Loaders

You do not have to define cabs in Python. shinobi reuses existing cab definitions from two established formats, each producing the same Cab objects you would build by hand.

cult-cargo YAML

cult-cargo’s schema format is good design and is reused as-is. shinobi.loaders.cultcargo.load_file() reads a YAML file and returns a {name: Cab} mapping:

from shinobi.loaders.cultcargo import load_file

cabs = load_file("cabs.yml")
wsclean = cabs["wsclean"]

Use shinobi.loaders.cultcargo.loads() to parse from a string instead of a file.

The loader implements cult-cargo’s composition mechanisms, verified against real upstream cab files:

• _include – file composition, and

• _use – dotted-path deep-merge.

The =config.x.y expression language and package-scoped includes are deliberately not implemented – control flow belongs in Python, not in the cab definition. See the module docstring and AGENTS.md for the rationale.

Stimela classic parameter files

shinobi.loaders.stimela_classic.load_file() reads a Stimela classic parameters.json and returns a single Cab:

from shinobi.loaders.stimela_classic import load_file

cab = load_file("casa_listobs/parameters.json")

Inspecting the result

Whichever loader you use, ninja cab dumps the resolved schema as JSON so you can confirm how a definition was interpreted:

$ ninja cab cabs.yml wsclean