---
title: Hack
---

## Contributing

Welcome to Hacking the Planet with `abra`! We're looking forward to see what you come up. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask 💖 However, please keep in mind that if any of your changes seems a bit controversial, it's probably best to come have a chat first to avoid heartache.

In general, we're into the idea of "Optimistic Merging" (instead of "Pessimistic Merging" based on our understanding of [C4](https://hintjens.gitbooks.io/social-architecture/content/chapter4.html) (described further down under "Development Process" and also [in this blog post](http://hintjens.com/blog:106)).

In other words, we're happy to give you, as contributor, "the commit bit" (read/write permissions on the Git repositories) more or less as soon as you start to submit changes, write recipes, organise or in general, help out in the project. You don't have to prove anything, we can work and learn together! Mistakes are allowed and there are no "stupid questions".

We maintain a "team" called "Co-operators" on our 2 main repositories:

* [`git.coopcloud.tech/org/toolshed`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/org/toolshed/)
* [`git.coopcloud.tech/org/coop-cloud`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/org/coop-cloud/)

This gives you read/write access to all the repositories of the organisation.

Any existing contributor can add you.

## Quick start

Get a fresh copy of the `abra` source code from [here](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra).

Install [direnv](https://direnv.net), run `cp .envrc.sample .envrc`, then run `direnv allow` in this directory. Or you can run `go env -w GOPRIVATE=coopcloud.tech` but I'm not sure how persistent this is.

Install [Go >= 1.16](https://golang.org/doc/install) and then:

- `make build` to build. If this fails, run `go mod tidy`.
- `./abra` to run commands
- `make test` will run tests
- `make install-abra` will install abra to `$GOPATH/bin`
- `make install-kadabra` will install kadabra to `$GOPATH/bin`
- `go get <package>`, `go mod tidy` and `go mod vendor` to add a new dependency

Our [Drone CI configuration](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/.drone.yml) runs a number of checks on each pushed commit. See the [Makefile](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/Makefile) for more handy targets.

Please use the [conventional commit format](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/) for your commits so we can automate our change log.

## Unit tests

### Run tests

Run the entire suite.

```
make test
```

### Filter tests

Run a specific test.

```
go test ./pkg/recipe -v -run TestGetVersionLabelLocalDoesNotUseTimeoutLabel
```

## Integration tests

### Running on the CI server

Based on [R020](https://docs.coopcloud.tech/federation/resolutions/passed/020/), we have automated running the integration test suite. Here's the TLDR;

* We have a donated CI server (tysm `@mirsal` 💝) standing at the ready, `int.coopcloud.tech`.
* We run the entire integration suite nightly via our Drone CI/CD configuration [here](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/.drone.yml) (see "`name: integration test`" stanza)
* Here is the script that is run on the remote server: [`run-ci-int`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/scripts/tests/run-ci-int)

What follows is a listing of how this was achieved so that we can collectivise the maintenance.

On the server, we have:

* Created an `abra` user with `docker` permissions
* Ran `apt install bats bats-file bats-assert bats-support jq make git golang-1.21 wget bash`
* Installed `bats-core` from source, following the instructions below
* Docker was already installed on the machine, so nothing to do there
* `docker login` with the `thecoopcloud` details so we don't get rate limited

The drone configuration was wired up as follows:

* Generated a SSH key and put the public key part in `~/.ssh/authorize_keys`
* Added that public key part as a "deploy key" in the abra repo (so we can do `ssh://` git remote pulls)
* Added the private key part as a Drone secret which is available in build so that the build can SSH over to the server to run commands. That was done like so: `drone secret add --repository toolshed/abra --name abra_int_private_key --data @id_ed25519`
* In order to specify a cron timing, you need to create it with the Drone CLI: `drone cron add "toolshed/abra" "integration" @daily --branch main`

Please ask `@decentral1se` or on the Matrix channels for SSH access to the machine.

### Running them locally

#### Install dependencies

We use [`bats`](https://bats-core.readthedocs.io/en/stable/) to run the tests. You can install the required dependencies with the following. You also need a working installation of Docker and Go >= 1.16 (not covered in this section).

```
apt install bats-file bats-assert bats-support jq make git
```

Unfortunately, the latest `bats` version in Debian stable does not have the "filter tests by tags" feature, which is very handy for running a subset of the tests. For this, we need to install `bats` from source. It's easy.

```
apt purge -y bats
git clone https://github.com/bats-core/bats-core.git
cd bats-core
sudo ./install.sh /usr/local
```

#### Setup Test Server

For some tests an actual server is needed, where apps can be deployed. You can either use a local one or a remote test server. There is also a way to run or skip tests that require a remote server. This is covered below in the [filtering tests](#filter-tests_1) section.

##### Remote swarm

```
export ABRA_TEST_DOMAIN="test.example.com"
export ABRA_DIR="$HOME/.abra_test"
```

`ABRA_TEST_DOMAIN` should also have a DNS A record for `*.test.example.com` which points to the same server so that the test suite can deploy apps freely. The test suite does not deploy Traefik for you.

