chore: release v0.5.0

merge: structural code changes
refactor: one helper each for the repeated blocks
2026-09-09 15:43:26 +02:00 · 2026-09-09 15:41:44 +02:00 · 2026-09-09 15:41:30 +02:00 · 2026-09-09 15:41:30 +02:00 · 2026-09-09 15:41:30 +02:00 · 2026-09-09 15:41:28 +02:00
47 changed files with 5532 additions and 654 deletions
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,3 +8,35 @@ target/

 # MSVC Windows builds of rustc generate these, which store debugging information
 *.pdb
+
+# the cargo home CI keeps inside the project so it lands in the cache
+.cargo/
+
+# where the completions build writes when it is not given a directory
+completions/
+
+# os
+.DS_Store
+
+# editors
+.vscode
+.idea
+.ignore
+
+# ai
+CLAUDE.local.md
+.claude
+
+# languages
+.python-version
+
+# nix
+.nix-venv
+.envrc
+.direnv/
+
+# project-local
+TODO.md
+# database dumps, which this tool exists to keep out of a repository
+dumps
+*.partial
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+default:
+  image: rust:1.97
+  cache:
+    key:
+      files:
+        - Cargo.lock
+    paths:
+      # no .cargo/bin here: the audit job runs what is in it, and this cache is
+      # shared by every branch and merge request, so a pipeline could otherwise
+      # leave behind the binary a later scheduled audit executes
+      - .cargo/registry
+      - target
+
+variables:
+  # keep the registry inside the project so it lands in the cache
+  CARGO_HOME: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.cargo
+  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
+  # pinned, rather than whatever version exists on the night this runs
+  CARGO_AUDIT_VERSION: "0.21.2"
+
+# without this a push to a branch with an open merge request runs twice
+workflow:
+  rules:
+    # first, because a scheduled pipeline sets CI_COMMIT_BRANCH as well and so
+    # would be matched by the branch rule below, or vetoed by the one above it
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH && $CI_OPEN_MERGE_REQUESTS
+      when: never
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH
+
+check:
+  script:
+    - rustup component add rustfmt clippy
+    - cargo fmt --check
+    # --locked on the first cargo invocation too: without it clippy resolves the
+    # dependencies and rewrites a Cargo.lock that has drifted from Cargo.toml,
+    # and the --locked commands after it then pass against what it just wrote
+    - cargo clippy --locked --all-targets -- -D warnings
+    - cargo test --locked
+    - cargo build --release --locked
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
+      when: never
+    - when: always
+
+# runs only from a pipeline schedule, so set one up in the project settings
+audit:
+  script:
+    - cargo install cargo-audit --version $CARGO_AUDIT_VERSION --locked
+    - cargo audit
+    # reports dependencies that have drifted behind, without changing the lockfile
+    - cargo update --dry-run
+  # its own cache, so the audit tool is not rebuilt on every schedule while
+  # still being written only by this schedule-only job. the pinned version is
+  # part of the key, so a bump fetches rather than reusing the old binary
+  cache:
+    key: audit-tools-$CARGO_AUDIT_VERSION
+    paths:
+      - .cargo/bin
+      - .cargo/registry
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
+
+# the msrv declared in Cargo.toml, so it fails when something needs a newer rustc
+msrv:
+  image: rust:1.85
+  script:
+    - cargo build --locked
+  # its own key: artifacts built by another rustc are of no use to this job, and
+  # sharing one only has the two toolchains taking turns overwriting it
+  cache:
+    key: msrv-$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG
+    paths:
+      - .cargo/registry
+      - target
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
+      when: never
+    - when: always
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1,122 +1,117 @@
 # This file is automatically @generated by Cargo.
 # It is not intended for manual editing.
-version = 3
+version = 4

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@@ -126,139 +121,132 @@ dependencies = [

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-name = "windows_x86_64_gnu"
-version = "0.48.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ca2b8a661f7628cbd23440e50b05d705db3686f894fc9580820623656af974b1"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_x86_64_gnullvm"
-version = "0.48.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7896dbc1f41e08872e9d5e8f8baa8fdd2677f29468c4e156210174edc7f7b953"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_x86_64_msvc"
-version = "0.48.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1a515f5799fe4961cb532f983ce2b23082366b898e52ffbce459c86f67c8378a"
+checksum = "29666d0abbfad1e3dc4dcf6144730dd3a3ab225bbbdac83319345b1b44ccfc1b"
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,17 +1,32 @@
 [package]
 name = "ahab"
-description = "docker cli wrapper"
+description = "docker compose wrapper for django projects, with service detection and database dumps"
 readme = "README.md"
-version = "0.3.0"
-edition = "2021"
+version = "0.5.0"
+edition = "2024"
+rust-version = "1.85"
 license = "MIT"
-authors = ["Matej Janežič <janezic.mj@gmail.com>"]
-repository = "https://github.com/janezicmatej/ahab.git"
+authors = ["Matej Janežič <matej.janezic@aflabs.com>"]
+repository = "https://git.aflabs.org/janezicmatej/ahab"
+build = "build.rs"

 # See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html

 [dependencies]
-clap = { version = "4.3.0", features = ["derive"] }
-clap_complete = "4.3.0"
-anyhow = "1.0.71"
-dotenvy = "0.15.7"
+clap = { version = "4.6.6", features = ["derive", "env"] }
+clap_complete = "4.6.9"
+anyhow = "1.0.104"
+serde_json = "1.0.145"
+fs-err = "3.3.1"
+shlex = "2.0.1"
+
+[build-dependencies]
+clap = { version = "4.6.6", features = ["derive", "env"] }
+clap_complete = "4.6.9"
+
+[lints.rust]
+unsafe_code = "forbid"
+
+[lints.clippy]
+dbg_macro = "warn"
+todo = "warn"
--- a/2
+++ b/2
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 MIT License

-Copyright (c) 2023 Matej Janežič
+Copyright (c) 2023 AFLabs d.o.o.

 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1 +1,243 @@
 # ahab
+
+A wrapper around `docker compose` for our dockerized django projects, so the
+same commands work in every repository.
+
+## installing
+
+You will need rust installed. Clone repo and run:
+```bash
+cargo install --path .
+```
+
+## what it makes of a project
+
+`ahab status` prints the services it picked, the containers behind them, the
+credentials it would use and what the store holds, reporting whatever it cannot
+work out rather than stopping at the first thing:
+
+```
+$ ahab status
+services: db, django
+django: django (built from the project)
+	container: 0a8b19e27634
+postgres: db (postgres:18-alpine)
+	container: 189d4d395d62
+	user:      myproject
+	database:  myproject_db
+store: /home/you/.local/share/ahab/git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik
+	linked:    2
+	`ahab link check` lists what a sandbox can still read
+```
+
+## seeing what it runs
+
+`-v` prints each docker command as it runs, `--dry-run` prints the ones it would
+run without running them, and `-q` prints only what was asked for, dropping the
+progress along the way (compose's own progress included). All work before or
+after the subcommand.
+
+```bash
+ahab -v django migrate
+ahab --dry-run postgres import ./dump
+ahab -q postgres dump ./dump
+```
+
+Nothing is written under `--dry-run`, filesystem included: `link add` and
+`django make-command` say what they would do and leave the tree alone.
+
+## exit codes
+
+- `0` — it ran and had nothing to report
+- `1` — it could not finish
+- `2` — the arguments were wrong
+- `4` — it ran fine and found something worth reporting, i.e.
+  `link check --exit-code` with anything outside the store
+
+## shell completion
+
+`ahab completions <shell>` writes a completion script to stdout, for bash,
+elvish, fish, powershell or zsh:
+
+```bash
+ahab completions zsh > ~/.local/share/zsh/completions/_ahab
+eval "$(ahab completions zsh)"      # or one line in .zshrc, never goes stale
+```
+
+Completions are also generated during the build. They land in
+`target/*/build/*/out/` by default, and `SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR_<SHELL>`
+installs a single shell's file straight into place:
+
+```bash
+SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR_ZSH=~/.local/share/zsh/completions \
+SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR_FISH=~/.config/fish/completions \
+  cargo install --path .
+```
+
+`SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR` writes every shell into one directory instead.
+
+## the compose file
+
+`ahab` does not pass `-f`. docker compose finds the file itself, so set
+docker's own `COMPOSE_FILE` when it is not in the working directory, including
+its `base.yaml:override.yaml` form. A project's `.env` is a good place for it,
+since docker reads that too:
+
+```
+COMPOSE_FILE=docker/docker-compose.yaml
+```
+
+## service detection
+
+`ahab` finds the services it needs in `docker compose config`, so they can be
+named anything:
+
+- **postgres**: the service whose image is a postgres flavour, matching
+  `postg`, `timescale`, `pgvector` or `citus`
+- **django**: the service that both builds an image and sets
+  `DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE`. Where more than one does — a worker beside the web
+  service, say — the one publishing ports wins
+
+If nothing matches, or two candidates cannot be told apart, `ahab` says so and
+lists the services it looked at rather than guessing. Two services that both
+build and set the settings module are ambiguous unless exactly one of them
+publishes ports.
+
+`POSTGRES_USER` and `POSTGRES_DB` are read off the detected postgres service, so
+`dropdb`, `createdb`, `pg_restore` and `pg_dump` use the role and database the
+project declares, falling back to `db` when it declares neither. Both have to
+be names: `ahab` hands them to those tools as a role and a database, and libpq
+reads a database name holding an `=` or a url as a whole connection string,
+which would send a dump to whatever server it names. A value that could be read
+as something other than a name is refused rather than passed on.
+
+## django
+
+```bash
+ahab django run <cmd>                # in a fresh container, through the entrypoint
+ahab django bash                     # shell in a fresh container
+ahab django manage <args>            # manage.py
+ahab django makemigrations
+ahab django migrate <args>
+ahab django shell
+ahab django make-command <app> <name>
+```
+
+There is no `ahab django test`: which runner a project uses is the project's
+choice, and `manage.py test` exits 0 having collected nothing when the tests are
+written for pytest, so a wrong guess reads as a pass. Name the runner instead:
+
+```bash
+ahab django run pytest -x tests/
+```
+
+## postgres
+
+```bash
+ahab postgres dump <path>            # pg_dump, custom format
+ahab postgres dump -F plain <path>   # pg_dump, plain sql
+ahab postgres dump -F tar <path>     # pg_dump, tar
+ahab postgres dump -F directory <d>  # pg_dump, a directory of files
+ahab postgres dump -F cluster <path> # pg_dumpall, roles and all databases
+ahab postgres dump -F plain -z <path> # any of them, gzipped
+ahab postgres import <path>          # drop, create, then restore
+ahab postgres psql <args>            # psql in the database container
+```
+
+A dump is written `0600` and under a name of its own until it is complete, then
+renamed over the target: a cluster dump carries every role's password hash, and
+the default `0644` would hand it to anyone else with an account on the machine.
+
+`psql` passes its arguments through and only asks docker for a terminal when it
+has one to hand over, so both of these work:
+
+```bash
+ahab postgres psql                          # interactive
+ahab postgres psql -tAc 'select count(*) from auth_user' | wc -l
+```
+
+The format of a dump being imported is read from the file rather than its name.
+A custom format dump starts with `PGDMP` and a tar one with `toc.dat`, both of
+which go to `pg_restore`, as does a directory produced by `pg_dump -Fd`.
+Anything else is treated as sql and fed to `psql` with `ON_ERROR_STOP` and
+`--single-transaction`, so a bad file rolls back instead of half applying.
+A whole cluster dump from `pg_dumpall` is recognised by its header and handled
+differently again: it creates its own databases and carries role statements, so
+the database is dropped but not recreated, the dump goes to `psql` connected to
+`postgres`, and it runs without `ON_ERROR_STOP` because roles that already exist
+report errors that are expected. Any error it does not expect is reported and
+fails the import, since psql without `ON_ERROR_STOP` exits 0 having applied
+only part of the dump. Gzipped dumps are decompressed on the way in, whichever
+of the three they hold. A cluster that has never held the database yet is a
+valid target either way, so importing into a fresh one works.
+
+`import` stops the project before it starts, so an import that fails leaves it
+stopped and says so: `docker compose up` brings it back.
+
+## link
+
+`ahab link` moves untracked paths out of the repository into an out-of-repo
+store and symlinks them back, so a sandbox that mounts the repository sees a
+dangling symlink instead of the contents, while the host resolves it as before.
+
+```bash
+ahab link add .env secrets/         # move out, leave symlinks behind
+ahab link restore .env              # move it back into the repository
+ahab link restore --all             # everything this repo has linked
+ahab link list                      # what the store holds for this repository
+ahab link check                     # what a sandbox can still read
+ahab link check --porcelain         # `<code> <path>`, for scripts
+ahab link check --exit-code         # exit 4 when anything is outside the store
+```
+
+`restore` is the inverse of `add`: the file moves out of the store and back to
+where it was, and the store keeps nothing. A second checkout linking the same
+path is left with a dangling symlink, since there is only ever one stored copy.
+
+`list` says what state each stored path is in, which `check` cannot see because
+it asks git about the repository rather than reading the store:
+
+```
+$ ahab link list
+store: /home/you/.local/share/ahab/git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik
+	linked:    .env
+	shadowed:  config.local.py
+	missing:   secrets/token
+```
+
+`missing` is a path whose symlink is gone, `shadowed` one that a real file took
+back; either way the stored copy is the one nobody reads.
+
+`restore --all` moves back the linked ones and says how many it left, since
+there is nothing to undo for a path whose symlink is gone.
+
+`-z` is the porcelain format for scripts that must survive any filename: entries
+end with a NUL, and the two paths of a symlink leading elsewhere are separated
+by one as well, the way `git status -z` reports a rename.
+
+`check` looks at tracked paths too, since git tracks symlinks and one can lead
+out of the repository without appearing in any untracked listing. `add` cannot
+externalize a tracked path, so all `check` can do is report it, under the code
+`T>`.
+
+A symlink already leading out of the repository is not something `add` will
+take: moving the link would move the pointer and leave the contents where they
+are, so the store would hold a way back out while `check`, seeing a link into
+the store, called the repository clean.
+
+The store lives under
+`${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/ahab/<host>/<owner>/<repo>/`, derived
+from the git `origin` remote, or `_local/<checkout>` when there is no remote to
+name it after. Its directories are created `0700`: it exists to hold what
+should not be readable from the repository, and on a shared machine the default
+`0755` would leave that to whoever else has an account. A store path derived
+from a remote, or a checkout name, that needed characters replacing carries a
+short fingerprint of the original, so two of them cannot land on one directory.
+
+## configuration
+
+Currently `ahab` respects the following environment variables.
+
+- `AHAB_LINK_ROOT`: where `ahab link` keeps its store - the same as `--store`,
+  which takes precedence, and defaults to `${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/ahab`.
+  `ahab status` reads it too, so it reports the store the link commands use
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+use clap::{CommandFactory, ValueEnum};
+use clap_complete::{Shell, generate_to};
+use std::{env, ffi::OsString, fs, io::Error, path::PathBuf};
+
+include!("src/cli/mod.rs");
+
+fn shell_name(shell: Shell) -> String {
+    shell
+        .to_possible_value()
+        .map(|v| v.get_name().to_owned())
+        .unwrap_or_default()
+}
+
+fn non_empty(name: &str) -> Option<OsString> {
+    env::var_os(name).filter(|v| !v.is_empty())
+}
+
+fn install_dir(shell: Shell) -> Option<(PathBuf, bool)> {
+    let per_shell = format!("SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR_{}", shell_name(shell).to_uppercase());
+
+    if let Some(dir) = non_empty(&per_shell).or_else(|| non_empty("SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR")) {
+        return Some((PathBuf::from(dir), true));
+    }
+    non_empty("OUT_DIR").map(|dir| (PathBuf::from(dir), false))
+}
+
+fn main() -> Result<(), Error> {
+    // naming any rerun-if condition replaces cargo's default of re-running the
+    // script whenever anything in the package changed, so everything that
+    // shapes a completion script has to be named here. without them an
+    // installed script goes stale against the binary it completes
+    println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=build.rs");
+    println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=src/cli");
+    println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=Cargo.toml");
+
+    println!("cargo::rerun-if-env-changed=SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR");
+    for shell in Shell::value_variants() {
+        println!(
+            "cargo::rerun-if-env-changed=SHELL_COMPLETIONS_DIR_{}",
+            shell_name(*shell).to_uppercase()
+        );
+    }
+
+    let mut cmd = ahab::Ahab::command();
+
+    for shell in Shell::value_variants() {
+        let Some((dir, requested)) = install_dir(*shell) else {
+            continue;
+        };
+
+        // a build script's working directory is the package root, so a relative
+        // dir would quietly install into the source tree and one holding `..`
+        // somewhere else again. only a path that says where it means is taken
+        if requested && !dir.is_absolute() {
+            return Err(Error::other(format!(
+                "the completions directory must be an absolute path, not {}",
+                dir.display()
+            )));
+        }
+
+        fs::create_dir_all(&dir)
+            .map_err(|e| Error::other(format!("creating {}: {e}", dir.display())))?;
+        let path = generate_to(*shell, &mut cmd, env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME"), &dir)?;
+
+        if requested {
+            println!(
+                "cargo::warning=installed {} completion: {}",
+                shell_name(*shell),
+                path.display()
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
--- a/src/cli/ahab.rs
+++ b/src/cli/ahab.rs
@@ -1,35 +1,31 @@
-use super::{Django, Docker, DockerCompose, Postgres};
+use super::{Django, Link, Postgres, Store};
+use clap::builder::styling::{AnsiColor, Effects, Styles};
+
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 use clap_complete::Shell;

