Gazelle Plugin for Swift and Swift Package Rules for Bazel

This repository contains a Gazelle plugin and Bazel repository rules that can be used to download, build, and consume Swift packages. The rules in this repository build the external Swift packages using rules_swift and native C/C++ rulesets making the Swift package products and targets available as Bazel targets.

This repository is designed to fully replace rules_spm and provide utilities to ease Swift development inside a Bazel workspace.

Table of Contents

• Documentation
• Prerequisites
  • Mac OS
  • Linux
• Quickstart
  • 1. Enable bzlmod
  • 2. Configure your MODULE.bazel to use rules_swift_package_manager.
  • 3. Create a minimal Package.swift file.
  • 4. Add Gazelle targets to BUILD.bazel at the root of your workspace.
  • 5. Resolve the external dependencies for your project.
  • 6. Create or update Bazel build files for your project.
  • 7. Build and test your project.
  • 8. Check-in Package.resolved, swift_deps_index.json, and MODULE.bazel.
  • 9. Start coding
• Tips and Tricks

Documentation

• Rules and API documentation
• High-level design
• Frequently Asked Questions

Prerequisites

Mac OS

Be sure to install Xcode.

Linux

You will need to install Swift. Make sure that running swift --version works properly.

Don't forget that rules_swift expects the use of clang. Hence, you will need to specify CC=clang before running Bazel.

Finally, help rules_swift and rules_swift_package_manager find the Swift toolchain by ensuring that a PATH that includes the Swift binary is available in the Bazel actions.

cat >>local.bazelrc <<EOF
build --action_env=PATH
EOF

This approach is necessary to successfully execute the examples on an Ubuntu runner using Github actions. See the CI GitHub workflow for more details.

Quickstart

The following provides a quick introduction on how to set up and use the features in this repository. These instructions assume that you are using Bazel modules to load your external dependencies. If you are using Bazel's legacy external dependency management, please review the legacy quickstart, instead.

Also, check out the examples for more information.

1. Enable bzlmod

This repository supports bzlmod as well as legacy WORKSPACE dependencies. If you are starting a new project, it is highly recommended to use bzlmod. To enable bzlmod, add the following to your .bazelrc.

common --enable_bzlmod

2. Configure your MODULE.bazel to use rules_swift_package_manager.

Add a dependency on rules_swift_package_manager.

bazel_dep(name = "rules_swift_package_manager", version = "0.29.1")

You will also need to add a dependency on Gazelle, rules_swift, and possibly rules_apple. Follow the links below to get the latest bzlmod snippets to insert into your MODULE.bazel.

• gazelle
• rules_swift
• rules_apple

NOTE: Only some projects require the inclusion of rules_apple. Some Swift package manager features (e.g., resources) use rules from rules_apple. While your project may not require these rules, one of your Swift package dependencies might require this ruleset. If you just want things to work, add rules_apple as a dependency. Otherwise, try building without rules_apple and be on the lookout for missing depdency errors.

3. Create a minimal Package.swift file.

Create a minimal Package.swift file that only contains the external dependencies that are directly used by your Bazel workspace.

// swift-tools-version: 5.7

import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
    name: "my-project",
    dependencies: [
        // Replace these entries with your dependencies.
        .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-argument-parser", from: "1.2.0"),
        .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-log", from: "1.4.4"),
    ]
)

The name of the package can be whatever you like. It is required for the manifest, but it is not used by rules_swift_package_manager. If your proejct is published and consumed as a Swift package, feel free to populate the rest of the manifest so that your package works properly by Swift package manager. Just note that the Swift Gazelle plugin does not use the manifest to generate Bazel build files, at this time.

4. Add Gazelle targets to BUILD.bazel at the root of your workspace.

Add the following to the BUILD.bazel file at the root of your workspace.

load("@gazelle//:def.bzl", "gazelle", "gazelle_binary")
load("@rules_swift_package_manager//swiftpkg:defs.bzl", "swift_update_packages")

# Ignore the `.build` folder that is created by running Swift package manager
# commands. The Swift Gazelle plugin executes some Swift package manager
# commands to resolve external dependencies. This results in a `.build` file
# being created.
# NOTE: Swift package manager is not used to build any of the external packages.
# The `.build` directory should be ignored. Be sure to configure your source
# control to ignore it (i.e., add it to your `.gitignore`).
# gazelle:exclude .build

# This declaration builds a Gazelle binary that incorporates all of the Gazelle
# plugins for the languages that you use in your workspace. In this example, we
# are only listing the Gazelle plugin for Swift from rules_swift_package_manager.
gazelle_binary(
    name = "gazelle_bin",
    languages = [
        "@rules_swift_package_manager//gazelle",
    ],
)

# This macro defines two targets: `swift_update_pkgs` and
# `swift_update_pkgs_to_latest`.
#
# The `swift_update_pkgs` target should be run whenever the list of external
# dependencies is updated in the `Package.swift`. Running this target will
# populate the `swift_deps.bzl` with `swift_package` declarations for all of
# the direct and transitive Swift packages that your project uses.
#
# The `swift_update_pkgs_to_latest` target should be run when you want to
# update your Swift dependencies to their latest eligible version.
swift_update_packages(
    name = "swift_update_pkgs",
    gazelle = ":gazelle_bin",
    generate_swift_deps_for_workspace = False,
    update_bzlmod_stanzas = True,
)

# This target updates the Bazel build files for your project. Run this target
# whenever you add or remove source files from your project.
gazelle(
    name = "update_build_files",
    gazelle = ":gazelle_bin",
)

5. Resolve the external dependencies for your project.

Resolve the external dependencies for your project by running the following:

bazel run //:swift_update_pkgs

6. Create or update Bazel build files for your project.

Generate/update the Bazel build files for your project by running the following:

bazel run //:update_build_files

7. Build and test your project.

Build and test your project.

bazel test //...

8. Check-in Package.resolved, swift_deps_index.json, and MODULE.bazel.

• The Package.resolved file specifies that exact versions of the dependencies that were identified.
• The swift_deps_index.json file contains information that is used by the Gazelle plugin and the respository rules.
• In addition to the declarations that you added to the MODULE.bazel file, executing //:swift_update_pkgs adds declarations to the end of the file related to the Swift packages that are used by your workspace.

9. Start coding

You are ready to start coding.

Tips and Tricks

The following are a few tips to consider as you work with your repository:

• When you add or remove source files, run bazel run //:update_build_files. This will create/update the Bazel build files in your project. It is designed to be fast and unobtrusive.
• When you add or remove an external dependency, run bazel run //:swift_update_pkgs. This will resolve the changes to your transitive dependencies and regenerate your Package.resolved, swift_deps_index.json, and swift_deps.bzl (only if you are using legacy WORKSPACE mode).
• If things do not appear to be working properly, run the following in this order:
  • bazel run //:swift_update_pkgs
  • bazel run //:update_build_files
• Do yourself a favor and create a Bazel target (e.g., //:tidy) that runs your repository maintenance targets (e.g., //:swift_update_pkgs, //:update_build_files, formatting utilities) in the proper order. If you are looking for an easy way to set this up, check out the //:tidy declaration in this repository and the documentation for the tidy macro.
• Are you trying to use a Swift package and it just won't build under Bazel? If you can figure out how to fix it, you can patch the Swift package. Check out our document on patching Swift packages.