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Rust CLI Architecture

Complete architecture documentation for NoETL's Rust-based CLI and its integration with Python components.

Migration Status: ✅ Complete (All 3 Phases Implemented)

Quick Overview​

NoETL uses a hybrid architecture where a Rust binary (fast, native) handles CLI operations and spawns Python processes (rich ecosystem) for server and worker functionality.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  User Command: noetl server start                  │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                  ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Rust CLI Binary (noetlctl/src/main.rs)           │
│  - Argument parsing (Clap)                         │
│  - PID management                                  │
│  - Process spawning                                │
│  - Signal handling                                 │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                  ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Python Subprocess: python -m noetl.server         │
│  - FastAPI server (noetl/server/__main__.py)      │
│  - Uvicorn ASGI server                            │
│  - Database operations                            │
│  - API endpoints                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Deployment Targets​

1. Docker Containers​

Multi-Stage Build (docker/noetl/dev/Dockerfile):

# Stage 1: UI Build (Node.js)
FROM node:20-alpine AS ui-builder
COPY ui-src/ ./ui-src/
RUN cd ui-src && npm ci && npm run build

# Stage 2: Rust Binary (Cargo)
FROM rust:1.83-slim AS rust-builder
COPY noetlctl/ ./
RUN cargo build --release
# Output: target/release/noetl (5.5MB)

# Stage 3: Python Environment (uv)
FROM python:3.12-slim AS builder
COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock ./
RUN uv sync --frozen --no-dev
COPY noetl/ ./noetl/
RUN uv pip install -e .

# Stage 4: Production Image
FROM python:3.12-slim AS production
COPY --from=builder /opt/noetl/.venv /opt/noetl/.venv
COPY --from=rust-builder /build/target/release/noetl /usr/local/bin/noetl
COPY --from=ui-builder /ui/ui-src/dist ./noetl/core/ui
ENV PATH="/opt/noetl/.venv/bin:$PATH"
CMD ["python", "-m", "noetl.server"]

Key Points:

  • Separate build stages for isolation and caching
  • Rust binary at /usr/local/bin/noetl
  • Python environment at /opt/noetl/.venv
  • Can override CMD with command: [noetl, server, start]

Platform Support:

The CLI supports building Docker images for different platforms via the --platform argument:

# Build for Linux AMD64 (default, for Kubernetes/Kind)
./bin/noetl build                           # Uses linux/amd64
./bin/noetl build --platform linux/amd64

# Build for Mac Silicon (local development)
./bin/noetl build --platform linux/arm64

# K8s commands also support platform
./bin/noetl k8s redeploy --platform linux/arm64
./bin/noetl k8s reset --platform linux/amd64

Why This Matters:

  • Mac Silicon (M1/M2/M3): Docker Desktop defaults to linux/arm64 but Kubernetes Kind clusters run linux/amd64
  • Cross-Compilation: Building for the wrong platform causes containers to fail silently or OOMKill in K8s
  • Local Testing: Use linux/arm64 for faster local Docker runs on Mac Silicon
  • Production: Always use linux/amd64 for Kubernetes deployments

Default Behavior:

  • All build commands default to linux/amd64 for Kind/K8s compatibility
  • On Mac Silicon, this triggers Docker's cross-compilation (slower but correct)
  • Override with --platform flag when needed for local-only images

2. Kubernetes​

Server Deployment:

containers:
  - name: server
    image: ghcr.io/noetl/noetl:latest
    command: [noetl]
    args: [server, start]

Worker Deployment:

containers:
  - name: worker
    command: [noetl]
    args: [worker, start]

Flow: Pod starts → Rust CLI → Spawns python -m noetl.worker → Connects to NATS

3. Local Development​

# Build and install
cd noetlctl && cargo build --release
mkdir -p ../bin
cp target/release/noetl ../bin/noetl

# Usage
./bin/noetl server start --init-db
./bin/noetl worker start
./bin/noetl build
./bin/noetl k8s deploy

4. PyPI Distribution​

Wheel Contents:

noetl-2.4.0-py3-none-any.whl/
├── noetl/
│   ├── cli_wrapper.py       # Entry point wrapper
│   ├── server/__main__.py   # Server entry
│   ├── worker/__main__.py   # Worker entry
│   ├── bin/noetl           # Rust binary (5.7MB)
│   └── ... (Python modules)
└── noetl-2.4.0.dist-info/
    └── entry_points.txt    # noetl = noetl.cli_wrapper:main

Installation Flow:

pip install noetl
# Creates: ~/.local/bin/noetl → cli_wrapper.py → noetl/bin/noetl