-/// A program for interacting with various dockerized applications.
+/// A program for interacting with various dockerized applications
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
-#[command(author, version, about, long_about=None)]
+#[command(version, about, long_about = None)]
+#[command(styles = help_styles())]
 pub struct Ahab {
    #[command(subcommand)]
    pub command: Commands,
-}

+    /// Print each docker command as it runs
+    #[arg(short, long, global = true)]
+    pub verbose: bool,
+
+    /// Print only what was asked for, not the progress along the way
+    #[arg(short, long, global = true, conflicts_with = "verbose")]
+    pub quiet: bool,
+
+    /// Print the docker commands that would run, without running them
+    #[arg(long, global = true)]
+    pub dry_run: bool,
+}
 #[derive(Debug, Subcommand)]
 pub enum Commands {
-    /// Generate completion files
-    Completion {
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
-        shell: Shell,
-    },
-
-    /// Docker related subcommands
-    Docker {
-        #[command(subcommand)]
-        command: Docker,
-    },
-
-    /// Docker compose related subcommands
-    Compose {
-        #[command(subcommand)]
-        command: DockerCompose,
-    },
-
    /// Django related subcommands
    Django {
        #[command(subcommand)]
@@ -41,4 +37,42 @@ pub enum Commands {
        #[command(subcommand)]
        command: Postgres,
    },
+
+    /// Out-of-repo store related subcommands
+    Link {
+        #[command(subcommand)]
+        command: Link,
+    },
+
+    /// Show what ahab makes of this project
+    Status {
+        #[command(flatten)]
+        store: Store,
+    },
+
+    /// Print a shell completion script on stdout
+    Completions {
+        /// Shell to generate the script for
+        shell: Shell,
+    },
+}
+
+// clap styles headers bold by default but adds no colour
+fn help_styles() -> Styles {
+    Styles::styled()
+        .header(AnsiColor::Green.on_default() | Effects::BOLD)
+        .usage(AnsiColor::Green.on_default() | Effects::BOLD)
+        .literal(AnsiColor::Cyan.on_default() | Effects::BOLD)
+        .placeholder(AnsiColor::Cyan.on_default())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::Ahab;
+    use clap::CommandFactory;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_command_is_well_formed() {
+        Ahab::command().debug_assert();
+    }
 }
--- a/src/cli/django.rs
+++ b/src/cli/django.rs
@@ -1,37 +1,38 @@
 use std::path::PathBuf;

-use clap::Parser;
+use clap::Subcommand;

 // TODO: (matej) dsu template command

-#[derive(Parser, Debug)]
+#[derive(Subcommand, Debug)]
 pub enum Django {
-    /// Prepare empty management command 'command' in app 'app'.
-    MakeCommand {
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
-        app: PathBuf,
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
-        name: String,
-    },
+    /// Start a bash session in a fresh django container
+    Bash,

-    /// Run Django's manage.py makemigrations.
+    /// Prepare an empty management command NAME in the app at APP
+    MakeCommand { app: PathBuf, name: String },
+
+    /// Run Django's manage.py makemigrations
    Makemigrations,

-    /// Pass arguments to Django's manage.py.
+    /// Pass arguments to Django's manage.py
    Manage {
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
+        #[arg(trailing_var_arg = true, allow_hyphen_values = true)]
        rest: Vec<String>,
    },

-    /// Run Django's manage.py migrate.
+    /// Run Django's manage.py migrate
    Migrate {
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
+        #[arg(trailing_var_arg = true, allow_hyphen_values = true)]
        rest: Vec<String>,
    },

-    /// Run Django's manage.py shell.
+    /// Run a command in a fresh django container, through its entrypoint
+    Run {
+        #[arg(trailing_var_arg = true, allow_hyphen_values = true)]
+        rest: Vec<String>,
+    },
+
+    /// Run Django's manage.py shell
    Shell,
-    
-    /// Run Django's manage.py test.
-    Test,
 }
--- a/src/cli/docker.rs
+++ b/src/cli/docker.rs
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-use clap::Parser;
-
-#[derive(Parser, Debug)]
-pub enum Docker {
-    /// Stop all containers via `docker stop $(docker ps -q)`
-    StopAll,
-}
--- a/src/cli/docker_compose.rs
+++ b/src/cli/docker_compose.rs
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-use clap::Subcommand;
-
-// TODO: (matej) add Exec, Bash
-
-/// Wraper for docker compose; autodiscover compose file and source .env file.
-#[derive(Subcommand, Debug)]
-pub enum DockerCompose {
-    /// Build containers.
-    Build,
-
-    /// Down containers.
-    Down,
-
-    /// Stop, build and start containers.
-    Rebuild,
-
-    /// Stop and start containers.
-    Restart,
-
-    /// Start containers.
-    Start,
-
-    /// Stop containers.
-    Stop,
-
-    /// Up containers.
-    Up,
-}
--- a/src/cli/link.rs
+++ b/src/cli/link.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use clap::{Args, Subcommand};
+
+// each variant carries its own arguments as a struct rather than as fields
+// spread across the enum. the command that implements it takes that struct, so
+// main does not unpack what clap has already parsed and hand it on as a row of
+// booleans nothing but position tells apart
+#[derive(Subcommand, Debug)]
+pub enum Link {
+    /// Move untracked paths into the store and symlink them back
+    Add(Add),
+
+    /// Move paths in the store back into the repository
+    Restore(Restore),
+
+    /// List what this repository keeps in the store
+    List(List),
+
+    /// List untracked paths a sandbox would still see
+    Check(Check),
+}
+
+#[derive(Args, Debug)]
+pub struct Add {
+    /// Untracked or ignored paths inside the repository
+    #[arg(required = true)]
+    pub paths: Vec<PathBuf>,
+
+    /// Link to a store path that already exists
+    #[arg(long)]
+    pub force: bool,
+
+    #[command(flatten)]
+    pub store: Store,
+}
+
+#[derive(Args, Debug)]
+pub struct Restore {
+    // said here rather than checked at runtime, so a mistake in the
+    // arguments is reported as one, with the usage and the exit code clap
+    // gives every other argument error
+    #[arg(required_unless_present = "all", conflicts_with = "all")]
+    pub paths: Vec<PathBuf>,
+
+    /// Restore every path this repository has in the store
+    #[arg(long)]
+    pub all: bool,
+
+    #[command(flatten)]
+    pub store: Store,
+}
+
+#[derive(Args, Debug)]
+pub struct List {
+    #[command(flatten)]
+    pub store: Store,
+}
+
+#[derive(Args, Debug)]
+pub struct Check {
+    /// Limit the listing to these paths
+    pub paths: Vec<PathBuf>,
+
+    /// Print `<code> <path>` for scripts, as `git status --porcelain` does
+    #[arg(long)]
+    pub porcelain: bool,
+
+    /// Exit with 4 when anything is outside the store, for scripts
+    #[arg(long)]
+    pub exit_code: bool,
+
+    /// Terminate porcelain entries with NUL
+    #[arg(short = 'z')]
+    pub null: bool,
+
+    #[command(flatten)]
+    pub store: Store,
+}
+
+#[derive(Args, Debug)]
+pub struct Store {
+    /// Where the out-of-repo store lives
+    ///
+    /// Defaults to `${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/ahab`.
+    #[arg(long = "store", env = "AHAB_LINK_ROOT", value_name = "DIR")]
+    pub root: Option<PathBuf>,
+}
+
+impl Store {
+    pub fn root(&self) -> Option<&std::path::Path> {
+        self.root.as_deref()
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cli/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cli/mod.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-mod ahab;
-mod django;
-mod docker;
-mod docker_compose;
-mod postgres;
+// build.rs reaches these definitions with include!, so nothing here may refer to
+// the rest of the crate: keep this tree to clap definitions only
+pub mod ahab;
+pub mod django;
+pub mod link;
+pub mod postgres;

 pub use ahab::{Ahab, Commands};
 pub use django::Django;
-pub use docker::Docker;
-pub use docker_compose::DockerCompose;
-pub use postgres::Postgres;
+pub use link::{Link, Store};
+pub use postgres::{Format, Postgres};
--- a/src/cli/postgres.rs
+++ b/src/cli/postgres.rs
@@ -1,18 +1,56 @@
 use std::path::PathBuf;

-use clap::Subcommand;
+use clap::{Args, Subcommand, ValueEnum};

 #[derive(Subcommand, Debug)]
 pub enum Postgres {
-    /// Import dump via pg_restore
-    Import {
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
-        path: PathBuf,
+    /// Import a dump, in any format ahab can produce
+    Import { path: PathBuf },
+
+    /// Open psql in the database container
+    Psql {
+        /// Arguments for psql itself
+        #[arg(trailing_var_arg = true, allow_hyphen_values = true)]
+        rest: Vec<String>,
    },

