Compatibility Rules
Understanding compatibility rules and restrictions between different CLI options
Overview
The CLI validates option combinations to ensure generated projects are coherent. Validation happens in two places:
- Per-language value checks —
framework,orm,migrations, andfrontendmust belong to the selected language's option set. - Resolved-config checks — after prompts (or with
--yes), the fully-resolved stack is validated again.
--yolo skips the compatibility checks entirely.
Per-language option sets
Each language has its own option sets (packages/types), so a Go/Rust value can never leak into a Python stack:
| Category | Python | Go | Rust |
|---|---|---|---|
framework | fastapi, litestar, django, flask | gin, fiber, echo, chi, stdlib | axum, actix-web, rocket, warp, salvo, loco |
frontend | htmx, none | htmx, none | htmx, none |
orm | sqlmodel, sqlalchemy, tortoise, none | sqlc, gorm, sqlx, none | seaorm, diesel, sqlx-rust, none |
migrations | alembic, none | goose, golang-migrate, none | none |
database | sqlite, postgres, mysql, none | same | same |
packageManager | uv, poetry, pip | go | cargo |
addons | docker, ruff, mypy, pytest, github-actions, none | docker, air, golangci-lint, github-actions, none | docker, cargo-watch, clippy, github-actions, none |
Status: Python, Go, and Rust scaffolds are all generated today.
What gets validated today
frameworknot in the language's set → error, e.g.--language python --framework ginfrontendnot in the language's set → errorfrontend htmxwithframework none→ error (HTMX needs a backend to serve the rendered pages)frontend htmxwithframework loco(Rust) → error (Loco doesn't support HTMX yet)ormnot in the language's set → error, e.g.--language python --orm seaormmigrationsnot in the language's set → error, e.g.--language python --migrations gooseaddonspassed as a list must be valid enum values;noneis normalized awaydatabasemust be one ofsqlite,postgres,mysql,none
# ❌ Invalid - Gin is not a Python framework
uvx tristack --language python --framework gin
# ✅ Valid
uvx tristack --language python --framework fastapi
# ❌ Invalid - SeaORM is a Rust ORM
uvx tristack --language python --orm seaorm
# ✅ Valid
uvx tristack --language python --orm sqlmodel
# ✅ Valid - Rust stack (standalone binary)
tristack my-api --language rust --framework axum --orm seaormValidation order
The CLI validates resolved configs in this order:
- Flag input validation: valid enum values, project-name rules (see below)
- Per-language value checks: framework/orm/migrations/frontend belong to the language
- Path checks: target directory must be within the current directory and not a symlink (unless
--directory-conflict increment)
Project name rules
- Cannot be empty or longer than 255 characters
- Cannot start with
.(except.itself) or- - Cannot contain
<,>,:,",|,?,* node_modulesis reserved
Roadmap
Cross-option rules are planned alongside each language's rollout — for example Django bundling its own ORM and migrations (hiding those prompts entirely), Loco narrowing Rust ORM choices, and Chi/stdlib surfacing assemble-it-yourself addons more prominently.
Understanding these rules helps you create valid configurations and troubleshoot issues when the CLI reports compatibility errors.