Wrapper (noetl/cli_wrapper.py):

def main():
    binary_path = Path(noetl.__file__).parent / 'bin' / 'noetl'
    subprocess.run([str(binary_path)] + sys.argv[1:])

Implementation Details​

Server Management​

Start Server (Rust):

async fn start_server(init_db: bool) -> Result<()> {
    // 1. Check PID file (~/.noetl/noetl_server.pid)
    if pid_file.exists() && process_exists(read_pid()?) {
        return Err("Already running");
    }
    
    // 2. Check port availability
    let port = env::var("NOETL_PORT").unwrap_or("8082");
    if TcpStream::connect(format!("0.0.0.0:{}", port)).is_ok() {
        return Err("Port in use");
    }
    
    // 3. Spawn Python subprocess
    let child = Command::new("python")
        .args(&["-m", "noetl.server", "--port", &port])
        .arg(if init_db { "--init-db" } else { "" })
        .spawn()?;
    
    // 4. Write PID file
    fs::write(pid_file, child.id().to_string())?;
    Ok(())
}

Server Entry Point (Python):

# noetl/server/__main__.py
def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("--host", default="0.0.0.0")
    parser.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=8082)
    parser.add_argument("--init-db", action="store_true")
    args = parser.parse_args()
    
    if args.init_db:
        asyncio.run(initialize_db())
    
    from noetl.server.app import create_app
    uvicorn.run(create_app(), host=args.host, port=args.port)

Stop Server (Rust):

async fn stop_server(force: bool) -> Result<()> {
    let pid = read_pid_file()?;
    
    // Send SIGTERM for graceful shutdown
    send_signal(pid, Signal::SIGTERM)?;
    
    // Wait 10 seconds
    for _ in 0..20 {
        if !process_exists(pid)? {
            fs::remove_file(pid_file)?;
            return Ok(());
        }
        tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(500)).await;
    }
    
    // Force kill if requested
    if force {
        send_signal(pid, Signal::SIGKILL)?;
    }
    Ok(())
}

Worker Management​

Start Worker (Rust):

async fn start_worker(_max_workers: Option<usize>) -> Result<()> {
    let child = Command::new("python")
        .args(&["-m", "noetl.worker"])
        .spawn()?;
    
    fs::write(pid_file, child.id().to_string())?;
    Ok(())
}

Worker Entry Point (Python):

# noetl/worker/__main__.py
def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument("--nats-url", default="nats://...")
    parser.add_argument("--server-url", default=None)
    args = parser.parse_args()
    
    from noetl.worker.v2_worker_nats import run_worker_v2_sync
    run_worker_v2_sync(nats_url=args.nats_url, server_url=args.server_url)

Worker Architecture (Python):

# noetl/worker/v2_worker_nats.py
async def run_v2_worker(worker_id, nats_url, server_url):
    # 1. Connect to NATS
    subscriber = NATSCommandSubscriber(nats_url, worker_id)
    await subscriber.connect()
    
    # 2. Subscribe to commands
    async def handle_command(msg):
        command = await fetch_command(msg['queue_id'])
        result = await execute_command(command)
        await report_event(msg['execution_id'], result)
    
    await subscriber.subscribe(handle_command)
    
    # 3. Keep running
    while running:
        await asyncio.sleep(1)

Build Commands​

Docker Build (Rust):

async fn build_docker_image(no_cache: bool) -> Result<()> {
    let tag = format!("local/noetl:{}", timestamp());
    
    Command::new("docker")
        .args(&["build", "-f", "docker/noetl/dev/Dockerfile"])
        .arg("-t").arg(&tag)
        .arg(if no_cache { "--no-cache" } else { "" })
        .status()?;
    
    fs::write(".noetl_last_build_tag.txt", &tag)?;
    Ok(())
}

Kubernetes Deploy (Rust):

async fn k8s_deploy() -> Result<()> {
    let tag = fs::read_to_string(".noetl_last_build_tag.txt")?;
    
    // Load image into kind cluster
    run_command(&["kind", "load", "docker-image", &tag])?;
    
    // Update manifests
    update_manifest_image("ci/manifests/noetl/server-deployment.yaml", &tag)?;
    
    // Apply manifests
    run_command(&["kubectl", "apply", "-f", "ci/manifests/noetl/"])?;
    
    // Wait for rollout
    run_command(&["kubectl", "rollout", "status", "deployment/noetl-server"])?;
    Ok(())
}