-    /// Dump via pg_dump with format=c
-    Dump {
-        #[arg(value_enum)]
-        path: PathBuf,
-    },
+    /// Dump via pg_dump, or pg_dumpall for a whole cluster
+    Dump(Dump),
+}
+
+#[derive(Args, Debug)]
+pub struct Dump {
+    pub path: PathBuf,
+
+    /// Dump format
+    #[arg(short = 'F', long, value_enum, default_value_t = Format::Custom)]
+    pub format: Format,
+
+    /// Compress the dump with gzip
+    #[arg(short = 'z', long)]
+    pub gzip: bool,
+}
+
+#[derive(ValueEnum, Clone, Copy, Debug, Default, PartialEq)]
+pub enum Format {
+    /// pg_dump --format=c, restored with pg_restore
+    #[default]
+    #[value(alias = "c")]
+    Custom,
+
+    /// pg_dump --format=p, restored with psql
+    #[value(alias = "p")]
+    Plain,
+
+    /// pg_dump --format=t, restored with pg_restore
+    #[value(alias = "t")]
+    Tar,
+
+    /// pg_dump --format=d, a directory rather than a file
+    #[value(alias = "d")]
+    Directory,
+
+    /// pg_dumpall, the whole cluster including roles
+    #[value(alias = "all")]
+    Cluster,
 }
--- a/src/cmd/argv.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/argv.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+use std::{
+    ffi::{OsStr, OsString},
+    fmt::Display,
+    fs::File,
+    os::unix::process::{CommandExt, ExitStatusExt},
+    path::Path,
+    process::{Command, ExitStatus, Output, Stdio},
+};
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow};
+
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::output::write_err;
+
+// a program and its arguments: the only thing in ahab that knows what argv looks like
+#[derive(Default, Clone)]
+pub struct Argv(Vec<OsString>);
+
+// a dry run spawned nothing, so there is no status; nothing ran and nothing
+// failed, which is what every caller checking one of these wants to hear
+fn planned() -> ExitStatus {
+    ExitStatus::from_raw(0)
+}
+
+impl Display for Argv {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        f.write_str(&self.quoted())
+    }
+}
+
+impl Argv {
+    pub fn new(program: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Self {
+        Self(vec![program.as_ref().to_owned()])
+    }
+
+    pub fn arg(mut self, arg: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Self {
+        self.0.push(arg.as_ref().to_owned());
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn args<I, S>(mut self, args: I) -> Self
+    where
+        I: IntoIterator<Item = S>,
+        S: AsRef<OsStr>,
+    {
+        self.0
+            .extend(args.into_iter().map(|arg| arg.as_ref().to_owned()));
+        self
+    }
+
+    // a long option and the value it takes
+    pub fn flag(self, name: &str, value: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Self {
+        self.arg(name).arg(value)
+    }
+
+    // for a message that names the tool being run, so lossy is what is wanted
+    pub fn program(&self) -> String {
+        self.0
+            .first()
+            .map(|word| word.to_string_lossy().into_owned())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+
+    pub fn words(&self) -> &[OsString] {
+        &self.0
+    }
+
+    // for reading: the -v echo, the dry run's plan, and the command named in an
+    // error. lossy, because a message about a path is still worth printing
+    pub fn quoted(&self) -> String {
+        let words: Vec<String> = self
+            .0
+            .iter()
+            .map(|word| word.to_string_lossy().into_owned())
+            .collect();
+
+        // a nul byte is the only thing shlex refuses, and no argv can hold one,
+        // so this only happens for a word that could never have been run. it
+        // still has to be readable: an empty string would name no command at
+        // all in the very message explaining what went wrong
+        shlex::try_join(words.iter().map(String::as_str)).unwrap_or_else(|_| words.join(" "))
+    }
+
+    // one word list for a shell to read, which is a string and so cannot carry
+    // a word that is not text. only ascii and compose-derived words reach a
+    // pipeline today; this is what keeps it that way, rather than a comment
+    // saying so while to_string_lossy quietly rewrites a path
+    pub fn for_shell(&self) -> Result<String> {
+        let mut words = Vec::with_capacity(self.0.len());
+
+        for word in &self.0 {
+            let word = word.to_str().ok_or_else(|| {
+                anyhow!(
+                    "`{}` cannot go in a shell pipeline: {:?} is not text",
+                    self.quoted(),
+                    word
+                )
+            })?;
+
+            words.push(word);
+        }
+
+        shlex::try_join(words).map_err(|e| anyhow!("quoting `{}`: {e}", self.quoted()))
+    }
+
+    pub fn run(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.skipped(ctx) {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        let status = self.command(ctx)?.spawn()?.wait()?;
+
+        self.check(status)
+    }
+
+    // reading changes nothing, so a dry run answers the question for real
+    pub fn capture(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<String> {
+        let stdout = self.capture_bytes(ctx)?;
+
+        String::from_utf8(stdout).with_context(|| format!("reading the output of `{self}`"))
+    }
+
+    // git's -z listings are raw bytes: a path on unix is bytes, not text, and
+    // one that is not utf-8 would otherwise fail the whole listing it appears in
+    pub fn capture_bytes(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
+        let out = self.command(ctx)?.output()?;
+
+        if !out.status.success() {
+            // output() holds stderr back, so the command's own complaint has to be
+            // passed on here or it is lost
+            let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr);
+
+            return Err(match stderr.trim() {
+                "" => self.failure(out.status),
+                reason => anyhow!("`{self}` failed: {reason}"),
+            });
+        }
+
+        Ok(out.stdout)
+    }
+
+    // replaces this process, so the command's exit code and signals become ours
+    pub fn replace(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.skipped(ctx) {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        let error = self.command(ctx)?.exec();
+
+        Err(error).with_context(|| format!("running `{self}`"))
+    }
+
+    pub fn stream_to(&self, ctx: &Ctx, out: Stdio) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.skipped(ctx) {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        let status = self.command(ctx)?.stdout(out).spawn()?.wait()?;
+
+        self.check(status)
+    }
+
+    // the status rather than an error, for callers with something better to say
+    pub fn status(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+        if self.skipped(ctx) {
+            return Ok(planned());
+        }
+
+        Ok(self.command(ctx)?.spawn()?.wait()?)
+    }
+
+    pub fn stdin_from(&self, ctx: &Ctx, input: &Path) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+        if self.skipped(ctx) {
+            return Ok(planned());
+        }
+
+        let stdin = self.opened(input)?;
+
+        Ok(self.command(ctx)?.stdin(stdin).spawn()?.wait()?)
+    }
+
+    // both streams held back, for callers that read the command's complaints
+    pub fn stdin_from_captured(&self, ctx: &Ctx, input: &Path) -> Result<Output> {
+        if self.skipped(ctx) {
+            return Ok(Output {
+                status: planned(),
+                stdout: Vec::new(),
+                stderr: Vec::new(),
+            });
+        }
+
+        let stdin = self.opened(input)?;
+
+        Ok(self.command(ctx)?.stdin(stdin).output()?)
+    }
+
+    // a probe that reads its input: like capture, it is asking rather than
+    // changing, so a dry run gets the real answer and plans with it
+    pub fn probe_with_stdin(&self, ctx: &Ctx, input: &Path) -> Result<Output> {
+        let stdin = self.opened(input)?;
+
+        Ok(self.command(ctx)?.stdin(stdin).output()?)
+    }
+
+    // a probe: it asks a question rather than changing anything, so a dry run
+    // answers it for real, and the status is the answer instead of an error
+    pub fn probe_status(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+        Ok(self.command(ctx)?.stdout(Stdio::null()).spawn()?.wait()?)
+    }
+
+    // whether it succeeded, without failure being an error
+    pub fn quietly_succeeds(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<bool> {
+        Ok(self.probe_status(ctx)?.success())
+    }
+
+    fn command(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<Command> {
+        if ctx.verbose {
+            write_err(format_args!("running `{self}`"));
+        }
+
+        let (program, rest) = self.0.split_first().context("empty command")?;
+        let mut command = Command::new(program);
+        command.args(rest);
+
+        Ok(command)
+    }
+
+    fn skipped(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> bool {
+        if ctx.dry_run {
+            // the plan is what a dry run was asked for, so --quiet keeps it
+            write_err(format_args!("would run `{self}`"));
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        false
+    }
+
+    fn opened(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<Stdio> {
+        let file = File::open(path).with_context(|| format!("opening {}", path.display()))?;
+
+        Ok(Stdio::from(file))
+    }
+
+    fn check(&self, status: ExitStatus) -> Result<()> {
+        if status.success() {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        Err(self.failure(status))
+    }
+
+    fn failure(&self, status: ExitStatus) -> anyhow::Error {
+        match status.code() {
+            Some(code) => anyhow!("`{self}` exited with {code}"),
+            None => anyhow!("`{self}` was killed by a signal"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::Argv;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn plain_words_are_left_as_they_are() {
+        let argv = Argv::new("pg_dump")
+            .flag("--username", "myproject")
+            .arg("--data-only")
+            .arg("myproject_db");
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            argv.quoted(),
+            "pg_dump --username myproject --data-only myproject_db"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn anything_a_shell_would_read_as_more_than_one_word_is_quoted() {
+        assert_eq!(Argv::new("psql").arg("my db").quoted(), "psql 'my db'");
+        assert_eq!(Argv::new("sh").arg("a | b").quoted(), "sh 'a | b'");
+        assert_eq!(Argv::new("echo").arg("").quoted(), "echo ''");
+        assert_eq!(Argv::new("echo").arg("it's").quoted(), r#"echo "it's""#);
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/compose.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/compose.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+use super::{Argv, Cmd};
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+
+// compose prints its own progress, which --quiet has to ask it to stop
+fn compose(quiet: bool) -> Argv {
+    let argv = Argv::new("docker").arg("compose");
+
+    match quiet {
+        true => argv.flag("--progress", "quiet"),
+        false => argv,
+    }
+}
+
+// the compose commands, each already knowing whether -q asked compose to stop
+// narrating. the flag was a field every construction site set by hand, and
+// three of them did not, so `ahab -q` still had compose talking over the output
+pub struct Compose<'a> {
+    ctx: &'a Ctx,
+}
+
+impl<'a> Compose<'a> {
+    pub(crate) fn new(ctx: &'a Ctx) -> Self {
+        Self { ctx }
+    }
+
+    pub fn up(&self) -> Up {
+        Up {
+            quiet: self.ctx.quiet,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn stop(&self) -> Stop {
+        Stop {
+            quiet: self.ctx.quiet,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn start(&self, service: &'a str) -> Start<'a> {
+        Start {
+            service,
+            quiet: self.ctx.quiet,
+        }
+    }
+
+    // reading the project says nothing, so there is no progress to quieten
+    pub fn config(&self) -> Config {
+        Config
+    }
+
+    pub fn ps(&self, service: &str) -> Ps {
+        Ps {
+            service: service.to_string(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// docker compose run --rm, which runs the image's entrypoint and so fixes up the
+// container user before handing over
+pub struct Run {
+    service: String,
+    inner: Argv,
+    quiet: bool,
+}
+
+impl Run {
+    // only reached through Cmd::in_service, which takes the context, so the
+    // progress flag cannot be left off by forgetting a builder call
+    pub(super) fn wrapping(ctx: &Ctx, service: &str, inner: Argv) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            service: service.to_string(),
+            inner,
+            quiet: ctx.quiet,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Run {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        compose(self.quiet)
+            .arg("run")
+            .arg("--rm")
+            .arg(&self.service)
+            .args(self.inner.words())
+    }
+}
+
+// the merged project file, with every extends and env_file resolved
+pub struct Config;
+
+impl Cmd for Config {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        compose(false).arg("config").flag("--format", "json")
+    }
+}
+
+// the container id a service is running as, empty when it is not running
+pub struct Ps {
+    service: String,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Ps {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        compose(false).arg("ps").arg("--quiet").arg(&self.service)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Up {
+    quiet: bool,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Up {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        compose(self.quiet).arg("up").arg("--detach")
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Start<'a> {
+    service: &'a str,
+    quiet: bool,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Start<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        compose(self.quiet).arg("start").arg(self.service)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Stop {
+    quiet: bool,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Stop {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        compose(self.quiet).arg("stop")
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/django.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/django.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+use super::{Argv, Cmd};
+
+// an interactive shell in the django container
+pub struct Bash;
+
+impl Cmd for Bash {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("bash")
+    }
+}
+
+// django's manage.py, with the subcommand and its arguments
+pub struct Manage<'a> {
+    args: &'a [String],
+}
+
+impl<'a> Manage<'a> {
+    pub fn new(args: &'a [String]) -> Self {
+        Self { args }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Manage<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("python").arg("manage.py").args(self.args)
+    }
+}
+
+// whatever the caller typed, passed through as it stands
+pub struct Words<'a> {
+    words: &'a [String],
+}
+
+impl<'a> Words<'a> {
+    pub fn new(words: &'a [String]) -> Self {
+        Self { words }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Words<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::default().args(self.words)
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/docker.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/docker.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+use std::ffi::OsString;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::{Argv, Cmd};
+
+// docker exec, around a command that runs inside the container
+pub struct Exec {
+    container: String,
+    interactive: bool,
+    tty: bool,
+    inner: Argv,
+}
+
+impl Exec {
+    pub fn wrapping(container: &str, inner: Argv) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            container: container.to_string(),
+            interactive: false,
+            tty: false,
+            inner,
+        }
+    }
+
+    // a terminal, for a command that is a shell rather than a pipe stage
+    pub fn tty(mut self, tty: bool) -> Self {
+        self.tty = tty;
+        self
+    }
+
+    // keep stdin open, for a command that is fed a dump
+    pub fn interactive(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.interactive = true;
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Exec {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        let mut argv = Argv::new("docker").arg("exec");
+
+        if self.interactive {
+            argv = argv.arg("--interactive");
+        }
+
+        if self.tty {
+            argv = argv.arg("--tty");
+        }
+
+        argv.arg(&self.container).args(self.inner.words())
+    }
+}
+
+// docker cp, in either direction. the local side stays an OsString: it is a
+// path the user named, and a lossy one would copy something else
+pub struct Cp {
+    from: OsString,
+    to: OsString,
+}
+
+impl Cp {
+    pub fn into_container(local: &Path, container: &str, remote: &str) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            from: local.as_os_str().to_owned(),
+            to: OsString::from(format!("{container}:{remote}")),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn out_of_container(container: &str, remote: &str, local: &Path) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            from: OsString::from(format!("{container}:{remote}")),
+            to: local.as_os_str().to_owned(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Cp {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        // -L has no long form; it copies what a symlink points at
+        Argv::new("docker")
+            .arg("cp")
+            .arg("-L")
+            .arg(&self.from)
+            .arg(&self.to)
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/git.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/git.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+use std::ffi::OsString;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use super::{Argv, Cmd};
+
+// -C has no long form; it runs git as though from that directory
+fn git(root: &Path) -> Argv {
+    Argv::new("git").arg("-C").arg(root)
+}
+
+// `--` stops git reading a leading dash as an option, but pathspec magic is
+// read after it too, so a file actually named `:(exclude)x` or `:!x` would ask
+// about a different set of paths than the one in hand. built as an OsString: a
+// path is bytes, and a lossy one asks git about a name nothing on disk has
+fn literal(path: &Path) -> OsString {
+    let mut spec = OsString::from(":(literal)");
+    spec.push(path);
+
+    spec
+}
+
+// the root of the repository the working directory is in
+pub struct RevParse;
+
+impl Cmd for RevParse {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("git").arg("rev-parse").arg("--show-toplevel")
+    }
+}
+
+// the url a remote points at, if the repository has one
+pub struct ConfigGet<'a> {
+    pub key: &'a str,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for ConfigGet<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("git").arg("config").flag("--get", self.key)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct LsFiles<'a> {
+    root: &'a Path,
+    tracked: bool,
+    ignored: bool,
+    pathspecs: Vec<OsString>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> LsFiles<'a> {
+    // paths git would not restore: untracked ones, and whole directories rather
+    // than every file inside them
+    pub fn untracked(root: &'a Path) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            root,
+            tracked: false,
+            ignored: false,
+            pathspecs: Vec::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn tracked(root: &'a Path) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            root,
+            tracked: true,
+            ignored: false,
+            pathspecs: Vec::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    // the ignored paths instead of the merely untracked ones
+    pub fn ignored(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.ignored = true;
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn limited_to<P: AsRef<Path>>(mut self, pathspecs: &[P]) -> Self {
+        self.pathspecs = pathspecs
+            .iter()
+            .map(|path| literal(path.as_ref()))
+            .collect();
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for LsFiles<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        // -z has no long form; it separates the paths with NUL, which is the
+        // only separator a filename cannot contain
+        let mut argv = git(self.root).arg("ls-files").arg("-z");
+
+        if self.tracked {
+            argv = argv.arg("--cached");
+        } else {
+            argv = argv
+                .arg("--others")
+                .arg("--exclude-standard")
+                .arg("--directory")
+                .arg("--no-empty-directory");
+        }
+
+        if self.ignored {
+            argv = argv.arg("--ignored");
+        }
+
+        argv.arg("--").args(&self.pathspecs)
+    }
+}
+
+// whether a path is ignored, said through the exit code alone
+pub struct CheckIgnore<'a> {
+    root: &'a Path,
+    path: &'a Path,
+}
+
+impl<'a> CheckIgnore<'a> {
+    pub fn new(root: &'a Path, path: &'a Path) -> Self {
+        Self { root, path }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for CheckIgnore<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        git(self.root)
+            .arg("check-ignore")
+            .arg("--quiet")
+            .arg("--")
+            .arg(self.path)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+
+    use super::{CheckIgnore, LsFiles};
+    use crate::cmd::Cmd;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_untracked_listing_asks_for_whole_directories() {
+        let argv = LsFiles::untracked(Path::new("/repo"))
+            .ignored()
+            .limited_to(&[PathBuf::from("a b")])
+            .argv();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            argv.quoted(),
+            "git -C /repo ls-files -z --others --exclude-standard --directory \
+             --no-empty-directory --ignored -- ':(literal)a b'",
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_tracked_listing_asks_git_only_about_the_paths_given() {
+        let argv = LsFiles::tracked(Path::new("/repo"))
+            .limited_to(&[PathBuf::from(".env")])
+            .argv();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            argv.quoted(),
+            "git -C /repo ls-files -z --cached -- ':(literal).env'"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_pathspec_is_asked_for_literally_however_it_is_spelled() {
+        // git reads magic after `--` too, so these names must not become one
+        for name in [":(exclude)secret", ":!secret", ":(glob)**"] {
+            let argv = LsFiles::tracked(Path::new("/repo"))
+                .limited_to(&[PathBuf::from(name)])
+                .argv();
+
+            assert_eq!(
+                argv.words().last().unwrap(),
+                format!(":(literal){name}").as_str()
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn check_ignore_says_nothing_and_reports_through_its_status() {
+        let argv = CheckIgnore::new(Path::new("/repo"), Path::new(".env")).argv();
+
+        assert_eq!(argv.quoted(), "git -C /repo check-ignore --quiet -- .env");
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+mod argv;
+mod compose;
+mod django;
+mod docker;
+mod git;
+mod postgres;
+mod shell;
+
+use std::{
+    path::Path,
+    process::{ExitStatus, Output, Stdio},
+};
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+
+pub use argv::Argv;
+pub use compose::{Compose, Run};
+pub use django::{Bash, Manage, Words};
+pub use docker::{Cp, Exec};
+pub use git::{CheckIgnore, ConfigGet, LsFiles, RevParse};
+pub use postgres::{CreateDb, DropDb, PgDump, PgDumpAll, PgIsReady, PgRestore, Psql};
