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fsharp-signature-files

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Updated 10-16 07:14

About this skill

F# signature files

A .fsi file is the contract of its .fs file. A value or type that is not in the .fsi is hidden from every later file and every other assembly. A type that the .fsi declares with no body (type Email) hides its fields and cases.

The compiler can write a .fsi for you, but that output repeats every public member. It hides nothing. The work is to remove what callers do not use.

Build time can also improve. Later files type-check against the .fsi, not the .fs, so graph-based type checking can check them in parallel with the implementation. Measure this before you claim a speed-up. See optimize-fsharp-typecheck-graph.

Steps

  1. Record the public surface before the change. Build the library and run:
pwsh ./scripts/public-surface.ps1 -Assembly <bin>/<Lib>.dll -OutFile before.txt

  1. Generate a starting point. Build once with --allsigs. It writes one .fsi next to each .fs, with doc comments and attributes:

    dotnet build <Lib>.fsproj -p:OtherFlags=--allsigs

    Build the library project file, not the solution. The global property also reaches each project that the library references, and it replaces an OtherFlags value that the project sets. When the project sets OtherFlags, add --allsigs to that value for one build instead. --sig:<file> writes all signatures into one file, which you must then split by hand. Remove the flag after this build. Delete each .fsi that the build wrote outside the library, and the .fsi files under obj/ for generated files such as AssemblyAttributes.fs.

  2. Add each .fsi to the project directly before its .fs:

    <Compile Include="Email.fsi" />
<Compile Include="Email.fs" />

    A .fsi after its .fs gives FS0238 and FS0248.

  3. Decide what is truly public. Search the other projects, the tests, and the documented entry points for each member in the .fsi. Delete each val, type, and member that no other project uses. Do not mark it private in the .fs instead: the omission from the .fsi is the hiding.

    • A member that only tests use: write val internal f: ... in the .fsi and add <InternalsVisibleTo Include="<Tests assembly name>" /> to the library project. Do not make it public for the tests.
    • The generated .fsi also lists val private values. Delete them.

  4. Hide representations where callers must not build values. Replace the record or union body in the .fsi with the bare type name and keep the constructor function:

    /// An email address that contains one '@'.
type Email

module Email =
    val create: input: string -> Result<Email, string>
    val value: email: Email -> string

    Callers then get FS0039 for { Value = ... } or a union case. Keep a record public when every combination of its field values is valid. For the choice of type and constructor, use parse-dont-validate.

  5. Fix the traps. Read references/TRAPS.md for the diagnostics. The most important rules:

    • Copy each attribute on a type or value to the .fsi: [<RequireQualifiedAccess>], [<Struct>], [<Literal>]. Do not add an attribute that the .fs does not have: [<Sealed>] on a class in the .fsi only gives FS0297. A missing RequireQualifiedAccess gives only warning FS3888. The build passes, and callers can use the cases without the type name.
    • List each implemented interface: interface System.IDisposable. Without it, you get warning FS0050, and use in a caller fails with FS0193.
    • Put XML doc comments in the .fsi. When a .fsi exists, a doc comment that is only in the .fs is not in the XML documentation file.
    • Write each val with the same generic arity and inline flag as the .fs.

  6. Check the result.

    • Build every project and run the tests. Treat FS3888 and FS0050 warnings as errors to fix.
    • Run public-surface.ps1 again and compare with before.txt. Each removed line must be a member that no caller uses. No line may be added.
    • Write a small probe file in a consumer that builds a hidden record or union directly. It must fail to compile. Then delete it.

Verify

Run the bundled proof from the skill root:

pwsh ./scripts/run.ps1

The runner builds scripts/Sample and checks its public surface, its XML documentation, and an InternalsVisibleTo test project. It builds scripts/Generate with --allsigs and checks the generated .fsi. It then builds each folder in scripts/breaks and checks the diagnostic codes in its // expect: lines.

These rules come from the F# documentation and are not bundled proofs: a val inline in a .fsi makes the function body part of the contract, so callers must build again when the body changes. Use inline in a .fsi only when the function needs it, for example for statically resolved type parameters.