ReactiveDag.Source behaviour (reactive_dag v0.17.0-rc.7)

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A scanner — the third seam, alongside ReactiveDag.RecomputeStrategy and ReactiveDag.KeyRule.

A source reads external state (a fleet API, a cloud estate, a repo, an LLM) and writes a leaf cell's rows in a poll phase deliberately OUTSIDE the drain:

  1. poll — run each source's poll/1: fetch → write its leaf's rows → return the leaf keys that CHANGED (so the caller can mark parents dirty). Sources are independent; a failure is contained to its own leaf.
  2. drain — the engine recomputes everything downstream from the dirty frontier (ReactiveDag.Drain). No source runs here.

This split is a design invariant, not an accident: the drain is pure set/graph computation over rows already written — deterministic, re-runnable, and it never fails on a network outage. Effectful, non-deterministic, fallible I/O (that's every scanner) stays in phase 1.

The scanner↔leaf binding has ONE home, chosen by cardinality:

  • 1:1 (the common case) — inline on the leaf. source :fleet_scan / driver MyApp.Sources.FleetScan in the leaf's reactive block co-locates the leaf and its scanner in one declaration (they travel together). ReactiveDag.Source.drivers/2 reads these off the graph (each leaf cell's meta.driver).
  • fan-out (rare) — on the driver. A scanner that writes cells no single leaf owns (e.g. many guarantee sub-cells) has no inline driver and names its cells via its own leaf_cells/1; the host passes it as an extra driver.

Either way verify!/2 confirms every named leaf is a real cell in the built plan (an inline driver's leaf is the node it's declared on).

The contract

Two apps (a data pipeline and a compliance model) independently grew the same three-callback shape — id / leaf_cells / poll → changed-keys — which is why it lives here rather than in either app. A single-leaf source (the common case) may export leaf_cell/0 instead of leaf_cells/1; cells_of/2 resolves whichever is present.

defmodule MyApp.Sources.FleetScan do
  @behaviour ReactiveDag.Source

  @impl true
  def id, do: :fleet_scan

  @impl true
  def leaf_cells(_graph), do: ["machines"]

  @impl true
  def poll(_opts) do
    # fetch the fleet, write the "machines" leaf's rows, return changed keys
    {:ok, %{changed: ["host-1", "host-7"]}}
  rescue
    e -> {:error, Exception.message(e)}
  end
end

Fan-out and multi-leaf sources

leaf_cells/1 takes the lowered graph and returns a list of cell ids, so a source that feeds many leaves (e.g. one per discovered kind) computes them from the graph, and a source that direct-writes several cells lists them all. A single-leaf source returns [one_id]. This list is what verify/2 checks.

Summary

Types

The lowered graph — a ReactiveDag.Plan (or any map with a :cells map keyed by id).

Callbacks

Stable id of this source (matches the source :id binding where declared).

Single-leaf fallback for leaf_cells/1: the ONE cell id this source feeds. For the common one-scanner-one-leaf driver, this is the whole binding — no graph-dependent computation to write.

The authoritative set of cell ids this source feeds, given the lowered graph — the binding verify/2 validates. Single-leaf sources return [leaf]; fan-out sources compute their per-instance leaves from the graph; multi-leaf sources list every cell they write.

Optional lineage for display: where this source's data comes from, as a map like %{label: "Fleet · Huntress", url: "https://…", store: "Tigris"} (any subset). Not implemented = origin unknown.

Poll the external source: fetch → write the leaf tuples → return the leaf keys that changed. {:error, reason} when it couldn't run at all (no credential, API down) — contained, not raised, so one bad source doesn't abort a refresh. arg is source-specific (a since-timestamp, a manifest path, opts).

Functions

The cells source feeds in graph — the resolver behind verify!/2. Uses the module's leaf_cells/1 when exported, else the single-leaf leaf_cell/0 fallback (as [to_string(leaf_cell())]). Raises ArgumentError when the module exports neither.

What a host needs to render a scan control for each cell that has one: %{cell_id => %{source:, args:, every:, origin:}}.

The Oban-style crontab entries a plan's leaves declare, as {cron, worker, args: %{"source" => id}}.

The scanner drivers feeding a lowered graph: the inline ones declared with driver MyApp.Sources.FleetScan on a leaf's reactive block (read from each leaf cell's meta.driver), unioned with any extra fan-out drivers a host passes (drivers that name their cells via leaf_cells/1 because no single leaf owns them). This is the full scanner set — feed it to verify!/2, poll it in phase 1.

Poll every scanner the PLAN declares (via scan Mod on its leaves), in the poll phase before a drain.