+pub use shell::{Gunzip, Gzip, Head, Pipeline, Rm};
+
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+
+// every command ahab runs, from `docker compose config` to `pg_dump`, is a type
+// that renders itself here; adapters wrap one command in another and terminals
+// run it, so a call site reads as one chain
+pub trait Cmd {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv;
+
+    // this command as one word list, for a shell to read
+    fn shell(&self) -> Result<String> {
+        self.argv().for_shell()
+    }
+
+    // adapters
+    fn pipe(&self, next: &dyn Cmd) -> Result<Pipeline> {
+        Pipeline::starting(self.shell()?).pipe(next)
+    }
+
+    fn in_container(&self, container: &str) -> Exec {
+        Exec::wrapping(container, self.argv())
+    }
+
+    // the context comes in here because compose narrates what it is doing, and
+    // whether it should is the caller's -q rather than this command's business
+    fn in_service(&self, ctx: &Ctx, service: &str) -> Run {
+        Run::wrapping(ctx, service, self.argv())
+    }
+
+    // terminals
+    fn run(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+        self.argv().run(ctx)
+    }
+
+    fn capture(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<String> {
+        self.argv().capture(ctx)
+    }
+
+    fn capture_bytes(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
+        self.argv().capture_bytes(ctx)
+    }
+
+    fn replace(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+        self.argv().replace(ctx)
+    }
+
+    fn stream_to(&self, ctx: &Ctx, out: Stdio) -> Result<()> {
+        self.argv().stream_to(ctx, out)
+    }
+
+    // the status rather than an error, for callers with something better to say
+    fn status(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+        self.argv().status(ctx)
+    }
+
+    fn stdin_from(&self, ctx: &Ctx, input: &Path) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+        self.argv().stdin_from(ctx, input)
+    }
+
+    fn stdin_from_captured(&self, ctx: &Ctx, input: &Path) -> Result<Output> {
+        self.argv().stdin_from_captured(ctx, input)
+    }
+
+    fn probe_with_stdin(&self, ctx: &Ctx, input: &Path) -> Result<Output> {
+        self.argv().probe_with_stdin(ctx, input)
+    }
+
+    fn quietly_succeeds(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<bool> {
+        self.argv().quietly_succeeds(ctx)
+    }
+
+    fn probe_status(&self, ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<ExitStatus> {
+        self.argv().probe_status(ctx)
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/postgres.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/postgres.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
+use super::{Argv, Cmd};
+use crate::cli::Format;
+
+// whether the server is accepting connections yet
+pub struct PgIsReady<'a> {
+    pub username: &'a str,
+    pub dbname: &'a str,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for PgIsReady<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("pg_isready")
+            .flag("--username", self.username)
+            .flag("--dbname", self.dbname)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct DropDb<'a> {
+    pub username: &'a str,
+    pub dbname: &'a str,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for DropDb<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        // a cluster that never held this database is still a restore target
+        Argv::new("dropdb")
+            .flag("--username", self.username)
+            .arg("--if-exists")
+            // a database name is a positional, and getopt would read one
+            // beginning with a dash as an option instead
+            .arg("--")
+            .arg(self.dbname)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct CreateDb<'a> {
+    pub username: &'a str,
+    pub dbname: &'a str,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for CreateDb<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        // template0 rather than template1, so nothing the local cluster picked up
+        // ends up in a restored database
+        Argv::new("createdb")
+            .flag("--username", self.username)
+            .flag("--encoding", "utf8")
+            .flag("--template", "template0")
+            .arg("--")
+            .arg(self.dbname)
+    }
+}
+
+// reads a custom, tar or directory format dump
+pub struct PgRestore<'a> {
+    username: &'a str,
+    dbname: &'a str,
+    from: Option<&'a str>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> PgRestore<'a> {
+    pub fn new(username: &'a str, dbname: &'a str) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            username,
+            dbname,
+            from: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    // a path in the container, for a dump that could not be streamed in
+    pub fn from(mut self, path: &'a str) -> Self {
+        self.from = Some(path);
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for PgRestore<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        let argv = Argv::new("pg_restore")
+            .flag("--username", self.username)
+            .flag("--dbname", self.dbname);
+
+        match self.from {
+            Some(path) => argv.arg("--").arg(path),
+            None => argv,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// reads a plain sql dump, or runs as the interactive shell it is
+pub struct Psql<'a> {
+    username: &'a str,
+    dbname: &'a str,
+    quiet: bool,
+    atomic: bool,
+    rest: &'a [String],
+}
+
+impl<'a> Psql<'a> {
+    pub fn new(username: &'a str, dbname: &'a str) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            username,
+            dbname,
+            quiet: false,
+            atomic: false,
+            rest: &[],
+        }
+    }
+
+    // say nothing and print no result rows, for a restore whose output is noise
+    pub fn quiet(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.quiet = true;
+        self
+    }
+
+    // stop at the first error and undo the rest, which a cluster dump cannot do:
+    // it connects to each database itself, and trips over roles already there
+    pub fn atomic(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.atomic = true;
+        self
+    }
+
+    // whatever the caller typed, for psql's own flags
+    pub fn args(mut self, rest: &'a [String]) -> Self {
+        self.rest = rest;
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Psql<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        let mut argv = Argv::new("psql");
+
+        if self.quiet {
+            argv = argv.arg("--quiet").flag("--output", "/dev/null");
+        }
+
+        argv = argv
+            .flag("--username", self.username)
+            .flag("--dbname", self.dbname);
+
+        if self.atomic {
+            argv = argv
+                .flag("--variable", "ON_ERROR_STOP=1")
+                .arg("--single-transaction");
+        }
+
+        argv.args(self.rest)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct PgDump<'a> {
+    username: &'a str,
+    dbname: &'a str,
+    format: &'a str,
+    to: Option<&'a str>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> PgDump<'a> {
+    // pg_dump's -F letter, which belongs with the rest of what this module
+    // knows about pg_dump's argv rather than with the parser that reads the
+    // user's `-F custom`. a cluster has no letter: that is pg_dumpall, so
+    // there is no PgDump to build for it
+    pub fn of(username: &'a str, dbname: &'a str, format: Format) -> Option<Self> {
+        let format = match format {
+            Format::Custom => "c",
+            Format::Plain => "p",
+            Format::Tar => "t",
+            Format::Directory => "d",
+            Format::Cluster => return None,
+        };
+
+        Some(Self {
+            username,
+            dbname,
+            format,
+            to: None,
+        })
+    }
+
+    // a path in the container, for the directory format, which pg_dump writes
+    // itself rather than to stdout
+    pub fn to(mut self, path: &'a str) -> Self {
+        self.to = Some(path);
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for PgDump<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        let argv = Argv::new("pg_dump")
+            .flag("--username", self.username)
+            .flag("--format", self.format);
+
+        match self.to {
+            Some(path) => argv.flag("--file", path),
+            None => argv,
+        }
+        .arg("--")
+        .arg(self.dbname)
+    }
+}
+
+// the whole cluster, roles and all
+pub struct PgDumpAll<'a> {
+    pub username: &'a str,
+}
+
+impl Cmd for PgDumpAll<'_> {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("pg_dumpall").flag("--username", self.username)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{DropDb, Format, PgDump, Psql};
+    use crate::cmd::Cmd;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_missing_database_is_not_a_failed_import() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            DropDb {
+                username: "u",
+                dbname: "db",
+            }
+            .argv()
+            .quoted(),
+            "dropdb --username u --if-exists -- db"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_directory_dump_names_the_file_it_writes() {
+        let directory = PgDump::of("u", "db", Format::Directory).unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            directory.to("/tmp/dump").argv().quoted(),
+            "pg_dump --username u --format d --file /tmp/dump -- db"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            PgDump::of("u", "db", Format::Custom)
+                .unwrap()
+                .argv()
+                .quoted(),
+            "pg_dump --username u --format c -- db"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_cluster_is_pg_dumpall_rather_than_a_pg_dump_letter() {
+        assert!(PgDump::of("u", "db", Format::Cluster).is_none());
+
+        for format in [
+            Format::Custom,
+            Format::Plain,
+            Format::Tar,
+            Format::Directory,
+        ] {
+            assert!(PgDump::of("u", "db", format).is_some(), "{format:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn only_a_single_database_restore_stops_at_the_first_error() {
+        assert!(
+            Psql::new("u", "db")
+                .quiet()
+                .atomic()
+                .argv()
+                .quoted()
+                .ends_with("--variable 'ON_ERROR_STOP=1' --single-transaction")
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            Psql::new("u", "postgres").quiet().argv().quoted(),
+            "psql --quiet --output /dev/null --username u --dbname postgres"
+        );
+    }
+}
--- a/src/cmd/shell.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/shell.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+use anyhow::Result;
+
+use super::{Argv, Cmd};
+
+// sh -c, the only way to reach a shell feature inside a container
+pub struct Sh(String);
+
+impl Sh {
+    pub fn new(script: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
+        Self(script.into())
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Sh {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        // -c has no long form
+        Argv::new("sh").arg("-c").arg(&self.0)
+    }
+}
+
+// commands joined by pipes, which only a shell can run
+pub struct Pipeline {
+    stages: Vec<String>,
+    pipefail: bool,
+}
+
+impl Pipeline {
+    pub fn starting(first: String) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            stages: vec![first],
+            pipefail: true,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn pipe(mut self, next: &dyn Cmd) -> Result<Self> {
+        self.stages.push(next.shell()?);
+        Ok(self)
+    }
+
+    // for a pipeline whose last stage closes the pipe on purpose, where the
+    // SIGPIPE that kills an earlier stage is the expected end and not a failure
+    pub fn allow_early_close(mut self) -> Self {
+        self.pipefail = false;
+        self
+    }
+
+    fn script(&self) -> String {
+        let piped = self.stages.join(" | ");
+
+        // a pipeline reports only its last stage's status, so a first stage that
+        // dies mid-stream reads as success without this
+        if self.pipefail {
+            format!("set -o pipefail; {piped}")
+        } else {
+            piped
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Pipeline {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Sh::new(self.script()).argv()
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Gzip;
+
+impl Cmd for Gzip {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("gzip")
+    }
+}
+
+// busybox, which alpine based images ship, has no long options for these three
+pub struct Gunzip;
+
+impl Cmd for Gunzip {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("gunzip").arg("-c")
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Head {
+    bytes: usize,
+}
+
+impl Head {
+    pub fn bytes(bytes: usize) -> Self {
+        Self { bytes }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Head {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("head").arg("-c").arg(self.bytes.to_string())
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Rm {
+    path: String,
+}
+
+impl Rm {
+    pub fn recursive(path: &str) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            path: path.to_string(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Cmd for Rm {
+    fn argv(&self) -> Argv {
+        Argv::new("rm").arg("-rf").arg(&self.path)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{Gunzip, Gzip, Head};
+    use crate::cmd::Cmd;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_pipeline_reports_a_stage_that_dies_mid_stream() {
+        let script = Gunzip.pipe(&Gzip).unwrap().shell().unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(script, "sh -c 'set -o pipefail; gunzip -c | gzip'");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_pipeline_that_closes_the_pipe_on_purpose_keeps_the_default() {
+        let script = Gunzip
+            .pipe(&Head::bytes(512))
+            .unwrap()
+            .allow_early_close()
+            .shell()
+            .unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(script, "sh -c 'gunzip -c | head -c 512'");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_pipeline_reaches_a_container_as_one_argument() {
+        let argv = Gunzip.pipe(&Gzip).unwrap().in_container("abc123").argv();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            argv.words(),
+            [
+                "docker",
+                "exec",
+                "abc123",
+                "sh",
+                "-c",
+                "set -o pipefail; gunzip -c | gzip"
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+}
--- a/src/command_builder.rs
+++ b/src/command_builder.rs
@@ -1,82 +0,0 @@
-use anyhow::{anyhow, Context, Result};
-use std::{
-    collections::VecDeque,
-    ffi::OsStr,
-    fmt::Display,
-    fs::{File, OpenOptions},
-    path::PathBuf,
-    process::{Command, Stdio},
-};
-
-use crate::debug_println;
-
-pub struct Args(Vec<String>);
-
-impl From<&str> for Args {
-    fn from(value: &str) -> Self {
-        Self(Vec::from_iter(value.split_whitespace().map(String::from)))
-    }
-}
-
-impl From<&String> for Args {
-    fn from(value: &String) -> Self {
-        Self(Vec::from_iter(value.split_whitespace().map(String::from)))
-    }
-}
-
-#[derive(Default)]
-pub struct CommandBuilder {
-    args: Vec<String>,
-}
-
-impl Display for CommandBuilder {
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
-        f.write_str(&self.args.join(" "))
-    }
-}
-
-impl CommandBuilder {
-    pub fn new(args: &str) -> Self {
-        Self::default().args("docker")
-    }
-
-    pub fn docker() -> Self {
-        Self::default().args("docker")
-    }
-
-    pub fn docker_compose() -> Self {
-        Self::default().args("docker compose -f docker/local/docker-compose.yaml")
-    }
-
-    pub fn args<T>(mut self, args: T) -> Self
-    where
-        Args: From<T>,
-    {
-        self.args.extend(Args::from(args).0);
-        self
-    }
-
-    fn build(self) -> Result<Command> {
-        debug_println!("\nran {self}\n");
-
-        let (first, rest) = self.args.split_first().context("empty args")?;
-        let mut command = Command::new(first);
-        command.args(rest);
-
-        Ok(command)
-    }
-
-    pub fn exec_get_stdout(mut self) -> Result<String> {
-        Ok(String::from_utf8(self.build()?.output()?.stdout)?)
-    }
-
-    pub fn exec(mut self) -> Result<()> {
-        self.build()?.spawn()?.wait()?;
-        Ok(())
-    }
-
-    pub fn exec_redirect_stdout(mut self, stdio: Stdio) -> Result<()> {
-        self.build()?.stdout(stdio).spawn()?.wait()?;
-        Ok(())
-    }
-}
--- a/src/commands/completions.rs
+++ b/src/commands/completions.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+use std::io::{self, Write};
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use clap::CommandFactory;
+use clap_complete::{Shell, generate};
+
+use crate::cli::Ahab;
+
+pub fn completions(shell: Shell) -> Result<()> {
+    let script = script(shell);
+
+    let mut stdout = io::stdout().lock();
+    match stdout.write_all(&script).and_then(|()| stdout.flush()) {
+        Err(e) if e.kind() == io::ErrorKind::BrokenPipe => Ok(()),
+        result => result.context("writing the completion script"),
+    }
+}
+
+fn script(shell: Shell) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut cmd = Ahab::command();
+    let name = cmd.get_name().to_string();
+
+    let mut script = Vec::new();
+    generate(shell, &mut cmd, name, &mut script);
+    script
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{Ahab, Shell, script};
+    use clap::{CommandFactory, ValueEnum};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn every_shell_gets_a_script_covering_the_subcommands() {
+        // asked of the parser rather than listed here, which is a list that
+        // silently stops covering the newest command
+        let subcommands: Vec<String> = Ahab::command()
+            .get_subcommands()
+            .map(|sub| sub.get_name().to_string())
+            .collect();
+
+        assert!(subcommands.len() > 1, "{subcommands:?}");
+
+        for shell in Shell::value_variants() {
+            let out = String::from_utf8(script(*shell)).expect("script is utf8");
+
+            for subcommand in &subcommands {
+                assert!(
+                    out.contains(subcommand),
+                    "{shell:?} script never mentions {subcommand}"
+                );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
--- a/src/commands/django.rs
+++ b/src/commands/django.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use anyhow::{Result, anyhow};
+
+use crate::cmd::{Bash, Cmd, Manage, Words};
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+
+use crate::output::note;
+use crate::project::Project;
+
+const DEBUG_TEMPLATE: &str = r#"from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
+
+class Command(BaseCommand):
+    def handle(self, *args, **options):
+        pass
+
+"#;
+
+pub fn make_command(ctx: &Ctx, app: &Path, name: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    let app_name = app.to_string_lossy();
+    let app_dir = app;
+
+    // it becomes `<name>.py` under the app, and django imports it by this name,
+    // so anything that is not an identifier would land the file somewhere else
+    // or somewhere django will never look for it
+    if !is_module_name(name) {
+        return Err(anyhow!(
+            "{name:?} is not a usable command name; \
+             django imports it as a python module, so it can hold only \
+             letters, digits and underscores"
+        ));
+    }
+
+    if !app_dir.is_dir() {
+        return Err(anyhow!("directory {app_name} does not exist"));
+    }
+
+    note!(ctx, "found app {app_name}");
+
+    let management_dir = app_dir.join("management");
+
+    if !management_dir.exists() {
+        ctx.fs().create_dir(&management_dir)?;
+        ctx.fs().touch(&management_dir.join("__init__.py"))?;
+
+        note!(ctx, "created module {app_name}.management")
+    };
+
+    let commands_dir = management_dir.join("commands");
+
+    if !commands_dir.exists() {
+        ctx.fs().create_dir(&commands_dir)?;
+        ctx.fs().touch(&commands_dir.join("__init__.py"))?;
+
+        note!(ctx, "created module {app_name}.management.commands")
+    };
+
+    ctx.fs().write_new(
+        &commands_dir.join(format!("{name}.py")),
+        DEBUG_TEMPLATE.as_bytes(),
+    )?;
+
+    note!(ctx, "created command {app_name}.management.commands.{name}");
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn is_module_name(name: &str) -> bool {
+    !name.is_empty()
+        && !name.starts_with(|c: char| c.is_ascii_digit())
+        && name.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || c == '_')
+}
+
+pub fn bash(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+    Bash.in_service(ctx, &service(ctx)?).replace(ctx)
+}
+
+pub fn run(ctx: &Ctx, rest: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+    Words::new(rest)
+        .in_service(ctx, &service(ctx)?)
+        .replace(ctx)
+}
+
+pub fn manage(ctx: &Ctx, rest: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+    Manage::new(rest)
+        .in_service(ctx, &service(ctx)?)
+        .replace(ctx)
+}
+
+// shortcuts
+pub fn makemigrations(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+    manage(ctx, &["makemigrations".to_string()])
+}
+
+pub fn migrate(ctx: &Ctx, rest: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+    let mut args = vec!["migrate".to_string()];
+    args.extend_from_slice(rest);
+
+    manage(ctx, &args)
+}
+
+pub fn shell(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<()> {
+    manage(ctx, &["shell".to_string()])
+}
+
+fn service(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<String> {
+    Project::resolve(ctx)?.django()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::is_module_name;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_command_name_has_to_be_a_python_module_name() {
+        for name in ["report", "send_mail", "_private", "sync2"] {
+            assert!(is_module_name(name), "should be usable: {name}");
+        }
+
+        // a path would put the file somewhere other than the app
+        for name in ["../../../etc/cron.d/x", "a/b", "with space", "dash-ed", ""] {
+            assert!(!is_module_name(name), "should be refused: {name}");
+        }
+    }
+}
--- a/src/commands/link.rs
+++ b/src/commands/link.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,475 @@
+mod check;
+mod store;
+
+pub use check::check;
+
+use fs_err::{read_dir, read_link};
+use std::cell::Cell;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow, bail};
+
+use self::store::{Leads, Repo, ignored, leads, resolve, symlink_metadata_opt, tracked};
+use crate::cli::link as cli;
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::fsops::suffixed;
+use crate::output::{line, note, plural, warning};
+
+const BACKUP_SUFFIX: &str = ".ahab-bak";
+// where the link waits while the payload comes back out of the store
+const RESTORING_SUFFIX: &str = ".ahab-restoring";
+
+// one path's failure is its own; several are counted, so a run over a list says
+// what happened to each and then how the run as a whole went. a single path has
+// nothing to count, so its error is simply the command's
+fn each(paths: &[PathBuf], mut act: impl FnMut(&Path) -> Result<()>) -> Result<()> {
+    if let [only] = paths {
+        return act(only);
+    }
+
+    let mut failed = 0;
+    for path in paths {
+        if let Err(e) = act(path) {
+            warning!("{e:#}");
+            failed += 1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    match failed {
+        0 => Ok(()),
+        failed => Err(anyhow!("{failed} of {} paths failed", paths.len())),
+    }
+}
+
+// move untracked paths out of the repo and symlink them back
+pub fn add(ctx: &Ctx, args: &cli::Add) -> Result<()> {
+    let repo = Repo::discover(ctx, args.store.root())?;
