Zotonic Module Porting

Zotonic Module Porting

Module Structure

A Zotonic 1.x module/app usually has:

app_or_module/
├── rebar.config
├── Makefile
├── Taskfile.yml        (optional, delegate to Makefile if present)
├── priv/
│   ├── dispatch/dispatch
│   ├── lib/            (compiled static output)
│   ├── lib-src/        (SCSS/JS source and build Makefile)
│   └── templates/
└── src/
    ├── app_or_module.app.src
    ├── mod_app_or_module.erl
    ├── actions/
    ├── filters/
    ├── scomps/
    ├── validators/
    ├── controllers/
    ├── models/
    └── support/

• Add .app.src in src/.
• In the main module, add -mod_config([...]) for all configurable options.
• Use dependencies via -mod_depends([...]) and .app.src applications as appropriate.
• Module application names must start with zotonic_mod_....
• The main Erlang module of zotonic_mod_mymod is src/mod_mymod.erl.
• Actions, validators, and scomps should include the module name in their Erlang module name to support Zotonic override behavior.
• A site app has the same shape but uses a site module such as src/sitename.erl and must include priv/zotonic_site.config, .json, .yaml, or .yml.
• Keep source files UTF-8 with LF line endings.

Module Boundaries

• Keep src/mod_*.erl small and Zotonic-facing. It should declare module metadata and config, handle lifecycle callbacks, observe notifications, install data, and connect the module to Zotonic.
• Put public module APIs in src/models/m_*.erl when templates, other modules, or model lookups need to call them. Models should normalize external/template input, apply ACL checks for model data, read module configuration, and return template-friendly data structures.
• Put worker processes and domain implementation in src/support/. This includes gen_server workers, parsers, protocol adapters, batching internals, external command/process communication, and pure transformation helpers.
• Let the model mediate support modules when the functionality is exposed to Zotonic. For example, have the model ensure a shared worker is started, pass timeouts/configuration, call the support worker, and normalize {ok, ...} | {error, ...} results for callers.
• Move code out of mod_*.erl once it stops being module lifecycle or observer glue. Move code out of m_*.erl when it becomes reusable implementation detail rather than a Zotonic-facing API.

Porting From Zotonic 0.x

• Replace Webmachine-style controllers with Zotonic 1.x/Cowmachine callbacks.
• Look at zotonic_mod_base controllers and Cowmachine defaults before implementing callbacks.
• Omit callbacks where defaults are correct.
• Replace old request APIs and wrq usage with z_context, m_req, cowmachine_req, and Zotonic controller helpers.
• Replace string query keys with binary keys:

z_context:get_q(<<"payment_nr">>, Context)

• For JSON request bodies, use:

z_controller_helper:decode_request_noz(AcceptedCT, Context)

• For raw request-body authorization checks, read the body once and store it in the context if it must be reused.
• When porting templates, remove old convenience patterns that do not work well in Zotonic 1.x, such as {% with m.rsc[id] as r %} followed by r.foo; use id.foo directly in admin edit templates.

Data And Types

• In Zotonic 1.x, request keys, JSON keys, and query keys are generally binaries.
• For text manipulation, use Unicode-aware unicode or z_string routines. Do not slice or truncate text with byte-oriented binary operations, as those can split UTF-8 codepoints.
• Use maps for decoded JSON and payment/resource data.
• Avoid atoms for validation of external values unless they are already internal finite-state values.
• Use named -spec variables with when clauses:

-spec callback(Body, Context) -> Result
    when
        Body :: binary(),
        Context :: z:context(),
        Result :: {true, z:context()} | {{halt, pos_integer()}, z:context()}.

Logging Conversion

• Replace older logging with ?LOG_* structured maps.
• Include in => module_or_app_name.
• If result => error, include reason => ....
• Branch on operation results and log success/failure after meaningful side effects.
• If zotonic_core/include/zotonic.hrl is included, do not also include kernel/include/logger.hrl.

Crypto And JSON

• Prefer Zotonic JSON helpers such as z_json.
• Replace deprecated crypto calls:
  • old crypto:hmac(...)
  • new crypto:mac(hmac, sha256, Key, Data)
• Use binary-safe signing/authorization code. Keep values as binaries when constructing signatures.

Payment Modules

• For PSP modules, observe payment notifications and return #payment_psp_handler{} where expected.
• Use m_payment:get/2, m_payment:get_by_psp/3, m_payment_log:log/4, and mod_payment:set_payment_status/4.
• Add -mod_config entries for all PSP settings, such as live/test flags, API keys, webhook host, invoice prefix, and selectable/excluded services.
• For PSP redirect controllers, validate signatures before changing payment status and log the result of status updates.
• For webhook controllers, authorize before decoding and return a 500 halt on processing errors that should be retried.

Asset Builds

• Move SCSS source from priv/lib/scss to priv/lib-src/scss.
• Output compiled CSS to priv/lib/css; a dist directory is not required unless the app already uses one.
• Put the SCSS build command in priv/lib-src/Makefile.
• Add an app-level Makefile that delegates to priv/lib-src.
• Update Taskfile.yml to run the app-level Makefile and remove obsolete Elm build tasks after migration.
• Do not run PostCSS unless the user asks or the app already requires it.
• If SCSS imports need npm packages, copy only the needed node_modules packages into the build directory and verify the CSS build.

Translations In Modules And Sites

• Use English template source strings and {_ ... _} translation tags for user-facing text.
• Do not leave old 0.x Dutch literals in templates; replace them with English msgids and update PO files.
• Do not regenerate or commit POT files during normal feature work. Zotonic POT files are generated on the master branch with:

bin/zotonic pot zotonic

• The POT command connects to an already-running Zotonic node. If a feature/test command creates POT diffs, restore or leave them out unless the user explicitly asks to update POT files.
• Merge existing translations:

msgmerge --backup=none --update priv/translations/nl.po priv/translations/template/site.pot

• Create additional languages with msginit, for example:

msginit --no-translator --locale=de --input=priv/translations/template/site.pot --output-file=priv/translations/de.po

• Validate PO files with msgfmt --check --output-file=/dev/null.
• When creating a new PO file, update default headers such as Project-Id-Version and PO-Revision-Date so validation warnings do not linger.

Verification

• Run make for asset changes.
• Run ./rebar3 compile for Erlang/module changes.
• Do not run POT generation for normal translation-related template changes; POT files are generated on master with bin/zotonic pot zotonic. Run msgmerge/msginit and msgfmt --check only when intentionally updating PO files.
• After compile, check git diff -- rebar.lock; remove unrelated generated lockfile dependency churn unless the task intentionally changed dependencies.
• Ignore erl_crash.dump; it is already in .gitignore and should not be reported as actionable worktree noise.