Migration History​

Phase 1: Docker & Kubernetes (Complete)​

Commit: 58ab80f3

  • Updated Dockerfile to Rust 1.83 with multi-stage build
  • Installed binary to /usr/local/bin/noetl
  • Updated K8s manifests: command: [noetl]
  • Created ./bin/noetl for local development
  • Added kind load to k8s deploy
  • Renamed all references: noetlctl → noetl

Result: Rust CLI in Docker and Kubernetes

Phase 2: PyPI Bundling (Complete)​

Commit: 059a2d35

  • Created noetl/cli_wrapper.py (executes bundled binary)
  • Updated pyproject.toml:
    • Scripts: noetl = noetl.cli_wrapper:main
    • Package data: noetl/bin/noetl
  • Updated GitHub workflow to compile binary before packaging
  • Added noetl/bin/ to .gitignore

Build Process:

cargo build --release                    # Compile
cp noetlctl/target/release/noetl noetl/bin/  # Copy
uv build                                 # Package (5.7MB wheel)
uv publish                               # Upload to PyPI

Result: pip install noetl includes working noetl command

Phase 3: Python CLI Removal (Complete)​

Commit: 6823d3d5

  • Deleted: noetl/cli/ctl.py (1,031 lines)
  • Deleted: noetl/cli/__init__.py
  • Removed: typer>=0.15.3 dependency
  • Created: noetl/server/__main__.py
  • Created: noetl/worker/__main__.py
  • Updated: Rust CLI to call Python modules directly

Before: Rust → python -m noetl.cli.ctl worker start
After: Rust → python -m noetl.worker

Result: Python CLI completely removed

Technical Specifications​

Performance​

  • Binary size: 5.5MB (release)
  • Startup time: ~10ms (CLI parsing)
  • Memory: ~2MB idle
  • Python subprocess: ~300-500ms startup, 50-100MB memory

PID Management​

  • Location: ~/.noetl/
  • Files: noetl_server.pid, noetl_worker_{name}.pid
  • Format: Plain text with PID
  • Cleanup: Removed on shutdown, validated on startup

Signal Handling​

  • SIGTERM: Graceful shutdown (10s timeout)
  • SIGKILL: Force termination (after timeout or with --force)

Environment Variables​

Server:

  • NOETL_HOST (default: 0.0.0.0)
  • NOETL_PORT (default: 8082)
  • NOETL_ENABLE_UI (default: false)

Worker:

  • NATS_URL (NATS connection string)
  • NOETL_SERVER_URL (API endpoint)

Database:

  • POSTGRES_HOST, POSTGRES_PORT, POSTGRES_DB
  • POSTGRES_USER, POSTGRES_PASSWORD

Platform Support​

Current:

  • Linux x86_64 ✅
  • macOS arm64 (Apple Silicon) ✅
  • macOS x86_64 (Intel) ✅

Future (with cibuildwheel):

  • Linux aarch64 (ARM)
  • Windows x86_64

Dependencies​

Rust (noetlctl/Cargo.toml)​

clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }
reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["json"] }
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full", "process"] }
dirs = "5.0"
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"
anyhow = "1.0"
chrono = "0.4"
sysinfo = "0.31"    # Process management
nix = "0.29"        # Unix signals

Python (Removed)​

typer >= 0.15.3  ❌ Removed in Phase 3

Troubleshooting​

Command not found​

# Check installation
pip show noetl
python -c "import noetl; import shutil; print(shutil.which('noetl'))"

# Manual execution
python -m noetl.cli_wrapper --version

Port already in use​

lsof -i :8082
./bin/noetl server stop --force
NOETL_PORT=8083 ./bin/noetl server start

Worker not receiving jobs​

kubectl logs -n noetl deployment/noetl-worker
kubectl describe pod -n noetl -l app=noetl-worker

Docker build fails​

./bin/noetl build --no-cache
cd noetlctl && cargo update

Performance Benchmarks​

CLI Startup:

$ time ./bin/noetl --version
noetl 2.1.2
real    0m0.012s

Docker Build Time:

  • First build: ~6 minutes
  • Incremental: ~30 seconds (with cache)

Binary Distribution:

  • Rust binary: 5.5 MB
  • Python wheel: 12.3 MB (with binary)
  • Docker image: 450 MB (compressed)

References​

Internal Documentation​

External Resources​

  • 58ab80f3 - Phase 1: Docker & K8s
  • 213cd01e - Documentation updates
  • 24e8266d - AI instructions
  • 059a2d35 - Phase 2: PyPI bundling
  • 6823d3d5 - Phase 3: Python CLI removal
  • b9699641 - Documentation (this file)