+    let report = Report::new(&repo);
+
+    each(&args.paths, |path| {
+        link_one(ctx, &repo, path, args.force, &report)
+    })
+}
+
+// move paths in the store back into the repo, the inverse of add
+pub fn restore(ctx: &Ctx, args: &cli::Restore) -> Result<()> {
+    let repo = Repo::discover(ctx, args.store.root())?;
+    let report = Report::new(&repo);
+
+    // clap requires one or the other and refuses both, so only the two real
+    // cases are left here
+    let stored = match args.all {
+        true => stored_paths(&repo, &repo.store)?,
+        false => args
+            .paths
+            .iter()
+            .cloned()
+            .map(|path| (path, Stored::Linked))
+            .collect(),
+    };
+
+    // only a linked path can be moved back; the store can hold orphans too
+    let linked: Vec<PathBuf> = stored
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(_, state)| *state == Stored::Linked)
+        .map(|(path, _)| path.clone())
+        .collect();
+    let skipped = stored.len() - linked.len();
+
+    if linked.is_empty() {
+        match skipped {
+            0 => note!(ctx, "nothing in the store for this repository"),
+            n => note!(
+                ctx,
+                "nothing to restore: {n} path{} in the store {} not linked, see `ahab link list`",
+                plural(n),
+                if n == 1 { "is" } else { "are" }
+            ),
+        }
+
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    if skipped > 0 {
+        note!(
+            ctx,
+            "leaving {skipped} path{} that the store holds but nothing links to",
+            plural(skipped)
+        );
+    }
+
+    each(&linked, |path| restore_one(ctx, &repo, path, &report))
+}
+
+fn restore_one(ctx: &Ctx, repo: &Repo, path: &Path, report: &Report) -> Result<()> {
+    let src = resolve(path)?;
+    let rel = repo.relative(&src)?;
+    let stored = repo.store.join(&rel);
+
+    let Some(meta) = symlink_metadata_opt(&src)? else {
+        bail!("{} does not exist", rel.display());
+    };
+    if !meta.is_symlink() {
+        bail!(
+            "{} is not a symlink, so it is not in the store",
+            rel.display()
+        );
+    }
+
+    let dest = read_link(&src)?;
+    if dest != stored {
+        bail!(
+            "{} points at {}, which is not where the store keeps it",
+            rel.display(),
+            dest.display()
+        );
+    }
+    if symlink_metadata_opt(&stored)?.is_none() {
+        bail!("{} is missing from the store", rel.display());
+    }
+
+    // the link is moved aside rather than removed: if the payload cannot come
+    // back out of the store, the repository is left pointing at where it still is
+    let aside = suffixed(&src, RESTORING_SUFFIX);
+    if symlink_metadata_opt(&aside)?.is_some() {
+        bail!("{} is in the way; move it aside", aside.display());
+    }
+
+    ctx.fs().rename(&src, &aside)?;
+
+    if let Err(e) = ctx.fs().move_path(&stored, &src) {
+        ctx.fs().rename(&aside, &src).with_context(|| {
+            format!(
+                "could not put the link at {} back after failing to restore it",
+                src.display()
+            )
+        })?;
+
+        return Err(e);
+    }
+
+    ctx.fs().remove_file(&aside)?;
+    ctx.fs().prune_empty(stored.parent(), &repo.base);
+
+    report.line("restored", &rel);
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+// what the repository looks like from the store's side
+#[derive(PartialEq)]
+enum Stored {
+    // the symlink is there and points at the store, which is the whole point
+    Linked,
+    // nothing is at the path the store holds it for
+    Missing,
+    // something else took the path, so the stored copy is the one nobody reads
+    Taken,
+}
+
+// the store mirrors the repository layout, so walking it finds every path this
+// repository has put there without asking git anything
+fn stored_paths(repo: &Repo, dir: &Path) -> Result<Vec<(PathBuf, Stored)>> {
+    let mut found = Vec::new();
+
+    let entries = match read_dir(dir) {
+        Ok(entries) => entries,
+        Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => return Ok(found),
+        Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
+    };
+
+    for entry in entries {
+        let stored = entry?.path();
+        let rel = stored.strip_prefix(&repo.store).with_context(|| {
+            format!(
+                "{} is not under the store {}",
+                stored.display(),
+                repo.store.display()
+            )
+        })?;
+        let src = repo.root.join(rel);
+
+        let state = match symlink_metadata_opt(&src)? {
+            None => Stored::Missing,
+            Some(meta) if !meta.is_symlink() => Stored::Taken,
+            Some(_) if read_link(&src).is_ok_and(|dest| dest == stored) => Stored::Linked,
+            Some(_) => Stored::Taken,
+        };
+
+        // a symlink the store happens to hold is a leaf, never a directory to
+        // walk into: is_dir would follow it and list whatever it points at
+        let holds_dir = symlink_metadata_opt(&stored)?.is_some_and(|meta| meta.is_dir());
+
+        // a linked directory is one entry; otherwise the paths inside it are
+        if state == Stored::Linked || !holds_dir {
+            found.push((src, state));
+        } else {
+            found.extend(stored_paths(repo, &stored)?);
+        }
+    }
+
+    found.sort_by(|(a, _), (b, _)| a.cmp(b));
+    Ok(found)
+}
+
+// what the store holds, without the git questions check asks
+pub fn stored_summary(ctx: &Ctx, store: Option<&Path>) -> Result<(PathBuf, usize, usize)> {
+    let repo = Repo::discover(ctx, store)?;
+    let stored = stored_paths(&repo, &repo.store)?;
+
+    let linked = stored
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|(_, state)| *state == Stored::Linked)
+        .count();
+
+    Ok((repo.store, linked, stored.len() - linked))
+}
+
+// list what the store holds for this repository, the inverse of check
+pub fn list(ctx: &Ctx, args: &cli::List) -> Result<()> {
+    let repo = Repo::discover(ctx, args.store.root())?;
+    let stored = stored_paths(&repo, &repo.store)?;
+
+    line!("store: {}", repo.store.display());
+
+    if stored.is_empty() {
+        line!("nothing in the store for this repository");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    for (path, state) in stored {
+        let rel = path.strip_prefix(&repo.root).unwrap_or(&path);
+        let verb = match state {
+            Stored::Linked => "linked",
+            Stored::Missing => "missing",
+            Stored::Taken => "shadowed",
+        };
+
+        entry(verb, rel);
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+// one line of what the store did with a path, in the column width `status`
+// prints too: the two used to set it separately and had to be kept in step
+fn entry(verb: &str, path: &Path) {
+    line!("\t{:<11}{}", format!("{verb}:"), path.display());
+}
+
+struct Report {
+    store: PathBuf,
+    named: Cell<bool>,
+}
+
+impl Report {
+    fn new(repo: &Repo) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            store: repo.store.clone(),
+            named: Cell::new(false),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn line(&self, verb: &str, path: &Path) {
+        // worth naming once per run
+        if !self.named.replace(true) {
+            line!("store: {}", self.store.display());
+        }
+
+        entry(verb, path);
+    }
+}
+
+fn link_one(ctx: &Ctx, repo: &Repo, path: &Path, force: bool, report: &Report) -> Result<()> {
+    let src = resolve(path)?;
+    let rel = repo.relative(&src)?;
+    let target = repo.store.join(&rel);
+
+    // a target inside the repo would be readable from the sandbox anyway. the
+    // base is resolved as well as compared: one symlinked into the checkout
+    // passes a prefix test while landing the file straight back inside it
+    if target.starts_with(&repo.root) || matches!(leads(&repo.base, &repo.root), Leads::Inside) {
+        return Err(anyhow!(
+            "the store at {} is inside the repository {}; point --store or \
+             AHAB_LINK_ROOT somewhere else",
+            repo.base.display(),
+            repo.root.display()
+        ));
+    }
+
+    stays_in_store(repo, &rel)?;
+    // before anything is moved in, so the tree it lands in is never briefly
+    // readable by anyone else
+    ctx.fs().ensure_private_parent(&repo.base, &target)?;
+
+    if tracked(ctx, repo, &rel)? {
+        return Err(anyhow!(
+            "{} is tracked by git; only untracked or ignored paths can be externalized",
+            rel.display()
+        ));
+    }
+    match ignored(ctx, repo, &rel) {
+        Ok(true) => {}
+        Ok(false) => warning!("{} is not gitignored", rel.display()),
+        // saying "not gitignored" here would be an answer git never gave
+        Err(e) => warning!(
+            "could not tell whether {} is gitignored: {e:#}",
+            rel.display()
+        ),
+    }
+
+    let src_meta = symlink_metadata_opt(&src)?;
+    let target_taken = symlink_metadata_opt(&target)?.is_some();
+
+    match src_meta {
+        Some(meta) if meta.is_symlink() => {
+            let dest = read_link(&src)?;
+
+            if dest == target {
+                if !target_taken {
+                    return Err(anyhow!(
+                        "{} already points at {}, but nothing is there",
+                        rel.display(),
+                        target.display()
+                    ));
+                }
+                report.line("unchanged", &rel);
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+
+            // nothing in the store to adopt, so the symlink itself moves out
+            if !target_taken {
+                // moving the link moves the pointer and leaves the contents
+                // where they are, so the store would hold a way back out and
+                // check, seeing a link into the store, would call it clean
+                if let Leads::Outside(end) = leads(&src, &repo.root) {
+                    return Err(anyhow!(
+                        "{} is a symlink to {}, outside the repository; \
+                         externalizing it would move the link and leave its \
+                         contents there, so repoint or remove it instead",
+                        rel.display(),
+                        end.display()
+                    ));
+                }
+
+                if !src.exists() {
+                    warning!(
+                        "{} is a broken symlink to {}",
+                        rel.display(),
+                        dest.display()
+                    );
+                }
+                move_and_link(ctx, &src, &target)?;
+                report.line("moved", &rel);
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+
+            if !force {
+                return Err(needs_force(&target));
+            }
+
+            ctx.fs().place_link(&src, &target)?;
+            report.line("repointed", &rel);
+            Ok(())
+        }
+
+        Some(_) if target_taken => {
+            if !force {
+                return Err(needs_force(&target));
+            }
+
+            let backup = suffixed(&src, BACKUP_SUFFIX);
+            if symlink_metadata_opt(&backup)?.is_some() {
+                return Err(anyhow!(
+                    "{} already exists; remove it before re-linking",
+                    backup.display()
+                ));
+            }
+
+            ctx.fs().rename(&src, &backup)?;
+            report.line("saved", &suffixed(&rel, BACKUP_SUFFIX));
+
+            ctx.fs().place_link(&src, &target)?;
+            report.line("linked", &rel);
+            Ok(())
+        }
+
+        Some(_) => {
+            move_and_link(ctx, &src, &target)?;
+            report.line("moved", &rel);
+            Ok(())
+        }
+
+        None if target_taken => {
+            if !force {
+                return Err(needs_force(&target));
+            }
+            ctx.fs().place_link(&src, &target)?;
+            report.line("linked", &rel);
+            Ok(())
+        }
+
+        None => Err(anyhow!(
+            "{} does not exist and the store has no {}",
+            rel.display(),
+            target.display()
+        )),
+    }
+}
+
+// the two halves have to end up looking like one step: with the payload moved
+// but no link placed, the store holds a path nothing points at and the working
+// tree has lost it altogether, which is the one outcome worse than failing
+fn move_and_link(ctx: &Ctx, src: &Path, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    ctx.fs().move_path(src, target)?;
+
+    if let Err(e) = ctx.fs().place_link(src, target) {
+        ctx.fs().move_path(target, src).with_context(|| {
+            format!(
+                "could not put {} back after failing to link it to {}",
+                src.display(),
+                target.display()
+            )
+        })?;
+
+        return Err(e);
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+// creating the store directories follows any symlink already standing in them,
+// so a store that holds one would take the move somewhere else entirely; only
+// the components at or below the store are examined, since everything above it
+// is outside by definition
+fn stays_in_store(repo: &Repo, rel: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    let mut path = repo.store.clone();
+
+    for part in rel.components() {
+        path.push(part);
+
+        match symlink_metadata_opt(&path)? {
+            // nothing here yet, so nothing below it can be followed either
+            None => return Ok(()),
+            Some(meta) if meta.is_symlink() => {
+                if let Leads::Outside(end) = leads(&path, &repo.store) {
+                    return Err(anyhow!(
+                        "the store holds {} as a symlink to {}, outside the store; \
+                         refusing to write through it",
+                        path.display(),
+                        end.display()
+                    ));
+                }
+            }
+            Some(_) => {}
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn needs_force(target: &Path) -> anyhow::Error {
+    anyhow!(
+        "{} already exists; pass --force to link to it",
+        target.display()
+    )
+}
--- a/src/commands/link/check.rs
+++ b/src/commands/link/check.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,316 @@
+use fs_err::{read_dir, read_link};
+use std::ffi::OsString;
+use std::os::unix::ffi::{OsStrExt, OsStringExt};
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+
+use anyhow::{Result, anyhow};
+
+use super::store::{Leads, Repo, leads, resolve, symlink_metadata_opt};
+use crate::cli::link as cli;
+use crate::cmd::{Cmd, LsFiles};
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::output::{line, text, write_bytes};
+
+// whether anything is outside the store, which main turns into an exit code
+pub fn check(ctx: &Ctx, args: &cli::Check) -> Result<bool> {
+    let repo = Repo::discover(ctx, args.store.root())?;
+    let pathspecs = relative_pathspecs(&repo, &args.paths)?;
+
+    let mut exposed = Vec::new();
+    // git lists untracked and ignored separately
+    for (mark, ignored) in [(UNTRACKED, false), (IGNORED, true)] {
+        for entry in list_others(ctx, &repo, ignored, &pathspecs)? {
+            // --directory collapses a wholly untracked dir into `dir/`
+            match entry.strip_suffix(b"/") {
+                Some(dir) => exposed.extend(walk(&repo, &path_from(dir), mark)?.1),
+                None => exposed.extend(classify(&repo, &path_from(&entry), mark)?),
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // and says nothing about tracked paths, where a symlink out still counts
+    for entry in list_tracked(ctx, &repo, &pathspecs)? {
+        exposed.extend(classify_tracked(&repo, &path_from(&entry))?);
+    }
+
+    exposed.sort_by(|a, b| a.name.cmp(&b.name));
+
+    if args.porcelain || args.null {
+        print_porcelain(&exposed, args.null);
+    } else {
+        print_listing(&repo, &exposed);
+    }
+
+    Ok(!exposed.is_empty())
+}
+
+fn print_porcelain(exposed: &[Exposed], null: bool) {
+    // -z is the format for scripts that must survive any filename, so its
+    // records are written as the bytes a path actually is. a filename can hold
+    // an arrow but not a NUL, as `git status -z` also assumes
+    if null {
+        for item in exposed {
+            let mut record = item.code().into_bytes();
+            record.push(b' ');
+            record.extend_from_slice(item.name.as_os_str().as_bytes());
+
+            if let Some(dest) = &item.dest {
+                record.push(0);
+                record.extend_from_slice(dest.as_os_str().as_bytes());
+            }
+
+            record.push(0);
+            write_bytes(&record);
+        }
+
+        return;
+    }
+
+    for item in exposed {
+        match &item.dest {
+            Some(dest) => text!(
+                "{} {} -> {}\n",
+                item.code(),
+                item.name.display(),
+                dest.display()
+            ),
+            None => text!("{} {}\n", item.code(), item.name.display()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn print_listing(repo: &Repo, exposed: &[Exposed]) {
+    line!("store: {}", repo.store.display());
+
+    if exposed.is_empty() {
+        line!("nothing outside the store, a sandbox would see tracked files only");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let sections = [
+        (
+            "Untracked paths a sandbox can read:",
+            "  (use \"ahab link add <path>...\" to move them into the store)",
+            Section::Content(UNTRACKED),
+        ),
+        (
+            "Ignored paths a sandbox can read:",
+            "  (use \"ahab link add <path>...\" to move them into the store)",
+            Section::Content(IGNORED),
+        ),
+        (
+            "Symlinks leading outside the store:",
+            "  (their contents are not in the repository either way)",
+            Section::Elsewhere,
+        ),
+    ];
+
+    for (heading, hint, section) in sections {
+        let mut items = exposed.iter().filter(|item| section.holds(item)).peekable();
+        if items.peek().is_none() {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        line!("\n{heading}\n{hint}");
+        for item in items {
+            match &item.dest {
+                Some(dest) => line!("\t{} -> {}", item.name.display(), dest.display()),
+                None => line!("\t{}", item.name.display()),
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+enum Section {
+    Content(char),
+    Elsewhere,
+}
+
+impl Section {
+    fn holds(&self, item: &Exposed) -> bool {
+        match self {
+            Self::Content(mark) => item.dest.is_none() && item.mark == *mark,
+            Self::Elsewhere => item.dest.is_some(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// status codes as `git status --porcelain` spells them
+const UNTRACKED: char = '?';
+const IGNORED: char = '!';
+const ELSEWHERE: char = '>';
+// no git equivalent: a tracked path, which only ever appears as a symlink out
+const TRACKED: char = 'T';
+
+struct Exposed {
+    mark: char,
+    name: PathBuf,
+    dest: Option<PathBuf>,
+}
+
+impl Exposed {
+    fn content(mark: char, name: PathBuf) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            mark,
+            name,
+            dest: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn code(&self) -> String {
+        let second = if self.dest.is_some() {
+            ELSEWHERE
+        } else {
+            self.mark
+        };
+        format!("{}{second}", self.mark)
+    }
+}
+
+fn classify(repo: &Repo, rel: &Path, mark: char) -> Result<Option<Exposed>> {
+    let src = repo.root.join(rel);
+    let name = rel.to_path_buf();
+
+    let Some(meta) = symlink_metadata_opt(&src)? else {
+        return Ok(None);
+    };
+    if !meta.is_symlink() {
+        return Ok(Some(Exposed::content(mark, name)));
+    }
+
+    let dest = read_link(&src)?;
+    if dest == repo.store.join(rel) {
+        // it names the store, but what the store holds there can be a symlink of
+        // its own leading straight back out, which is not being held at all
+        return Ok(match leads(&src, &repo.store) {
+            Leads::Inside | Leads::Dangling => None,
+            Leads::Outside(end) => Some(Exposed {
+                mark,
+                name,
+                dest: Some(end),
+            }),
+        });
+    }
+
+    Ok(Some(Exposed {
+        mark,
+        name,
+        dest: Some(dest),
+    }))
+}
+
+// git tracks symlinks, so one can lead out of the repository without ever
+// showing up in an untracked or ignored listing; `add` cannot externalize it
+// either, so all check can do is say it is there
+fn classify_tracked(repo: &Repo, rel: &Path) -> Result<Option<Exposed>> {
+    let src = repo.root.join(rel);
+
+    let Some(meta) = symlink_metadata_opt(&src)? else {
+        return Ok(None);
+    };
+    if !meta.is_symlink() {
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
+
+    Ok(match leads(&src, &repo.root) {
+        Leads::Inside | Leads::Dangling => None,
+        Leads::Outside(end) => Some(Exposed {
+            mark: TRACKED,
+            name: rel.to_path_buf(),
+            dest: Some(end),
+        }),
+    })
+}
+
+fn walk(repo: &Repo, rel: &Path, mark: char) -> Result<(usize, Vec<Exposed>)> {
+    let dir = repo.root.join(rel);
+    let mut handled = 0;
+    let mut exposed = Vec::new();
+
+    for entry in read_dir(&dir)? {
+        let entry = entry?;
+        let child = rel.join(entry.file_name());
+
+        if entry.file_type()?.is_dir() {
+            let (below, inside) = walk(repo, &child, mark)?;
+            handled += below;
+            exposed.extend(inside);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        match classify(repo, &child, mark)? {
+            Some(item) => exposed.push(item),
+            None => handled += 1,
+        }
+    }
+
+    // nothing below is in the store, so collapse to one line -- unless some of
+    // it leads out of the repository, which is a different thing to report and
+    // carries a destination the one line would drop
+    let all_content = exposed.iter().all(|item| item.dest.is_none());
+
+    if handled == 0 && !exposed.is_empty() && all_content {
+        let mut name = rel.as_os_str().to_owned();
+        name.push("/");
+
+        return Ok((0, vec![Exposed::content(mark, PathBuf::from(name))]));
+    }
+
+    Ok((handled, exposed))
+}
+
+fn relative_pathspecs(repo: &Repo, paths: &[PathBuf]) -> Result<Vec<PathBuf>> {
+    let mut specs = Vec::with_capacity(paths.len());
+
+    for path in paths {
+        let abs = resolve(path)?;
+        let rel = abs.strip_prefix(&repo.root).map_err(|_| {
+            anyhow!(
+                "{} is outside the repository {}",
+                abs.display(),
+                repo.root.display()
+            )
+        })?;
+
+        if rel.as_os_str().is_empty() {
+            return Ok(Vec::new());
+        }
+        specs.push(rel.to_path_buf());
+    }
+
+    Ok(specs)
+}
+
+fn list_others(
+    ctx: &Ctx,
+    repo: &Repo,
+    ignored: bool,
+    pathspecs: &[PathBuf],
+) -> Result<Vec<Vec<u8>>> {
+    let mut listing = LsFiles::untracked(&repo.root).limited_to(pathspecs);
+    if ignored {
+        listing = listing.ignored();
+    }
+
+    Ok(split_nul(&listing.capture_bytes(ctx)?))
+}
+
+fn list_tracked(ctx: &Ctx, repo: &Repo, pathspecs: &[PathBuf]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<u8>>> {
+    let listing = LsFiles::tracked(&repo.root).limited_to(pathspecs);
+
+    Ok(split_nul(&listing.capture_bytes(ctx)?))
+}
+
+// every listing check reads is asked for with -z, and kept as the bytes git
+// wrote: a path is not obliged to be utf-8, and one that is not used to fail
+// the whole listing rather than the one entry
+fn split_nul(out: &[u8]) -> Vec<Vec<u8>> {
+    out.split(|byte| *byte == 0)
+        .filter(|record| !record.is_empty())
