CADI Extensions

The plugin system that makes CADI infinitely extensible.

Overview

CADI Extensions enable developers to extend CADI's capabilities with custom:

• Language Atomizers: Support for new programming languages
• Build Backends: Custom build targets (Docker, WASM, mobile apps)
• Registry Plugins: Alternative storage backends (S3, IPFS, GitHub)
• MCP Tools: Additional AI agent capabilities
• UI Extensions: IDE integrations and dashboards

Architecture

Extensions are dynamically loaded plugins that implement well-defined traits:

#[async_trait]
pub trait Extension: Send + Sync {
    fn metadata(&self) -> ExtensionMetadata;
    async fn initialize(&mut self, context: &ExtensionContext) -> Result<()>;
    async fn shutdown(&mut self) -> Result<()>;
}

Extension Types

Atomizer Extensions

#[async_trait]
pub trait AtomizerExtension: Extension {
    fn language(&self) -> &str;
    async fn extract_atoms(&self, source: &str) -> Result<Vec<AtomicChunk>>;
    async fn resolve_imports(&self, source: &str) -> Result<Vec<ResolvedImport>>;
}

Build Backend Extensions

#[async_trait]
pub trait BuildBackendExtension: Extension {
    fn target_formats(&self) -> Vec<&str>;
    async fn build(&self, chunk: &AtomicChunk, target: &str) -> Result<BuildArtifact>;
}

Registry Extensions

#[async_trait]
pub trait RegistryExtension: Extension {
    async fn store(&self, chunk: &AtomicChunk) -> Result<String>;
    async fn retrieve(&self, id: &str) -> Result<Option<AtomicChunk>>;
    async fn search(&self, query: &SearchQuery) -> Result<Vec<AtomicChunk>>;
}

Creating Extensions

1. Create a new Rust library crate
2. Implement the appropriate extension trait
3. Export the extension constructor function:

   #[no_mangle]
   pub extern "C" fn cadi_extension_create() -> *mut dyn Extension {
       Box::into_raw(Box::new(MyExtension::new()))
   }
   

4. Create extension manifest (extension.toml):

   [extension]
   name = "my-extension"
   version = "1.0.0"
   type = "atomizer"
   description = "Atomizer for MyLanguage"
   
   [dependencies]
   cadi-core = "2.0"
   

Loading Extensions

Extensions can be loaded from:

• Local filesystem: ./extensions/
• CADI Registry: cadi install my-extension
• System paths: /usr/local/lib/cadi/extensions/

let loader = ExtensionLoader::new()
    .with_search_paths(vec!["./extensions".into()])
    .load_all()
    .await?;

Distribution

Extensions are distributed as:

• Crates on crates.io: cargo install cadi-atomizer-java
• Binary releases: Platform-specific downloads
• CADI Registry: cadi install my-extension

Commercial Extensions

Premium extensions are available through CADI Pro/Enterprise:

• Advanced language support (Java, Swift, C++)
• Cloud storage backends
• Enterprise security features
• Custom development services

Development

# Build the extensions crate
cargo build

# Run tests
cargo test

# Build example extension
cd examples/java-atomizer
cargo build --release