majiayu000 OCaml Project Setup Standards
When to Use This Skill
Invoke this skill when:
- Initializing a new OCaml project - Setting up dune-project, LICENSE, README, CI, etc.
- Preparing for opam release - Ensuring all metadata is correct for publication
- Setting up CI/CD - Configuring GitHub Actions, Tangled, or GitLab CI
- Discussing project structure - Best practices for directory layout
Do not use for:
- Regular code edits or bug fixes
- Simple function additions
- Refactoring existing code
User Configuration
Read configuration from ~/.claude/ocaml-config.json:
{
"author": {
"name": "Author Name",
"email": "author@example.com"
},
"license": "ISC",
"copyright_year_start": 2025,
"ci_platform": "github",
"git_hosting": {
"type": "github",
"org": "username"
},
"opam_overlay": {
"enabled": false,
"path": null,
"name": null
},
"ocaml_version": "5.2.0"
}
If config file doesn't exist, prompt user for values and offer to save.
License Header
Every OCaml source file should start with a license header. Use the configured license.
ISC License:
(*---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) {{YEAR}} {{AUTHOR_NAME}} <{{AUTHOR_EMAIL}}>. All rights reserved.
SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------*)
MIT License:
(*---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) {{YEAR}} {{AUTHOR_NAME}} <{{AUTHOR_EMAIL}}>
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------*)
Build System (Dune)
Use Dune for builds with automatic opam file generation.
dune-project
See templates/dune-project.template for the full template.
Key points:
- Always set
(generate_opam_files true) - Use
(maintenance_intent "(latest)")for actively maintained projects - Do not add a
(version ...)field - added at release time - For Tangled projects, use appropriate URL schema
Root dune file
See templates/dune-root.template.
Include (data_only_dirs third_party) to ignore fetched dependency sources.
Version Control
.gitignore
See templates/gitignore for the standard template.
Always include:
_build/third_party/*.install- Editor and OS files
Code Formatting
Use OCamlFormat with default styling.
See templates/ocamlformat - current version 0.28.1.
Continuous Integration
Templates available for:
- GitHub Actions:
templates/ci-github.yml - Tangled:
templates/ci-tangled.yml - GitLab CI:
templates/ci-gitlab.yml
Select based on user's ci_platform configuration.
Documentation
README.md
See templates/README.template.md for structure.
Include:
- Project title and brief description
- Key features
- Installation instructions
- Usage examples
- License
File Checklist for New Projects
Essential files:
-
README.md -
dune-project -
dune(root) -
.ocamlformat -
.gitignore -
LICENSE.md - CI configuration (based on platform)
- Source files with license headers
Test files:
-
test/dune -
test/test_*.ml
Template Variables
When using templates, replace:
{{PROJECT_NAME}}- snake_case project name{{PROJECT_NAME_KEBAB}}- kebab-case project name{{AUTHOR_NAME}}- from config{{AUTHOR_EMAIL}}- from config{{YEAR}}- current year{{LICENSE}}- license identifier (ISC, MIT, etc.){{OCAML_VERSION}}- minimum OCaml version{{GIT_URL}}- full git URL{{GIT_HOSTING_TYPE}}- github, tangled, or gitlab