+        .map(<[u8]>::to_vec)
+        .collect()
+}
+
+fn path_from(bytes: &[u8]) -> PathBuf {
+    PathBuf::from(OsString::from_vec(bytes.to_vec()))
+}
--- a/src/commands/link/store.rs
+++ b/src/commands/link/store.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,429 @@
+use fs_err as fs;
+use std::env;
+use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
+use std::os::unix::ffi::{OsStrExt, OsStringExt};
+use std::path::{Component, Path, PathBuf};
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow};
+
+use crate::cmd::{CheckIgnore, Cmd, ConfigGet, LsFiles, RevParse};
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::output::note;
+
+// a checkout with no remote to name it after
+const LOCAL_NAMESPACE: &str = "_local";
+
+pub(super) struct Repo {
+    pub(super) root: PathBuf,
+    pub(super) store: PathBuf,
+    // the configured store root, above the per-repository directories
+    pub(super) base: PathBuf,
+}
+
+impl Repo {
+    pub(super) fn discover(ctx: &Ctx, store: Option<&Path>) -> Result<Self> {
+        let root = git_root(ctx)?;
+        let base = normalized(match store {
+            Some(store) => store.to_path_buf(),
+            None => store_root()?,
+        })?;
+
+        Ok(Self {
+            store: base.join(repo_components(ctx, &root)?),
+            root,
+            base,
+        })
+    }
+    pub(super) fn relative(&self, src: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+        let rel = src.strip_prefix(&self.root).map_err(|_| {
+            anyhow!(
+                "{} is outside the repository {}",
+                src.display(),
+                self.root.display()
+            )
+        })?;
+
+        // empty means the whole repo
+        if rel.as_os_str().is_empty() {
+            return Err(anyhow!(
+                "refusing to externalize the repository root itself"
+            ));
+        }
+        if rel.starts_with(".git") {
+            return Err(anyhow!("refusing to externalize anything under .git"));
+        }
+
+        Ok(rel.to_path_buf())
+    }
+}
+
+pub(super) fn resolve(path: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    let abs = std::path::absolute(path)
+        .with_context(|| format!("resolving absolute path of {}", path.display()))?;
+
+    // the parent must exist so symlinked components resolve like git's toplevel
+    let Some(name) = abs.file_name().map(OsString::from) else {
+        return Ok(fs::canonicalize(&abs)?);
+    };
+    let parent = fs::canonicalize(abs.parent().unwrap_or(Path::new("/")))?;
+    Ok(parent.join(name))
+}
+
+// absolute, with `.` and `..` folded out. the store path is written into every
+// symlink `add` creates, where a relative one would resolve from the link's own
+// directory rather than the working one, and it is compared against the
+// repository root, which a `..` would slip past
+fn normalized(path: PathBuf) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    let absolute = std::path::absolute(&path)
+        .with_context(|| format!("resolving absolute path of {}", path.display()))?;
+
+    let mut out = PathBuf::new();
+    for part in absolute.components() {
+        match part {
+            Component::CurDir => {}
+            Component::ParentDir => {
+                out.pop();
+            }
+            part => out.push(part),
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(out)
+}
+
+fn git_root(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    // bytes, since the checkout can live at a path that is not utf-8, and with
+    // the cause kept: git not being installed and the directory not being a
+    // repository are different problems with the same one-line answer otherwise
+    let root = RevParse
+        .capture_bytes(ctx)
+        .context("asking git for the repository root")?;
+
+    let root = root.strip_suffix(b"\n").unwrap_or(&root);
+    if root.is_empty() {
+        return Err(anyhow!("git reported an empty repository root"));
+    }
+
+    Ok(fs::canonicalize(PathBuf::from(OsString::from_vec(
+        root.to_vec(),
+    )))?)
+}
+
+fn repo_components(ctx: &Ctx, root: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    if let Some(url) = git_origin_url(ctx) {
+        if let Some(components) = components_from_remote(&url) {
+            return Ok(components);
+        }
+        note!(
+            ctx,
+            "could not parse git remote `{url}`, falling back to the checkout name"
+        );
+    }
+
+    let name = root
+        .file_name()
+        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("cannot derive a store path for {}", root.display()))?;
+    Ok(Path::new(LOCAL_NAMESPACE).join(sanitize_name(name)))
+}
+
+fn git_origin_url(ctx: &Ctx) -> Option<String> {
+    let url = ConfigGet {
+        key: "remote.origin.url",
+    }
+    .capture(ctx)
+    .ok()?;
+
+    let url = url.trim().to_string();
+    (!url.is_empty()).then_some(url)
+}
+
+fn components_from_remote(url: &str) -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    let url = url.trim();
+    let url = url.strip_suffix(".git").unwrap_or(url);
+
+    // `scheme://[user@]host[:port]/path`, or scp-like `[user@]host:path`
+    let (authority, path) = match url.split_once("://") {
+        Some((_, after)) => after.split_once('/')?,
+        None => url.split_once(':')?,
+    };
+
+    let host = authority.rsplit_once('@').map_or(authority, |(_, h)| h);
+    let host = host.split_once(':').map_or(host, |(h, _)| h);
+    // a local remote has no host to key on
+    if host.is_empty() {
+        return None;
+    }
+
+    let mut components = PathBuf::from(sanitize(&host.to_lowercase()));
+    let mut depth = 0;
+    for part in path.split('/').filter(|p| !p.is_empty()) {
+        components.push(sanitize(part));
+        depth += 1;
+    }
+    (depth > 0).then_some(components)
+}
+
+fn cleaned(s: &str) -> String {
+    let out: String = s
+        .chars()
+        .map(|c| {
+            if c.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || matches!(c, '-' | '.' | '_') {
+                c
+            } else {
+                '_'
+            }
+        })
+        .collect();
+
+    // `.` and `..` are legal characters but not legal components
+    match out.chars().all(|c| c == '.') {
+        true => "_".repeat(out.len()),
+        false => out,
+    }
+}
+
+fn sanitize(s: &str) -> String {
+    let out = cleaned(s);
+
+    // every replaced character maps to the same `_`, so `my~api` and `my:api`
+    // would otherwise share one directory with the plain `my_api`. a component
+    // that came through untouched keeps its name, so the common remote keeps
+    // the store path it already has
+    match out == s {
+        true => out,
+        false => format!("{out}-{}", fingerprint(s.as_bytes())),
+    }
+}
+
+// a checkout name is bytes like any other path. a lossy rendering turns every
+// byte it cannot read into the same replacement character, so sanitize would
+// see two different names as one and fingerprint them identically: the bytes
+// themselves are what has to be fingerprinted
+fn sanitize_name(name: &OsStr) -> String {
+    match name.to_str() {
+        Some(text) => sanitize(text),
+        None => format!(
+            "{}-{}",
+            cleaned(&name.to_string_lossy()),
+            fingerprint(name.as_bytes())
+        ),
+    }
+}
+
+// fnv-1a: the store path has to stay put across rust releases, which the hashers
+// in std explicitly do not promise
+fn fingerprint(bytes: &[u8]) -> String {
+    let mut hash: u64 = 0xcbf2_9ce4_8422_2325;
+
+    for byte in bytes {
+        hash ^= u64::from(*byte);
+        hash = hash.wrapping_mul(0x100_0000_01b3);
+    }
+
+    format!("{:08x}", hash as u32)
+}
+
+fn store_root() -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    if let Some(xdg) = non_empty_var("XDG_DATA_HOME") {
+        return Ok(PathBuf::from(xdg).join("ahab"));
+    }
+
+    let home = non_empty_var("HOME")
+        .filter(|v| !v.is_empty())
+        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("neither XDG_DATA_HOME nor HOME is set"))?;
+
+    Ok(PathBuf::from(home).join(".local/share/ahab"))
+}
+fn non_empty_var(name: &str) -> Option<OsString> {
+    env::var_os(name).filter(|v| !v.is_empty())
+}
+
+pub(super) fn tracked(ctx: &Ctx, repo: &Repo, rel: &Path) -> Result<bool> {
+    // bytes: the listing echoes back the path asked about, which is not obliged
+    // to be utf-8, and failing to read it would refuse the path for the wrong
+    // reason rather than answering whether git tracks it
+    let listed = LsFiles::tracked(&repo.root)
+        .limited_to(&[rel])
+        .capture_bytes(ctx)?;
+
+    Ok(!listed.is_empty())
+}
+
+// check-ignore says 0 for ignored and 1 for not; anything else means it could
+// not answer at all, which is not the same as "not ignored". git cannot even be
+// asked about a path whose name looks like pathspec magic, since it rejects the
+// magic rather than the name, and `:(literal)` is not accepted by this command
+pub(super) fn ignored(ctx: &Ctx, repo: &Repo, rel: &Path) -> Result<bool> {
+    let status = CheckIgnore::new(&repo.root, rel).probe_status(ctx)?;
+
+    match status.code() {
+        Some(0) => Ok(true),
+        Some(1) => Ok(false),
+        _ => Err(anyhow!("`git check-ignore` exited with {status}")),
+    }
+}
+
+pub(super) fn symlink_metadata_opt(path: &Path) -> Result<Option<std::fs::Metadata>> {
+    // symlink_metadata does not follow the link, so a symlink shows as one
+    match fs::symlink_metadata(path) {
+        Ok(meta) => Ok(Some(meta)),
+        Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => Ok(None),
+        Err(e) => Err(e.into()),
+    }
+}
+
+// where a chain of symlinks actually ends up
+pub(super) enum Leads {
+    // somewhere under the directory it was supposed to stay in
+    Inside,
+    // out of it, at this path
+    Outside(PathBuf),
+    // nowhere: a broken link, or too many hops for the kernel to follow
+    Dangling,
+}
+
+// comparing a link's target against an expected path only says what it claims;
+// this says where following it really arrives, which is what decides whether a
+// path is held by the store or merely points at something that is not
+pub(super) fn leads(path: &Path, root: &Path) -> Leads {
+    let Ok(end) = fs::canonicalize(path) else {
+        return Leads::Dangling;
+    };
+
+    // the root can be reached through a symlink of its own, so resolve it too
+    // rather than comparing a resolved path against an unresolved prefix
+    let root = fs::canonicalize(root).unwrap_or_else(|_| root.to_path_buf());
+
+    match end.starts_with(&root) {
+        true => Leads::Inside,
+        false => Leads::Outside(end),
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{components_from_remote, fingerprint, normalized, sanitize, sanitize_name};
+    use std::collections::HashSet;
+    use std::ffi::OsStr;
+    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+    use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parses_every_spelling_of_a_remote() {
+        let cases = [
+            (
+                "git@git.aflabs.org:urnik/afurnik.git",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik",
+            ),
+            (
+                "https://git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik.git",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik",
+            ),
+            (
+                "https://git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik",
+            ),
+            (
+                "https://git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik/",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik",
+            ),
+            (
+                "ssh://git@git.aflabs.org:22/urnik/afurnik.git",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/afurnik",
+            ),
+            (
+                "git@GIT.Aflabs.org:urnik/AFurnik.git",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/AFurnik",
+            ),
+            (
+                "git@git.aflabs.org:urnik/internal/afurnik.git",
+                "git.aflabs.org/urnik/internal/afurnik",
+            ),
+        ];
+
+        for (url, want) in cases {
+            assert_eq!(
+                components_from_remote(url),
+                Some(PathBuf::from(want)),
+                "url: {url}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn rejects_remotes_without_a_host() {
+        assert_eq!(components_from_remote("not-a-url"), None);
+        assert_eq!(components_from_remote("/srv/git/afurnik.git"), None);
+        assert_eq!(components_from_remote("file:///srv/git/afurnik.git"), None);
+        assert_eq!(components_from_remote("https://git.aflabs.org/"), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sanitize_never_yields_a_traversal() {
+        for name in ["..", ".", "a/b", "../..", "a/../b"] {
+            let out = sanitize(name);
+
+            assert!(!out.contains('/'), "{name} -> {out}");
+            assert!(out != "." && out != "..", "{name} -> {out}");
+        }
+
+        // a name that needed no replacing keeps the store path it already has
+        assert_eq!(sanitize(".env"), ".env");
+        assert_eq!(sanitize("afurnik"), "afurnik");
+        assert_eq!(sanitize("git.aflabs.org"), "git.aflabs.org");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sanitize_keeps_names_apart_that_replacing_would_collapse() {
+        // every disallowed character maps to `_`, so without the fingerprint
+        // these would all share one store directory with a plain `my_api`
+        let names = ["my~api", "my:api", "my api", "my/api", "my%api"];
+
+        for name in names {
+            assert_ne!(sanitize(name), sanitize("my_api"), "name: {name}");
+        }
+
+        let distinct: HashSet<String> = names.iter().map(|name| sanitize(name)).collect();
+        assert_eq!(distinct.len(), names.len(), "{distinct:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_fingerprint_does_not_drift_with_the_toolchain() {
+        // std's hashers make no such promise, and a moved store loses the files
+        assert_eq!(fingerprint(b""), "84222325");
+        assert_eq!(fingerprint(b"my~api"), fingerprint(b"my~api"));
+        assert_ne!(fingerprint(b"my~api"), fingerprint(b"my:api"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_checkout_name_that_is_not_utf_8_keeps_its_own_directory() {
+        // both render to the same replacement character, so a fingerprint taken
+        // of the rendering rather than the bytes cannot tell them apart
+        let one = OsStr::from_bytes(b"proj\xe9");
+        let two = OsStr::from_bytes(b"proj\xff");
+
+        assert_ne!(sanitize_name(one), sanitize_name(two));
+        // and a name that is utf-8 is keyed exactly as before
+        assert_eq!(sanitize_name(OsStr::new("afurnik")), "afurnik");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_store_root_is_absolute_with_the_dots_folded_out() {
+        // it is written into every symlink add creates, and compared against the
+        // repository root, so it needs exactly one spelling
+        let cases = [
+            ("/a/b/../c", "/a/c"),
+            ("/a/./b", "/a/b"),
+            ("/a/b/../../c", "/c"),
+            ("/../..", "/"),
+        ];
+
+        for (from, want) in cases {
+            assert_eq!(
+                normalized(PathBuf::from(from)).unwrap(),
+                PathBuf::from(want),
+                "from: {from}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
--- a/src/commands/mod.rs
+++ b/src/commands/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+pub mod completions;
+pub mod django;
+pub mod link;
+pub mod postgres;
+pub mod status;
--- a/src/commands/postgres.rs
+++ b/src/commands/postgres.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,410 @@
+mod server;
+mod shape;
+
+use std::io::{self, IsTerminal, Write};
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::process::Stdio;
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
+
+use self::server::{Database, wait_until_ready, when_ready};
+use self::shape::{Dump, HEADER_LEN, Kind};
+use crate::cli::Format;
+use crate::cli::postgres as cli;
+use crate::cmd::{
+    Cmd, Cp, CreateDb, DropDb, Gunzip, Gzip, Head, PgDump, PgDumpAll, PgRestore, Psql, Rm,
+};
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::fsops::{create_private_new, suffixed};
+use crate::output::{note, plural, warning};
+
+// unique per run: docker cp will not copy a directory over an existing path, and
+// quietly leaves whatever was there for pg_restore to read instead
+fn remote_dump() -> String {
+    // the container's /tmp is shared with whatever else runs in it, and a name
+    // that can be worked out in advance is one a symlink can be planted at
+    let spun = std::time::SystemTime::now()
+        .duration_since(std::time::UNIX_EPOCH)
+        .map_or(0, |since| since.subsec_nanos());
+
+    format!("/tmp/ahab-dump-{}-{spun:09}", std::process::id())
+}
+
+// beside the target but unique to this run: a fixed name is a path a second
+// dump would share, and one a symlink can be planted at ahead of time
+fn partial_path(file: &Path) -> PathBuf {
+    suffixed(file, &format!(".{}.partial", std::process::id()))
+}
+
+// the database was dropped before the restore was attempted, so a restore that
+// failed leaves nothing behind: said the same way wherever it happens, since
+// what the user has to do about it does not depend on which tool it was
+fn left_empty(tool: &str) -> anyhow::Error {
+    anyhow::anyhow!("{tool} failed, the database is left empty")
+}
+
+// pg_dumpall recreates roles the cluster already has, so this is the expected
+// complaint rather than a failure
+fn is_existing_role_error(line: &str) -> bool {
+    line.starts_with("ERROR:") && line.contains("role \"") && line.ends_with("already exists")
+}
+
+fn restore_cluster(ctx: &Ctx, db: &Database, restore: &dyn Cmd, file: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    let out = restore
+        .in_container(&db.container)
+        .interactive()
+        .stdin_from_captured(ctx, file)
+        .context("running psql")?;
+
+    io::stdout().write_all(&out.stdout).ok();
+
+    let mut existing = 0;
+    let mut failed = 0;
+
+    for line in String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr).lines() {
+        if is_existing_role_error(line) {
+            existing += 1;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // this psql runs without ON_ERROR_STOP, so it exits 0 whatever the sql
+        // did: these lines are the only account of what happened, which makes
+        // them the result rather than progress, and --quiet has to keep them
+        if line.starts_with("ERROR:") {
+            failed += 1;
+            warning!("{line}");
+        } else {
+            note!(ctx, "{line}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    if existing > 0 {
+        note!(
+            ctx,
+            "left {existing} existing role{} alone",
+            plural(existing)
+        );
+    }
+
+    if !out.status.success() {
+        return Err(left_empty("psql"));
+    }
+    if failed > 0 {
+        bail!(
+            "psql reported {failed} error{}, so the cluster restored only in part",
+            plural(failed)
+        );
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+// which shape is inside the compression, read through the container's own gunzip
+// rather than assuming the host has one. this only reads, so it is a probe and
+// runs even in a dry run, where the answer decides what the plan says
+fn gzip_kind(ctx: &Ctx, db: &Database, file: &Path) -> Result<Kind> {
+    wait_until_ready(ctx, db)?;
+
+    let out = Gunzip
+        .pipe(&Head::bytes(HEADER_LEN))?
+        // head closes the pipe once it has its bytes, which kills gunzip
+        .allow_early_close()
+        .in_container(&db.container)
+        .interactive()
+        .probe_with_stdin(ctx, file)
+        .context("reading the compressed dump's header")?;
+
+    // head exits 0 whatever gunzip did, so an empty header is the only
+    // sign that decompression failed
+    if !out.status.success() || out.stdout.is_empty() {
+        let reason = String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr);
+        let reason = reason.trim();
+
+        bail!(
+            "could not decompress {}: {}",
+            file.display(),
+            if reason.is_empty() {
+                "no data came out"
+            } else {
+                reason
+            }
+        );
+    }
+
+    Ok(Kind::of(&out.stdout))
+}
+
+pub fn import(ctx: &Ctx, file: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    let dump = Dump::of(file)?;
+    let db = Database::resolve(ctx)?;
+
+    if matches!(dump, Dump::Directory) {
+        local_path_for_docker(file)?;
+    }
+
+    note!(ctx, "stopping all containers");
+    ctx.compose().stop().run(ctx)?;
+
+    // everything from here runs with the project down, so an error leaves it
+    // that way and the user has no reason to guess as much
+    imported(ctx, &db, &dump, file)
+        .map_err(|e| e.context("the project is left stopped, `docker compose up` starts it again"))
+}
+
+// docker cp reads `container:path`, splitting on the first colon, so a local
+// path holding one is read as a container name and something else entirely
+fn local_path_for_docker(file: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    match file.to_string_lossy().contains(':') {
+        true => bail!(
+            "{} has a colon in it, which docker cp reads as a container name; \
+             rename it to copy it in or out",
+            file.display()
+        ),
+        false => Ok(()),
+    }
+}
+
+fn imported(ctx: &Ctx, db: &Database, dump: &Dump, file: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    note!(ctx, "starting db container");
+    ctx.compose().start(&db.service).run(ctx)?;
+
+    let remote = remote_dump();
+
+    // a directory cannot be streamed, so it is the one shape that gets copied in
+    if matches!(dump, Dump::Directory) {
+        when_ready(ctx, db, &Cp::into_container(file, &db.container, &remote))?;
+    }
+
+    let kind = match &dump {
+        Dump::Directory => Kind::Archive,
+        Dump::Header(header) => Kind::of(header),
+        Dump::Gzip => match gzip_kind(ctx, db, file) {
+            Ok(kind) => kind,
+            // looking inside needs a container to decompress with, and a dry run
+            // is worth printing with the project down, which is when it is most
+            // likely to be asked for
+            Err(e) if ctx.dry_run => {
+                note!(ctx, "planning for a single database dump: {e:#}");
+                Kind::Sql
+            }
+            Err(e) => return Err(e),
+        },
+    };
+
+    let restore = db.restore_with(kind);
+    // the name of what actually runs, so the message cannot drift from it
+    let tool = restore.argv().program().to_string();
+    note!(ctx, "restoring database with {tool}");
+
+    when_ready(
+        ctx,
+        db,
+        &DropDb {
+            username: &db.user,
+            dbname: &db.name,
+        }
+        .in_container(&db.container),
+    )?;
+
+    // a cluster dump creates the database itself, and would trip over one that
+    // is already there
+    if kind != Kind::Cluster {
+        when_ready(
+            ctx,
+            db,
+            &CreateDb {
+                username: &db.user,
+                dbname: &db.name,
+            }
+            .in_container(&db.container),
+        )?;
+    }
+
+    wait_until_ready(ctx, db)?;
+    let restored = restore_dump(ctx, db, dump, kind, file, &remote, &tool, restore);
+
+    // the copy inside the container holds the whole database, and its /tmp
+    // outlives the command: it goes whether or not the restore worked, which is
+    // exactly when it used to be left behind
+    if matches!(dump, Dump::Directory) {
+        let _ = Rm::recursive(&remote).in_container(&db.container).run(ctx);
+    }
+    restored?;
+
+    note!(ctx, "restarting containers");
+    ctx.compose().stop().run(ctx)?;