Poll the scanner feeding ONE cell — the "re-run this scanner" affordance.

The distinct scanner modules a plan's leaves declare via scan.

The standing args: each scanner's leaf declared, as %{module => keyword}.

Verify every source's declared leaves resolve to real cells in graph — the authoritative scanner↔leaf check. Each driver's leaves are resolved via cells_of/2 (leaf_cells/1, or the single-leaf leaf_cell/0 fallback); this confirms every one is a real cell in the built plan. Needs the lowered graph (a host may expand generator leaves from live data), so it runs at assembly/boot time, not compile time.

The same dangling-leaf check as verify!/2, but over already-resolved {source, [cell_id]} pairs instead of resolving each module via cells_of/2. Use this when a host resolves fed cells itself (its own conventions beyond leaf_cells/1 / leaf_cell/0). Returns :ok, or raises ArgumentError naming every {source, dangling_leaf}.

Verify a scan Mod declaration on the leaf cell_id: the module must be a loadable ReactiveDag.Source, and its own leaf_cells/1 must claim this leaf.

Types

graph()

@type graph() :: %{cells: %{optional(String.t()) => struct()}}

The lowered graph — a ReactiveDag.Plan (or any map with a :cells map keyed by id).

Callbacks

id()

@callback id() :: atom()

Stable id of this source (matches the source :id binding where declared).

leaf_cell()

(optional)
@callback leaf_cell() :: String.t() | atom()

Single-leaf fallback for leaf_cells/1: the ONE cell id this source feeds. For the common one-scanner-one-leaf driver, this is the whole binding — no graph-dependent computation to write.

leaf_cells(graph)

(optional)
@callback leaf_cells(graph()) :: [String.t()]

The authoritative set of cell ids this source feeds, given the lowered graph — the binding verify/2 validates. Single-leaf sources return [leaf]; fan-out sources compute their per-instance leaves from the graph; multi-leaf sources list every cell they write.

OPTIONAL: a single-leaf source may instead export leaf_cell/0 (the common case — one scanner, one leaf) and skip this; cells_of/2 resolves whichever the module exports. A module must export at least one of the two.

origin()

(optional)
@callback origin() :: map() | nil

Optional lineage for display: where this source's data comes from, as a map like %{label: "Fleet · Huntress", url: "https://…", store: "Tigris"} (any subset). Not implemented = origin unknown.

poll(arg)

@callback poll(arg :: term()) ::
  {:ok,
   %{:changed => [String.t()], optional(:unreachable) => [{String.t(), term()}]}}
  | {:error, term()}

Poll the external source: fetch → write the leaf tuples → return the leaf keys that changed. {:error, reason} when it couldn't run at all (no credential, API down) — contained, not raised, so one bad source doesn't abort a refresh. arg is source-specific (a since-timestamp, a manifest path, opts).

A multi-upstream source that could observe SOME of its inputs reports the others under the optional unreachable: key ({upstream_label, reason} pairs) — the honest-gap discipline: a scan that couldn't look must never render as a scan that found nothing, so write what you observed, retire nothing you couldn't see, and surface the outage for the host to display.

Functions

cells_of(source, graph)

@spec cells_of(module(), graph()) :: [String.t()]

The cells source feeds in graph — the resolver behind verify!/2. Uses the module's leaf_cells/1 when exported, else the single-leaf leaf_cell/0 fallback (as [to_string(leaf_cell())]). Raises ArgumentError when the module exports neither.

controls(graph)

@spec controls(graph()) :: %{required(String.t()) => map()}

What a host needs to render a scan control for each cell that has one: %{cell_id => %{source:, args:, every:, origin:}}.

The library describes; the host renders. A cell with no scanner is absent, and a scanner declaring no args:/every: reports them empty — so a leaf cheap enough to run whole gets a plain "refresh" and no misleading range picker, without the dashboard having to know which scanners are expensive.

origin: is the source's own origin/0 when it implements it, so a control can say where it is about to fetch from.

crontab(graph, worker)

@spec crontab(graph(), module()) :: [{String.t(), module(), keyword()}]

The Oban-style crontab entries a plan's leaves declare, as {cron, worker, args: %{"source" => id}}.

The library never schedules anything. A leaf declaring every: states how often a routine poll should run; this collects those declarations into data the host hands to its own scheduler:

plugins: [
  {Oban.Plugins.Cron, crontab: ReactiveDag.Source.crontab(plan, MyApp.ScanWorker)}
]

Emitting data rather than inserting jobs keeps the library out of the host's supervision tree and out of its deploy story — and lets a host filter, rewrite or ignore the entries, which it could not do if they were already scheduled.

