![Crates.io](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/cargo-rail.svg)](https://crates.io/crates/cargo-rail)
 [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](LICENSE)
-[![Rust Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/rust-1.91%2B-orange.svg)](https://www.rust-lang.org)
+[![Rust Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/rust-1.89%2B-orange.svg)](https://www.rust-lang.org)
 
 Stop wasting CI time. Stop fighting workspace dependencies. Stop copy-pasting git history.
 
@@ -20,9 +20,19 @@ cargo install cargo-rail
 
 | Problem | Solution | Impact |
 |---------|----------|--------|
-| 🔥 **Testing everything on every PR** | Graph-aware change detection | **10x faster CI** |
-| 💥 **Dependency fragmentation** | Resolution-based unification | **Zero workspace-hack crates** |
-| 🔨 **Distributing crates** | History-preserving split/sync | **One command, full git history** |
+| **Testing everything on every PR** | Graph-aware change detection | **10x faster CI** |
+| **Dependency fragmentation** | Resolution-based unification | **Zero workspace-hack crates** |
+| **Distributing crates** | History-preserving split/sync | **One command, full git history** |
+
+### Replaces
+
+| Tool | What cargo-rail does instead |
+|------|------------------------------|
+| **cargo-hakari** | Native `workspace.dependencies` unification—no workspace-hack crate |
+| **cargo-release / release-plz** | Dependency-ordered releases with native changelog generation |
+| **git-cliff** | Built-in conventional commit parsing (zero-copy, no external dep) |
+| **Copybara** | Deterministic split/sync with git-notes mapping |
+| **CI shell scripts** | Graph-aware `cargo rail affected` with nextest/bacon integration |
 
 ---
 
@@ -156,7 +166,7 @@ def456 fix: critical bug      # Same SHA!
 
 - **System git only** – No libgit2/gitoxide dependency overhead
 - **Direct graph construction** – `cargo_metadata` + `petgraph` (no guppy)
-- **8 core dependencies** – Minimal, auditable supply chain
+- **11 core dependencies** – Minimal, auditable supply chain
 
 ### Design Principles
 
@@ -220,26 +230,80 @@ cargo rail sync my-crate               # Bidirectional sync
 cargo rail status                      # Show sync status
 ```
 
-### Release Automation
+### Release Automation (replaces cargo-release + git-cliff)
 