+    ctx.compose().up().run(ctx)?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+fn restore_dump(
+    ctx: &Ctx,
+    db: &Database,
+    dump: &Dump,
+    kind: Kind,
+    file: &Path,
+    remote: &str,
+    tool: &str,
+    restore: Box<dyn Cmd + '_>,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    if ctx.dry_run {
+        note!(ctx, "would restore with {tool}");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    // a directory dump was copied in whole, so pg_restore reads it from the
+    // container; every other shape is fed in on stdin, through gunzip when it
+    // arrives compressed
+    if matches!(dump, Dump::Directory) {
+        let status = PgRestore::new(&db.user, &db.name)
+            .from(remote)
+            .in_container(&db.container)
+            .status(ctx)?;
+
+        if !status.success() {
+            return Err(left_empty(tool));
+        }
+
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    let restore: Box<dyn Cmd> = match dump {
+        Dump::Gzip => Box::new(Gunzip.pipe(&*restore)?),
+        _ => restore,
+    };
+
+    if kind == Kind::Cluster {
+        // psql's output is read rather than streamed here, to keep the
+        // expected role errors out of the way
+        return restore_cluster(ctx, db, &*restore, file);
+    }
+
+    let status = restore
+        .in_container(&db.container)
+        .interactive()
+        .stdin_from(ctx, file)?;
+
+    if !status.success() {
+        return Err(left_empty(tool));
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+pub fn psql(ctx: &Ctx, rest: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+    let db = Database::resolve(ctx)?;
+
+    // a terminal only if this one has one, so `psql -c ... | cat` still works
+    Psql::new(&db.user, &db.name)
+        .args(rest)
+        .in_container(&db.container)
+        .interactive()
+        .tty(io::stdin().is_terminal())
+        .replace(ctx)
+}
+
+pub fn dump(ctx: &Ctx, args: &cli::Dump) -> Result<()> {
+    let (file, format, gzip) = (args.path.as_path(), args.format, args.gzip);
+    let db = Database::resolve(ctx)?;
+
+    if format == Format::Directory {
+        // main says this as an argument error before getting here; kept as the
+        // last word in case anything else ever calls dump
+        if gzip {
+            bail!("a directory dump is a directory of already compressed files, not a stream");
+        }
+
+        return dump_directory(ctx, &db, file);
+    }
+
+    note!(ctx, "dumping to local file {}", file.to_string_lossy());
+
+    // written beside the target and renamed once the dump succeeds, so a failure
+    // cannot destroy the dump that is already there
+    let partial = partial_path(file);
+    // a dry run produces no dump, so it must not lay a hand on the target either
+    let stdout = if ctx.dry_run {
+        Stdio::null()
+    } else {
+        Stdio::from(create_private_new(&partial)?)
+    };
+
+    let dumping = dump_command(&db, format);
+
+    let dumped = if gzip {
+        dumping
+            .pipe(&Gzip)?
+            .in_container(&db.container)
+            .stream_to(ctx, stdout)
+    } else {
+        dumping.in_container(&db.container).stream_to(ctx, stdout)
+    };
+
+    if let Err(e) = dumped {
+        let _ = ctx.fs().remove_file(&partial);
+        return Err(e);
+    }
+
+    ctx.fs().rename(&partial, file)?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+// pg_dump for one database, pg_dumpall for a cluster, which has no format letter
+fn dump_command(db: &Database, format: Format) -> Box<dyn Cmd + '_> {
+    match PgDump::of(&db.user, &db.name, format) {
+        Some(dump) => Box::new(dump),
+        None => Box::new(PgDumpAll { username: &db.user }),
+    }
+}
+
+// pg_dump writes a directory format dump itself rather than to stdout, so it lands
+// in the container and comes back with docker cp
+fn dump_directory(ctx: &Ctx, db: &Database, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    // symlink_metadata rather than exists(), which follows the link and so is
+    // false for a dangling one: docker cp would then write through it
+    if std::fs::symlink_metadata(target).is_ok() {
+        bail!(
+            "{} already exists; a directory dump will not be written over it",
+            target.display()
+        );
+    }
+
+    note!(ctx, "dumping to local directory {}", target.display());
+    let remote = remote_dump();
+
+    PgDump::of(&db.user, &db.name, Format::Directory)
+        .expect("a directory dump has a pg_dump letter")
+        .to(&remote)
+        .in_container(&db.container)
+        .run(ctx)?;
+
+    let copied = Cp::out_of_container(&db.container, &remote, target).run(ctx);
+
+    let _ = Rm::recursive(&remote).in_container(&db.container).run(ctx);
+
+    copied
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::is_existing_role_error;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn only_the_existing_role_complaint_is_expected() {
+        assert!(is_existing_role_error(
+            r#"ERROR:  role "postgres" already exists"#
+        ));
+
+        for line in [
+            r#"ERROR:  relation "things" already exists"#,
+            r#"ERROR:  database "db" already exists"#,
+            "ERROR:  syntax error at or near \"slect\"",
+            "NOTICE:  role \"postgres\" already exists",
+        ] {
+            assert!(!is_existing_role_error(line), "{line}");
+        }
+    }
+}
--- a/src/commands/postgres/server.rs
+++ b/src/commands/postgres/server.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+use std::thread;
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
+
+use anyhow::{Result, bail};
+
+use super::shape::Kind;
+use crate::cmd::{Cmd, PgIsReady, PgRestore, Psql};
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::project::Project;
+
+const READY_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(60);
+const POLL_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_secs(1);
+// stands in for an id a dry run has no running container to look up
+const PLANNED_CONTAINER: &str = "<db container>";
+
+pub(super) struct Database {
+    pub(super) service: String,
+    pub(super) container: String,
+    pub(super) user: String,
+    pub(super) name: String,
+}
+
+impl Database {
+    pub(super) fn resolve(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<Self> {
+        let compose = Project::resolve(ctx)?;
+        let service = compose.postgres()?;
+        let (user, name) = compose.postgres_credentials(&service)?;
+
+        let listed = ctx.compose().ps(&service).capture(ctx)?;
+        let mut ids = listed.lines().map(str::trim).filter(|id| !id.is_empty());
+
+        let container = match (ids.next(), ids.next()) {
+            (Some(id), None) => id.to_string(),
+            // one id per line: a scaled service has several, and the whole
+            // listing would go to docker exec as though it were a single id
+            (Some(_), Some(_)) => bail!(
+                "service {service} has more than one container running; \
+                 scale it to one first"
+            ),
+            // a dry run only prints a plan, and it is worth printing with the
+            // project down, which is when it is most likely to be asked for
+            (None, _) if ctx.dry_run => PLANNED_CONTAINER.to_string(),
+            (None, _) => bail!("service {service} has no running container"),
+        };
+
+        Ok(Self {
+            service,
+            container,
+            user,
+            name,
+        })
+    }
+
+    // what reads this shape of dump back in
+    pub(super) fn restore_with(&self, kind: Kind) -> Box<dyn Cmd + '_> {
+        match kind {
+            Kind::Archive => Box::new(PgRestore::new(&self.user, &self.name)),
+            Kind::Sql => Box::new(Psql::new(&self.user, &self.name).quiet().atomic()),
+            Kind::Cluster => Box::new(Psql::new(&self.user, "postgres").quiet()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub(super) fn wait_until_ready(ctx: &Ctx, db: &Database) -> Result<()> {
+    if ctx.dry_run {
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    let deadline = Instant::now() + READY_TIMEOUT;
+
+    loop {
+        let ready = PgIsReady {
+            username: &db.user,
+            dbname: &db.name,
+        }
+        .in_container(&db.container)
+        .quietly_succeeds(ctx)?;
+
+        if ready {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        if Instant::now() >= deadline {
+            bail!(
+                "{} did not accept connections within {} seconds",
+                db.service,
+                READY_TIMEOUT.as_secs()
+            );
+        }
+
+        thread::sleep(POLL_INTERVAL);
+    }
+}
+
+pub(super) fn when_ready(ctx: &Ctx, db: &Database, command: &dyn Cmd) -> Result<()> {
+    wait_until_ready(ctx, db)?;
+    command.run(ctx)
+}
--- a/src/commands/postgres/shape.rs
+++ b/src/commands/postgres/shape.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+use fs_err::File;
+use std::io::Read;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+
+const CUSTOM_MAGIC: &[u8] = b"PGDMP";
+const TAR_MAGIC: &[u8] = b"toc.dat";
+const GZIP_MAGIC: &[u8] = b"\x1f\x8b";
+const CLUSTER_MARKER: &str = "PostgreSQL database cluster dump";
+// wide enough for the cluster marker, which sits a few bytes into the file
+pub(super) const HEADER_LEN: usize = 512;
+
+pub(super) enum Dump {
+    Directory,
+    Gzip,
+    Header(Vec<u8>),
+}
+
+impl Dump {
+    pub(super) fn of(path: &Path) -> Result<Self> {
+        if path.is_dir() {
+            return Ok(Self::Directory);
+        }
+
+        let header = read_header(path)?;
+        if header.starts_with(GZIP_MAGIC) {
+            return Ok(Self::Gzip);
+        }
+
+        Ok(Self::Header(header))
+    }
+}
+
+// how the dump has to be fed back in: pg_restore for an archive, psql into the
+// database for a single database dump, psql into postgres for a whole cluster
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
+pub(super) enum Kind {
+    Archive,
+    Sql,
+    Cluster,
+}
+
+impl Kind {
+    pub(super) fn of(header: &[u8]) -> Self {
+        if header.starts_with(CUSTOM_MAGIC) || header.starts_with(TAR_MAGIC) {
+            return Self::Archive;
+        }
+
+        if String::from_utf8_lossy(header).contains(CLUSTER_MARKER) {
+            return Self::Cluster;
+        }
+
+        Self::Sql
+    }
+}
+
+fn read_header(path: &Path) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
+    let file = File::open(path)?;
+    let mut header = Vec::with_capacity(HEADER_LEN);
+
+    // read fills what it can rather than what was asked for, and a header that
+    // arrives in more than one piece would lose the cluster marker sitting a few
+    // bytes in, leaving a whole-cluster dump looking like a single database
+    file.take(HEADER_LEN as u64).read_to_end(&mut header)?;
+
+    Ok(header)
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{GZIP_MAGIC, Kind};
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_archive_is_recognised_by_its_magic() {
+        assert!(matches!(Kind::of(b"PGDMP\x01\x0f"), Kind::Archive));
+        assert!(matches!(Kind::of(b"toc.dat\x00\x00"), Kind::Archive));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_cluster_dump_is_recognised_by_its_header() {
+        let header = b"--\n-- PostgreSQL database cluster dump\n--\n\n\\restrict abc\n";
+        assert!(matches!(Kind::of(header), Kind::Cluster));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn anything_else_is_a_single_database_dump() {
+        for header in [
+            &b"--\n-- PostgreSQL database dump\n"[..],
+            &b"BEGIN;"[..],
+            &b""[..],
+            &b"PGD"[..],
+            &b"toc.da"[..],
+        ] {
+            assert!(matches!(Kind::of(header), Kind::Sql), "{header:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gzip_is_recognised_by_its_magic() {
+        assert!(b"\x1f\x8b\x08\x00rest".starts_with(GZIP_MAGIC));
+        assert!(!b"PGDMP".starts_with(GZIP_MAGIC));
+    }
+}
--- a/src/commands/status.rs
+++ b/src/commands/status.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+
+use crate::cmd::Cmd;
+use crate::commands::link;
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::output::line;
+use crate::project::Project;
+
+// which services ahab picked, what it would talk to, what the store holds
+pub fn status(ctx: &Ctx, store: Option<&Path>) -> Result<()> {
+    // a role it cannot pick out is worth reporting; a project it cannot read is not
+    let project = match Project::resolve(ctx) {
+        Ok(project) => project,
+        Err(e) => {
+            stored(ctx, store);
+            return Err(e);
+        }
+    };
+
+    line!("services: {}", project.names().join(", "));
+
+    role(ctx, "django", project.django(), &project);
+    role(ctx, "postgres", project.postgres(), &project);
+    stored(ctx, store);
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+// what the store holds, and where to look for what it does not
+fn stored(ctx: &Ctx, store: Option<&Path>) {
+    match link::stored_summary(ctx, store) {
+        Err(e) => line!("store: {e:#}"),
+        Ok((store, linked, other)) => {
+            line!("store: {}", store.display());
+            line!("\tlinked:    {linked}");
+
+            if other > 0 {
+                line!("\tnot linked: {other} (see `ahab link list`)");
+            }
+
+            line!("\t`ahab link check` lists what a sandbox can still read");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// one detected service: the name, the image behind it, and whether it is up
+fn role(ctx: &Ctx, role: &str, detected: Result<String>, project: &Project) {
+    let service = match detected {
+        Ok(service) => service,
+        Err(e) => {
+            line!("{role}: {e:#}");
+            return;
+        }
+    };
+
+    let image = project
+        .image(&service)
+        .unwrap_or("built from the project")
+        .to_string();
+
+    line!("{role}: {service} ({image})");
+
+    match ctx.compose().ps(&service).capture(ctx) {
+        Ok(id) if id.trim().is_empty() => line!("\tcontainer: not running"),
+        Ok(id) => line!("\tcontainer: {}", short(id.trim())),
+        Err(e) => line!("\tcontainer: {e:#}"),
+    }
+
+    if role == "postgres" {
+        // status reports what it cannot work out rather than stopping, so a name
+        // the postgres tools would refuse is something to say, not to fail on
+        match project.postgres_credentials(&service) {
+            Ok((user, database)) => {
+                let source = |key: &str| match project.env(&service, key) {
+                    Some(_) => "",
+                    None => " (default, nothing in the environment)",
+                };
+
+                line!("\tuser:      {user}{}", source("POSTGRES_USER"));
+                line!("\tdatabase:  {database}{}", source("POSTGRES_DB"));
+            }
+            Err(e) => line!("\tcredentials: {e:#}"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// a container id is 64 characters and only the first few are ever typed
+fn short(id: &str) -> String {
+    id.chars().take(12).collect()
+}
--- a/src/ctx.rs
+++ b/src/ctx.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+use crate::cmd::Compose;
+use crate::fsops::Fs;
+
+// how ahab was invoked, handed to everything that runs commands or writes files
+pub struct Ctx {
+    pub verbose: bool,
+    pub dry_run: bool,
+    pub quiet: bool,
+}
+
+impl Ctx {
+    // the two things these flags actually decide, asked for by name rather than
+    // read field by field wherever they are needed: a dry run writes nothing,
+    // and --quiet stops compose narrating
+    pub fn fs(&self) -> Fs<'_> {
+        Fs::new(self)
+    }
+
+    pub fn compose(&self) -> Compose<'_> {
+        Compose::new(self)
+    }
+}
--- a/src/fsops.rs
+++ b/src/fsops.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::os::unix::fs::{DirBuilderExt, OpenOptionsExt};
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow};
+// std::fs with the path and the operation already in the error
+use fs_err as fs;
+use fs_err::os::unix::fs::symlink;
+
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+
+pub fn suffixed(path: &Path, suffix: &str) -> PathBuf {
+    let mut out = path.as_os_str().to_owned();
+    out.push(suffix);
+
+    PathBuf::from(out)
+}
+
+// the working tree, as this invocation is allowed to touch it. every write goes
+// through here, so what a dry run means is settled in one place rather than at
+// the top of each operation, where the next one added could simply not ask
+pub struct Fs<'a> {
+    ctx: &'a Ctx,
+}
+
+impl<'a> Fs<'a> {
+    pub(crate) fn new(ctx: &'a Ctx) -> Self {
+        Self { ctx }
+    }
+
+    // a dry run writes nothing and reports that nothing went wrong, which for
+    // every operation here is its empty answer
+    fn unless_planned<T: Default>(&self, act: impl FnOnce() -> Result<T>) -> Result<T> {
+        match self.ctx.dry_run {
+            true => Ok(T::default()),
+            false => act(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn move_path(&self, src: &Path, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| {
+            ensure_parent(target)?;
+
+            // rename cannot cross filesystems, and the store often is another one
+            match fs::rename(src, target) {
+                Ok(()) => Ok(()),
+                Err(rename_err) => match copy_recursive(src, target) {
+                    Ok(()) => remove_recursive(src),
+                    Err(copy_err) => Err(copy_err).with_context(|| format!("after {rename_err}")),
+                },
+            }
+        })
+    }
+
+    pub fn rename(&self, src: &Path, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| Ok(fs::rename(src, target)?))
+    }
+
+    pub fn place_link(&self, link_path: &Path, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| {
+            // the parent can be missing when the store holds a path the
+            // repository does not have any more, and symlink would only report
+            // the bare ENOENT
+            ensure_parent(link_path)?;
+
+            // symlink under a temp name and rename over the path: the rename is
+            // atomic
+            let tmp = suffixed(link_path, ".ahab-tmp");
+
+            // only ahab's own leftover is cleared away: anything else here
+            // belongs to the project, and silently unlinking it would lose it
+            match fs::symlink_metadata(&tmp) {
+                Ok(meta) if meta.is_symlink() => fs::remove_file(&tmp)?,
+                Ok(_) => {
+                    return Err(anyhow!(
+                        "{} is in the way and is not a symlink ahab left behind; \
+                         move it aside",
+                        tmp.display()
+                    ));
+                }
+                Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {}
+                Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
+            }
+
+            symlink(target, &tmp)?;
+            Ok(fs::rename(&tmp, link_path)?)
+        })
+    }
+
+    pub fn remove_file(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| Ok(fs::remove_file(path)?))
+    }
+
+    pub fn create_dir(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| Ok(fs::create_dir(path)?))
+    }
+
+    // created if it is missing, left as it is otherwise, which is what a caller
+    // making an empty __init__.py wants
+    pub fn touch(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| {
+            fs::OpenOptions::new()
+                .write(true)
+                .create(true)
+                .truncate(false)
+                .open(path)?;
+
+            Ok(())
+        })
+    }
+
+    // fails rather than writing over a file that is already there
+    pub fn write_new(&self, path: &Path, contents: &[u8]) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| {
+            let mut file = fs::File::create_new(path)?;
+            file.write_all(contents)?;
+
+            Ok(())
+        })
+    }
+
+    // the store holds what should not be reachable from the repository, so the
+    // directories it is kept in are the owner's alone. only the tree at or
+    // below `base` is created here; what is above it is the user's own business
+    pub fn ensure_private_parent(&self, base: &Path, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        self.unless_planned(|| {
+            let Some(parent) = target.parent().filter(|dir| dir.starts_with(base)) else {
+                return Ok(());
+            };
+
+            // a recursive create applies the mode to every directory it makes
+            std::fs::DirBuilder::new()
+                .recursive(true)
+                .mode(0o700)
+                .create(parent)
+                .with_context(|| format!("creating {}", parent.display()))
+        })
+    }
+
+    // a restored path can leave the store holding nothing but empty directories
+    pub fn prune_empty(&self, dir: Option<&Path>, stop: &Path) {
+        let pruned: Result<()> = self.unless_planned(|| {
+            let mut dir = dir;
+
+            while let Some(path) = dir {
+                if path == stop || !path.starts_with(stop) || fs::remove_dir(path).is_err() {
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                dir = path.parent();
+            }
+
+            Ok(())
+        });
+
+        // an empty directory left behind is untidy, not a failure
+        let _ = pruned;
+    }
+}
+
+// 0600 and only where nothing is yet. a dump is the whole database, and
+// pg_dumpall's is every role's password hash, so it is not the owner's to share
+// by default; create_new also refuses to follow a symlink planted at the path,
+// which File::create would open and truncate.
+//
+// not on Fs: a dry run has no file to hand back, so its one caller asks for
+// this only once it knows it is writing for real
+pub fn create_private_new(path: &Path) -> Result<std::fs::File> {
+    std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
+        .write(true)
+        .create_new(true)
+        .mode(0o600)
+        .open(path)
+        .with_context(|| format!("creating {}", path.display()))
+}
+
+fn ensure_parent(target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    match target.parent() {
+        Some(parent) if !parent.as_os_str().is_empty() => Ok(fs::create_dir_all(parent)?),
+        _ => Ok(()),
+    }
+}
+
+// whatever is there, file, directory or symlink
+fn remove_recursive(path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    if fs::symlink_metadata(path)?.is_dir() {
+        fs::remove_dir_all(path)?;
+    } else {
+        fs::remove_file(path)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn copy_recursive(src: &Path, target: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+    let meta = fs::symlink_metadata(src)?;
+
+    if meta.is_dir() {
+        fs::create_dir_all(target)?;
+        for entry in fs::read_dir(src)? {
+            let entry = entry?;
+            copy_recursive(&entry.path(), &target.join(entry.file_name()))?;
+        }
+
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    if meta.is_symlink() {
+        return Ok(symlink(fs::read_link(src)?, target)?);
+    }
+
+    fs::copy(src, target)?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-#![allow(unused)]
-
-use std::{
-    fs::{File, OpenOptions},
-    path::PathBuf,
-};
-
-pub mod cli;
-pub mod command_builder;
-pub mod scripts;
-
-// NOTE: stolen from https://docs.rs/debug_print/latest/debug_print/
-#[macro_export]
-macro_rules! debug_println {
-    ($($arg:tt)*) => (if ::std::cfg!(debug_assertions) { ::std::println!($($arg)*); })
-}
-
-fn safe_create_file(path: PathBuf) -> Result<File, std::io::Error> {
-    OpenOptions::new().write(true).create_new(true).open(path)
-}
-
-fn create_file(path: PathBuf) -> Result<File, std::io::Error> {
-    OpenOptions::new().write(true).create(true).open(path)
-}
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,50 +1,114 @@
-use ahab::{cli, scripts};
+use std::process::ExitCode;
+
+mod cli;
+mod cmd;
+mod commands;
+mod ctx;
+mod fsops;
+mod output;
+mod project;