The worker receives %{"source" => "agenda_center"} and is expected to poll that one scanner. A leaf declaring no every: contributes nothing, which is the correct outcome for a scanner cheap enough to run on any cadence the host likes.

drivers(graph, extra \\ [])

@spec drivers(graph(), [module()]) :: [module()]

The scanner drivers feeding a lowered graph: the inline ones declared with driver MyApp.Sources.FleetScan on a leaf's reactive block (read from each leaf cell's meta.driver), unioned with any extra fan-out drivers a host passes (drivers that name their cells via leaf_cells/1 because no single leaf owns them). This is the full scanner set — feed it to verify!/2, poll it in phase 1.

poll_all(graph, opts \\ [])

@spec poll_all(
  graph(),
  keyword()
) :: {:ok, map()} | {:error, [{module(), term()}]}

Poll every scanner the PLAN declares (via scan Mod on its leaves), in the poll phase before a drain.

Scanners are found from the graph rather than a list the host maintains alongside it — the list is the thing that drifts. A source feeding many leaves appears once, however many leaves declare it.

Returns {:ok, %{module => result}}, or {:error, failures} where failures are {module, reason}: one scanner failing must not silently cancel the others, and must not look like success.

poll_cell(graph, cell_id, opts \\ [])

@spec poll_cell(graph(), String.t(), keyword()) ::
  {:ok, map()} | {:error, term()} | {:error, :no_scanner}

Poll the scanner feeding ONE cell — the "re-run this scanner" affordance.

poll_all/2 is the routine sweep. This is what a host wires a button to: a dashboard has a cell in hand, not a source module, and a human asking to refresh is asking about this leaf, not about every scanner in the graph.

# routine, on the declared cadence
Source.poll_all(plan)

# a human pressed "refresh", accepting the cheap default
Source.poll_cell(plan, "agenda_docs")

# ...or asked for the deep pass
Source.poll_cell(plan, "agenda_docs", recent: false)

The leaf's declared args: apply exactly as they do in poll_all/2, with the caller's opts winning — so a button that passes nothing gets the cheap pass, and one that passes recent: false gets the expensive one.

Returns {:ok, result}, {:error, reason} if the poll failed, or {:error, :no_scanner} when the cell declares none — which a host should render as "no refresh available" rather than as a failure.

Note a source feeding several leaves is polled whole: poll/1 takes options, not a cell, so asking for one leaf runs whatever that scanner does. The scanner narrows itself through args: if that matters.

scanners(graph)

@spec scanners(graph()) :: [module()]

The distinct scanner modules a plan's leaves declare via scan.

standing_args(graph)

@spec standing_args(graph()) :: %{required(module()) => keyword()}

The standing args: each scanner's leaf declared, as %{module => keyword}.

poll_all/2 merges these under the caller's opts. Exposed because a host driving one scanner directly wants the same default rather than a second copy of it.

verify!(sources, graph)

@spec verify!([module()], graph()) :: :ok

Verify every source's declared leaves resolve to real cells in graph — the authoritative scanner↔leaf check. Each driver's leaves are resolved via cells_of/2 (leaf_cells/1, or the single-leaf leaf_cell/0 fallback); this confirms every one is a real cell in the built plan. Needs the lowered graph (a host may expand generator leaves from live data), so it runs at assembly/boot time, not compile time.

Returns :ok, or raises ArgumentError naming every {source, dangling_leaf}.

verify_cells!(source_cells, graph)

@spec verify_cells!([{module(), [String.t()]}], graph()) :: :ok

The same dangling-leaf check as verify!/2, but over already-resolved {source, [cell_id]} pairs instead of resolving each module via cells_of/2. Use this when a host resolves fed cells itself (its own conventions beyond leaf_cells/1 / leaf_cell/0). Returns :ok, or raises ArgumentError naming every {source, dangling_leaf}.

verify_scan!(source, cell_id, graph)

@spec verify_scan!(module(), String.t(), graph()) :: :ok

Verify a scan Mod declaration on the leaf cell_id: the module must be a loadable ReactiveDag.Source, and its own leaf_cells/1 must claim this leaf.

The second half matters more than it looks. A scanner already knows which cells it feeds; scan states the same fact from the other side. Two statements of one fact can disagree, so this is the check that they don't — a scanner refactored to feed "agenda_docs_v2" while a resource still declares scan fails at assembly rather than polling into a cell nobody reads.

Called by ReactiveDag.Node.graph/2 for every cell carrying a scan, so a host declaring scanners in the DSL needs no verify!/2 call of its own.