Rust design patterns for PTK. Newtype, Builder, RAII, Trait Objects, State Machine. Applied to CLI filter modules. Use when designing new modules or refactoring existing ones.
Scanned 9/5/2026
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---
name: design-patterns
description: Rust design patterns for PTK. Newtype, Builder, RAII, Trait Objects, State Machine. Applied to CLI filter modules. Use when designing new modules or refactoring existing ones.
triggers:
- "design pattern"
- "how to structure"
- "best pattern for"
- "refactor to pattern"
allowed-tools:
- Read
- Grep
- Glob
effort: medium
tags: [rust, design-patterns, architecture, newtype, builder, ptk]
---
# PTK Rust Design Patterns
Patterns that apply to PTK's filter module architecture. Focused on CLI tool patterns, not web/service patterns.
## Pattern 1: Newtype (Type Safety)
Use when: wrapping primitive types to prevent misuse (command names, paths, token counts).
```rust
// Without Newtype — easy to mix up
fn track(input_tokens: usize, output_tokens: usize) { ... }
track(output_tokens, input_tokens); // Silent bug!
// With Newtype — compile error on swap
pub struct InputTokens(pub usize);
pub struct OutputTokens(pub usize);
fn track(input: InputTokens, output: OutputTokens) { ... }
track(OutputTokens(100), InputTokens(400)); // Compile error ✅
```
```rust
// Practical PTK example: command name validation
pub struct CommandName(String);
impl CommandName {
pub fn new(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
if s.contains(';') || s.contains('|') || s.contains('`') {
anyhow::bail!("Invalid command name: shell metacharacters");
}
Ok(Self(s.to_string()))
}
pub fn as_str(&self) -> &str { &self.0 }
}
```
## Pattern 2: Builder (Complex Configuration)
Use when: a struct has 4+ optional fields, many with defaults.
```rust
#[derive(Default)]
pub struct FilterConfig {
max_lines: Option<usize>,
strip_ansi: bool,
show_warnings: bool,
truncate_at: Option<usize>,
}
impl FilterConfig {
pub fn new() -> Self { Self::default() }
pub fn max_lines(mut self, n: usize) -> Self { self.max_lines = Some(n); self }
pub fn strip_ansi(mut self, v: bool) -> Self { self.strip_ansi = v; self }
pub fn show_warnings(mut self, v: bool) -> Self { self.show_warnings = v; self }
}
// Usage — readable, no positional arg confusion
let config = FilterConfig::new()
.max_lines(50)
.strip_ansi(true)
.show_warnings(false);
```
When NOT to use Builder: if the struct has 1-3 fields with obvious meaning. Over-engineering for simple cases.
## Pattern 3: State Machine (Parser/Filter Flows)
Use when: parsing multi-section output (test results, build output) where context changes behavior.
```rust
// PTK example: pytest output parsing
#[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
enum ParseState {
LookingForTests,
InTestOutput,
InFailureSummary,
Done,
}
fn parse_pytest(input: &str) -> String {
let mut state = ParseState::LookingForTests;
let mut failures = Vec::new();
for line in input.lines() {
match state {
ParseState::LookingForTests => {
if line.contains("FAILED") || line.contains("ERROR") {
state = ParseState::InFailureSummary;
failures.push(line);
}
}
ParseState::InFailureSummary => {
if line.starts_with("=====") { state = ParseState::Done; }
else { failures.push(line); }
}
ParseState::Done => break,
_ => {}
}
}
failures.join("\n")
}
```
## Pattern 4: Trait Object (Command Dispatch)
Use when: different command families need the same interface. Avoids massive match arms.
```rust
// Define a common interface for filters
pub trait OutputFilter {
fn filter(&self, input: &str) -> Result<String>;
fn command_name(&self) -> &str;
}
pub struct GitFilter;
pub struct CargoFilter;
impl OutputFilter for GitFilter {
fn filter(&self, input: &str) -> Result<String> { filter_git(input) }
fn command_name(&self) -> &str { "git" }
}
// PTK currently uses match-based dispatch in main.rs (simpler, no dynamic dispatch overhead)
// Trait objects are useful if filter registry becomes dynamic (e.g., TOML-loaded plugins)
```
Note: PTK's current `match` dispatch in `main.rs` is intentional — static dispatch, zero overhead. Only move to trait objects if the match arm count exceeds ~20 commands.
## Pattern 5: RAII (Resource Management)
Use when: managing resources that need cleanup (temp files, SQLite connections).
```rust
// PTK tee.rs — RAII for temp output files
pub struct TeeFile {
path: PathBuf,
}
impl TeeFile {
pub fn create(content: &str) -> Result<Self> {
let path = tee_path()?;
fs::write(&path, content)
.with_context(|| format!("Failed to write tee file: {}", path.display()))?;
Ok(Self { path })
}
pub fn path(&self) -> &Path { &self.path }
}
// No explicit cleanup needed — file persists intentionally (rotation handled separately)
// If cleanup were needed: impl Drop { fn drop(&mut self) { let _ = fs::remove_file(&self.path); } }
```
## Pattern 6: Strategy (Swappable Filter Logic)
Use when: a command has multiple filtering modes (e.g., compact vs. verbose).
```rust
pub enum FilterMode {
Compact, // Show only failures/errors
Summary, // Show counts + top errors
Full, // Pass through unchanged
}
pub fn apply_filter(input: &str, mode: FilterMode) -> String {
match mode {
FilterMode::Compact => filter_compact(input),
FilterMode::Summary => filter_summary(input),
FilterMode::Full => input.to_string(),
}
}
```
## Pattern 7: Extension Trait (Add Methods to External Types)
Use when: you need to add methods to types you don't own (like `&str` for PTK-specific parsing).
```rust
pub trait PtkStrExt {
fn is_error_line(&self) -> bool;
fn is_warning_line(&self) -> bool;
fn token_count(&self) -> usize;
}
impl PtkStrExt for str {
fn is_error_line(&self) -> bool {
self.starts_with("error") || self.contains("[E")
}
fn is_warning_line(&self) -> bool {
self.starts_with("warning")
}
fn token_count(&self) -> usize {
self.split_whitespace().count()
}
}
// Usage
if line.is_error_line() { ... }
let tokens = output.token_count();
```
## PTK Pattern Selection Guide
| Situation | Pattern | Avoid |
|-----------|---------|-------|
| New `*_cmd.rs` filter module | Standard module pattern (see CLAUDE.md) | Over-abstracting |
| 4+ optional config fields | Builder | Struct literal |
| Multi-phase output parsing | State Machine | Nested if/else |
| Type-safe wrapper around string | Newtype | Raw `String` |
| Adding methods to `&str` | Extension Trait | Free functions |
| Resource with cleanup | RAII / Drop | Manual cleanup |
| Dynamic filter registry | Trait Object | Match sprawl |
## Anti-Patterns in PTK Context
```rust
// ❌ Generic over-engineering for one command
pub trait Filterable<T: CommandArgs + Send + Sync + 'static> { ... }
// ✅ Just write the function
pub fn filter_git_log(input: &str) -> Result<String> { ... }
// ❌ Singleton registry with global state
static FILTER_REGISTRY: Mutex<HashMap<String, Box<dyn Filter>>> = ...;
// ✅ Match in main.rs — simple, zero overhead, easy to trace
// ❌ Async traits for "future-proofing"
#[async_trait]
pub trait Filter { async fn apply(&self, input: &str) -> Result<String>; }
// ✅ Synchronous — PTK is single-threaded by design
pub trait Filter { fn apply(&self, input: &str) -> Result<String>; }
```
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