Getting Started

Relevant source files

The following files were used as context for generating this wiki page:

• CONTRIBUTING.md
• README.md
• internal/config/config_test.go
• internal/opendpi/parse.go
• internal/opendpi/writer.go
• cmd/gendocs/main.go

The Daco CLI is a specialized tool designed for managing data product projects. It operates as a "Swiss army knife" for data engineers and architects, facilitating the definition, translation, and management of data products using the OpenDPI specification.

This guide provides the necessary steps to set up the development environment, install the tool, and understand the core project structure and configuration.

Installation

The Daco CLI can be installed through multiple package managers or built directly from source.

Method	Command / Source	Platform
Homebrew	brew install dacolabs/tap/daco	macOS/Linux
Scoop	scoop install daco	Windows
Go Install	go install github.com/dacolabs/cli/cmd/daco@latest	All (requires Go)
Manual	Releases Page	All

Sources: README.md:9-32

Development Environment Setup

For contributors looking to modify the CLI, the project requires specific tools and a structured initialization process.

Prerequisites

Developers must ensure the following tools are installed:

• Go: Version 1.23.0 or higher.
• golangci-lint: For code quality and linting.
• Make: For build automation.
• GoReleaser: (Optional) For testing local releases.

Sources: CONTRIBUTING.md:28-35

Initializing the Repository

The project uses a Makefile to automate the environment setup, including the configuration of git hooks and project dependencies.

# Clone the repository
git clone git@github.com:dacolabs/cli.git
cd cli

# Run setup to configure git hooks
make setup

# Build the binary
make build

Sources: CONTRIBUTING.md:39-48

Project Architecture

The Daco CLI is organized into clear domains, separating command definitions, configuration management, and the core OpenDPI logic.

Key Directories

Directory	Purpose
cmd/daco/	Entry point for the application.
internal/commands/	Implementation of CLI commands (e.g., init, ports).
internal/opendpi/	Parsing and writing of OpenDPI specifications.
internal/translate/	Logic for converting JSON schemas to target languages (Python, Go, SQL, etc.).
internal/config/	Handling of the daco.yaml configuration file.

Sources: CONTRIBUTING.md:52-67

Configuration Management

The CLI relies on a configuration file, typically named daco.yaml, to manage project-level settings such as the path to the OpenDPI specification.

The daco.yaml File

The configuration system tracks the version and the location of the data product specification.

Field	Type	Description
version	Integer	The configuration schema version (currently 1).
path	String	The filesystem path to the OpenDPI specification file.

Sources: internal/config/config_test.go:17-21, internal/config/config_test.go:73-77

Specification Handling

The CLI processes OpenDPI specs in either JSON or YAML format. The internal/opendpi package provides the Parser and Writer components for these operations.

Core Development Workflow

The project uses make targets to maintain code quality and build artifacts.

• Testing: make test runs the suite with race detection enabled.
• Linting: make lint executes golangci-lint.
• Formatting: make format applies gofmt and goimports.
• Documentation: The project includes a tool to generate LLM-friendly markdown documentation located in cmd/gendocs/main.go.

Sources: CONTRIBUTING.md:162-171, cmd/gendocs/main.go:12-16

Summary

Getting started with the Daco CLI involves installing the binary and setting up a project workspace centered around a daco.yaml configuration and an OpenDPI specification. For developers, the project provides a robust Go-based environment with automated testing, linting, and a modular architecture designed to support diverse data schema translations.