 ```bash
-cargo rail release plan --all          # Plan release
-cargo rail release publish --execute   # Publish to crates.io
+# Plan releases with dependency-aware ordering
+cargo rail release --all --bump minor --dry-run
+
+# Execute: bump versions, generate changelogs, tag, publish
+cargo rail release --all --bump patch --execute
+```
+
+**What it does:**
+
+- Native changelog generation from conventional commits (no git-cliff dependency)
+- Dependency-ordered publishing (deps before dependents)
+- Configurable delays between publishes (avoids registry race conditions)
+- GitHub release creation via `gh` CLI (optional)
+- GPG/SSH tag signing support
+
+### Watch Mode (bacon/cargo-watch integration)
+
+```bash
+# Auto-detect best watcher and run smart tests
+cargo rail test --watch
+
+# Explicit watcher selection
+cargo rail test --watch --watch-mode bacon
 ```
 
 ---
 
 ## Comparison
 
-| Feature | cargo-rail | cargo-hakari | Copybara |
-|---------|-----------|-------------|----------|
-| Dependency unification | ✅ Resolution-based | ✅ Syntax-only | ❌ |
-| Workspace-hack crate | ❌ Not needed | ✅ Required | ❌ |
-| Git history preservation | ✅ Full | ❌ | ⚠️ Partial |
-| Bidirectional sync | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
-| Deterministic | ✅ Same SHAs | N/A | ❌ |
-| Smart testing | ✅ Graph-aware | ❌ | ❌ |
-| Dependencies | 8 core | ~40+ (via guppy) | Go ecosystem |
+### vs Dependency Management
+
+| Feature | cargo-rail | cargo-hakari |
+|---------|-----------|-------------|
+| Dependency unification | ✅ Resolution-based | ✅ Syntax-only |
+| Feature selection | Intersection (minimal) | Union (maximal) |
+| Workspace-hack crate | ❌ Not needed | ✅ Required |
+| TOML preservation | ✅ Lossless | ⚠️ Regenerates |
+| Dependencies | 10 core | ~40+ (via guppy) |
+
+### vs Release Automation
+
+| Feature | cargo-rail | cargo-release | release-plz |
+|---------|-----------|--------------|-------------|
+| Version bumping | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
+| Changelog generation | ✅ Native | ❌ External | ✅ |
+| Dependency ordering | ✅ Graph-aware | ⚠️ Manual | ✅ |
+| GitHub releases | ✅ via gh | ❌ | ✅ |
+| Publish delay | ✅ Configurable | ❌ | ✅ |
+| Tag signing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
+| Dependencies | 90 |-| 600+|
+
+### vs Monorepo Sync
+
+| Feature | cargo-rail | Copybara | git-filter-repo |
+|---------|-----------|----------|-----------------|
+| Git history preservation | ✅ Full | ⚠️ Partial | ✅ Full |
+| Bidirectional sync | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ One-way |
+| Deterministic SHAs | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
+| Conflict resolution | ✅ 3-way merge | ✅ | ❌ |
+| Commit mapping | ✅ git-notes | Custom DB | ❌ |
+| Language | Rust | Go | Python |
+
+### vs CI Optimization
+
+| Feature | cargo-rail | Custom scripts | nx/turborepo |
+|---------|-----------|---------------|--------------|
+| Change detection | ✅ Graph-aware | ⚠️ Path-based | ✅ Graph-aware |
+| Rust-native | ✅ | ⚠️ Shell | ❌ JS ecosystem |
+| Nextest integration | ✅ Auto-detect | Manual | ❌ |
+| Watch mode | ✅ bacon/cargo-watch | Manual | ✅ |
+| Dependency resolution | ✅ Cargo's resolver | ❌ | ❌ |
 
 ---
 

README.md

@@ -36,4 +36,16 @@ pin-actions:
 
 # Verify all GitHub Actions are properly pinned
 verify-actions:
-    @scripts/ci/pin-actions.sh --verify-only
+    @scripts/ci/pin-actions.sh --verify-only
+
+# Create/update release PR via release-plz
+release-pr:
+    @scripts/release/release_plz.sh release-pr
+
+# Publish release (after PR merge)
+release:
+    @scripts/release/release_plz.sh release
+
+# Update changelog + versions locally (no PR)
+release-update:
+    @scripts/release/release_plz.sh update

justfile

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[workspace]
+changelog_update = true
+git_release_enable = true
+publish = true
+
+[[package]]
+name = "cargo-rail"
+changelog_path = "CHANGELOG.md"
+git_tag_name = "v{{ version }}"

release-plz.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# release-plz wrapper for cargo-rail
+# Usage:
+#   ./scripts/release/release_plz.sh release-pr  # Create/update release PR
+#   ./scripts/release/release_plz.sh release     # Publish (after PR merge)
+#   ./scripts/release/release_plz.sh update      # Update changelog + versions locally
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/../.." && pwd)"
+
+check_release_plz() {
+  if ! command -v release-plz &> /dev/null; then
+    echo "release-plz not found. Install with:"
+    echo "  cargo install release-plz"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+main() {
+  check_release_plz
+  cd "$REPO_ROOT"
+
+  local cmd="${1:-release-pr}"
+  shift || true
+
+  case "$cmd" in
+    release-pr)
+      echo "Creating/updating release PR..."
+      release-plz release-pr "$@"
+      ;;
+    release)
+      echo "Publishing release..."
+      release-plz release "$@"
+      ;;
+    update)
+      echo "Updating changelog and versions locally..."
+      release-plz update "$@"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Usage: $0 {release-pr|release|update}"
+      echo ""
+      echo "Commands:"
+      echo "  release-pr  Create or update a release PR on GitHub"
+      echo "  release     Publish to crates.io (run after merging release PR)"
+      echo "  update      Update changelog and versions locally (no PR/publish)"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+main "$@"