Bazel Build System Rules

Applies to: BUILD.bazel, *.bzl files in /bzl/, WORKSPACE, MODULE.bazel

Overview

Valdi uses Bazel as its build system. Bazel provides reproducible, incremental builds across all platforms.

Key Commands

# Build everything
bazel build //...

# Build specific target
bazel build //apps/helloworld:helloworld

# Run tests
bazel test //...

# Clean (use sparingly - cache is valuable!)
bazel clean

Important Notes

1. Use bazel for all build commands
2. The CLI wraps Bazel - valdi commands use bazel under the hood
3. Cache is important - Don't suggest bazel clean unless necessary

Build Rules

Valdi-Specific Rules

• /bzl/valdi/ - Valdi build rules and macros
• Custom rules for compiling .tsx to .valdimodule
• Platform-specific build transitions

Common Targets

# Valdi application
valdi_application(
    name = "my_app",
    root_component_path = "App@my_app/src/MyApp",
    title = "My App",
    version = "1.0.0",
    deps = ["//apps/my_app/src/valdi/my_app"],
)

# Valdi module
valdi_module(
    name = "my_module",
    srcs = glob(["src/**/*.ts", "src/**/*.tsx"]),
    deps = [
        "//src/valdi_modules/src/valdi/valdi_core",
    ],
)

Conventions

File Naming

• BUILD.bazel not BUILD (explicit extension)
• .bzl for Starlark macros and rules

Targets

• Use descriptive target names
• One main target per BUILD file usually matches directory name

Dependencies

• Be explicit about dependencies
• Don't rely on transitive deps implicitly
• Use visibility to control access

Platform Builds

# Build and install iOS app
valdi install ios

# Build and install Android app
valdi install android

# Or use bazel directly with configs
bazel build //apps/helloworld:hello_world --config=ios
bazel build //apps/helloworld:hello_world --config=android

Configuration

• .bazelrc - Build flags and configurations
• MODULE.bazel - Bazel module dependencies
• WORKSPACE - Legacy workspace configuration (being migrated to MODULE.bazel)

Common Issues

1. Missing dependencies - Add to deps in BUILD.bazel
2. Cache issues - Try bazel clean --expunge (last resort)
3. Platform transitions - Use correct config flags

Testing

# Run all tests
bazel test //...

# Run specific test
bazel test //valdi/test:renderer_test

# Run with coverage
bazel coverage //...

More Information

• Bazel docs: https://bazel.build
• Valdi build rules: /bzl/valdi/README.md
• Framework docs: /AGENTS.md