Architecture

Three layers

IKARY Manifest separates concerns into three distinct layers. Each layer has one job and does not depend on implementation details from the others.

Schema layer

The schema layer is language-neutral YAML manifests and JSON Schema definitions stored in the manifests/ directory. No runtime code lives here. Any tool that can parse YAML can read these files. Any language that supports JSON Schema can validate against them.

Contract layer

The contract layer consists of packages that load, parse, and validate manifests. TypeScript uses @ikary/cell-contract with Zod-based validation.

The contract layer owns all validation: structural checks (types, required fields, pattern matching) and semantic checks (unique keys, valid cross-references, lifecycle consistency). It produces a typed, validated manifest ready for compilation.

Runtime layer

The runtime layer consumes a validated, compiled manifest and produces running software. It has two parts:

• API runtime: generates REST API endpoints from entity definitions. NestJS for Node.js.
• UI runtime: renders a web application from page and entity definitions. React is the current renderer; Vue.js is next.

The runtime layer works with the typed output of the contract layer. It has no direct dependency on raw YAML or schema files.

Processing pipeline

flowchart TD
    A[manifests/*.yaml] -->|load| B[Schema layer]
    B -->|validate| C[Contract layer]
    C -->|compile| D[Runtime layer]

    style A fill:#0a1329,stroke:#78afff,color:#bcc8df
    style B fill:#182644,stroke:#78afff,color:#f8fafc
    style C fill:#182644,stroke:#78afff,color:#f8fafc
    style D fill:#1d4ed8,stroke:#78afff,color:#f8fafc

Step by step

1. Load: @ikary/cell-loader reads a .yaml or .json file and parses it into a plain JS object. No validation yet.
2. Structural validation: @ikary/cell-contract's parseManifest() runs Zod's safeParse. This catches type mismatches, missing required fields, and invalid enum values. The result is a typed CellManifestV1 object.
3. Semantic validation: validateManifestSemantics() checks business rules that Zod cannot express: unique entity keys, valid lifecycle transitions, relation consistency, page-entity bindings, and navigation references.
4. Compilation: @ikary/cell-engine's compileCellApp() normalizes the manifest, derives form fields, builds scope registries, and returns a runtime-ready manifest.

Why loader and contract are separate

The contract package has no filesystem access and no YAML dependency. It is a pure validation library. The loader owns I/O: file reading, YAML parsing, and format detection. A CLI needs both. A web API that receives JSON in a request body needs only contract. Both compositions work because the layers are independent.

Compile-time vs runtime

Concern	When	Where
TypeScript types	Compile-time	z.infer<typeof Schema> in contract
Zod structural validation	Runtime	CellManifestV1Schema.safeParse()
Semantic business rules	Runtime	validateManifestSemantics()
Field derivation	Runtime	deriveCreateFields(), deriveEditFields()
JSON Schema validation	Runtime	Any language using manifests/ schemas

YAML files cannot create compile-time TypeScript types. The types are defined by Zod schemas in the contract package. YAML manifests are validated against those schemas at runtime.

Package dependency graph

graph BT
    loader[loader] --> contract[contract]
    engine[engine] --> contract
    presentation[presentation] -.-> contract
    primitives[primitives] --> contract
    primitives --> presentation
    renderer[renderer] --> contract
    renderer --> engine
    renderer --> primitives
    data[data] --> contract
    data --> primitives

    style contract fill:#1d4ed8,stroke:#78afff,color:#f8fafc
    style loader fill:#182644,stroke:#78afff,color:#f8fafc
    style engine fill:#182644,stroke:#78afff,color:#f8fafc
    style presentation fill:#182644,stroke:#63a0ff,color:#f8fafc
    style primitives fill:#182644,stroke:#63a0ff,color:#f8fafc
    style renderer fill:#182644,stroke:#63a0ff,color:#f8fafc
    style data fill:#182644,stroke:#63a0ff,color:#f8fafc

JSON Schema generation

JSON Schemas are generated from Zod schemas, not written by hand:

pnpm -w run generate:schema

This produces node/dist/schemas/CellManifestV1.schema.json and node/dist/schemas/EntityDefinition.schema.json.

Limitations:

• Recursive types (nested navigation items, nested fields) default to any in JSON Schema
• superRefine validators (uniqueness checks, cross-entity references) do not translate to JSON Schema; they are enforced as semantic rules in the contract layer
• The generated JSON Schema covers structural validation only