##### Local swarm

When running the test suite localy you need a running docker swarm setup:

```
docker swarm init
docker network create -d overlay proxy
```

To use the local swarm set the foloowing env var:

```
export TEST_SERVER=default
export ABRA_DIR="$HOME/.abra_test"
```

### Run tests

Now you can run the whole test suite:

```
bats -Tp tests/integration
```

Or you can run a single test file:

```
bats -Tp tests/integration/app_check.bats
```

### Tagging tests

When a test actually deploys something, we tag it as "slow". When the test requires public DNS, we use "dns". There may be more tags we write more tests.

```
# bats test_tags=slow,dns
@test "..." {
  ...
}
```

Then we can use [filters](#filter-tests) (see below) to pick out a subset of tests which do/do not use a live server. Feel free to come up with your own tags. See the `bats-core` [docs](https://bats-core.readthedocs.io/en/stable/writing-tests.html#tagging-tests) for more.

### Filter tests

You can run a specific file.

```
bats -Tp tests/integration/app_check.bats
```

For example, if you want to check that all `abra recipe ...` tests remain working.

```
bats -Tp tests/integration/recipe_*
```

You can filter on test names to run specific kinds of tests.

```
bats -Tp tests/integration --filter "validate app argument"
```

You can filter on tags.

```
bats -Tp tests/integration --filter-tags \!slow      # only fast tests
bats -Tp tests/integration --filter-tags slow        # only slow tests
bats -Tp tests/integration --filter-tags slow,\!dns  # slow but no DNS tests
```

You can also only run the previously failed tests.

```
mkdir -p tests/integration/.bats/run-logs
bats -Tp tests/integration                        # run tests
bats -Tp tests/integration --filter-status failed # re-run only failed
```

### Debug tests

If you're running into issues and want to debug stuff, you can pass `-x` to `bats` to trace all commands run in the test. You can add `echo '...' >&3` debug statements to your test to output stuff also.

## Using the `abra` public API

Warning, there is currently no stability promise for the `abra` public API! Most of the internals are exposed in order to allow a free hand for developers to try build stuff. If people start to build things then we can start the discussion on what is useful to have open/closed and keep stable etc. Please let us know if you depend on the APIs!

The `pkg.go.dev` documentation is [here](https://pkg.go.dev/coopcloud.tech/abra). Here's a brief example to get you going:

```go
package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"log"

	abraClient "coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/client"
	dockerClient "github.com/docker/docker/client"
)

func getClient(serverName string) (*dockerClient.Client, error) {
	cl, err := abraClient.New(serverName)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("getClient: %s", err)
	}
	return cl, nil
}

func main() {
	cl, err := getClient("foo.example.com")
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}

    // do stuff with the client...
    // https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/docker/docker/client
}
```

Some tools that are making use of the API so far are:

* [`kadabra`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/cmd/kadabra/main.go)

## Cross-compiling

If there's no official release for the architecture you use, you can cross-compile `abra` very easily. Clone the source code from [here](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra) and then:

- enter the `abra` directory
- run `git tag -l` to see the list of tags, choose the latest one
- run `git checkout <tag>`, where `<tag>` is the latest version
- run `GOOS=<os> GOARCH=<arch> [GOARM=<arm>] make build`. You only have to use `GOARM` if you're building for ARM, this specifies the ARM version (5,6,7 etc). See [this](https://go.dev/doc/install/source#environment) for a list of all supported OS'es and architectures.

## Building in Docker

If you are living under a curse of constant Go environment problems, it might be easier to build `abra` using Docker:

```
sudo setenforce 0  # SELinux probably won't allow Docker to access files
docker run -it -v $PWD:/abra golang:1.19.6 bash
cd /abra
. .envrc
git config --global --add safe.directory /abra  # work around funky file permissions
make build
```

## Release management

We use [goreleaser](https://goreleaser.com) to help us automate releases. We use [semver](https://semver.org) for versioning all releases of the tool. While we are still in the public beta release phase, we will maintain a `0.y.z-beta` format. Change logs are generated from our commit logs. We are still working this out and aim to refine our release praxis as we go.

For developers, while using this `-beta` format, the `y` part is the "major" version part. So, if you make breaking changes, you increment that and _not_ the `x` part. So, if you're on `0.1.0-beta`, then you'd go to `0.1.1-beta` for a backwards compatible change and `0.2.0-beta` for a backwards incompatible change.

### Making a new release

- Run the [integration test suite](#integration-tests) and the unit tests (`make test`) (takes a while!)
- Change `ABRA_VERSION` in [`scripts/installer/installer`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/scripts/installer/installer) to match the new tag (use [semver](https://semver.org))
- Commit that change (e.g. `git commit -m 'chore: publish next tag x.y.z-beta'`)
- Make a new tag (e.g. `git tag -a x.y.z-beta`)
- Push the new tag (e.g. `git push && git push --tags`)
- Wait until the build finishes on [build.coopcloud.tech](https://build.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra)
- Deploy the new installer script (e.g. `cd ./scripts/installer && make`)
- Check the release worked, (e.g. `abra upgrade; abra -v`)

## Fork maintenance

### `godotenv`

We maintain a fork of [godotenv](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/godotenv) because we need inline comment parsing for environment files. You can upgrade the version here by running `go get git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/godotenv@0<COMMID>` where `<commit>` is the latest commit you want to pin to. See [`abra#391`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/pulls/391) for more.

### `docker/client`

A number of modules in [pkg/upstream](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/abra/src/branch/main/pkg/upstream) are copy/pasta'd from the upstream [docker/docker/client](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/docker/docker/client). We had to do this because upstream are not exposing their API as public.

### `github.com/schultz-is/passgen`

Due to [`toolshed/organising#358`](https://git.coopcloud.tech/toolshed/organising/issues/358).