 use anyhow::Result;
 use clap::{CommandFactory, Parser};

-fn main() -> Result<()> {
-    // always load dotenv on start
-    dotenvy::dotenv().ok();
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+use crate::output::{note, write_err};

-    // TODO: (matej) some prints about project
-    // eg: DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE for django projects, used docker-compose, etc.
+// 0 ran with nothing to report, 1 could not finish, 2 bad arguments, 4 found something
+const FINDINGS: u8 = 4;

+fn main() -> ExitCode {
    let args = cli::Ahab::parse();

-    match args.command {
-        cli::Commands::Completion { shell } => {
-            clap_complete::generate(
-                shell,
-                &mut cli::Ahab::command(),
-                "ahab",
-                &mut std::io::stdout(),
-            );
-            Ok(())
+    let ctx = Ctx {
+        verbose: args.verbose,
+        dry_run: args.dry_run,
+        quiet: args.quiet,
+    };
+
+    // said once here rather than by each command, so every line that follows
+    // reads as the plan it is
+    if ctx.dry_run {
+        note!(ctx, "dry run, nothing will be changed");
+    }
+
+    // the command's own verdict first, then whether it managed to say it
+    match run(&ctx, args.command).and_then(|code| output::delivered().map(|()| code)) {
+        Ok(code) => code,
+        Err(e) => {
+            write_err(format_args!("Error: {e:#}"));
+            ExitCode::FAILURE
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// reported the way clap reports its own argument errors, which is what makes it
+// exit 2 rather than 1
+fn usage(message: &str) -> ! {
+    cli::Ahab::command()
+        .error(clap::error::ErrorKind::ArgumentConflict, message)
+        .exit()
+}
+
+fn run(ctx: &Ctx, command: cli::Commands) -> Result<ExitCode> {
+    let done = ExitCode::SUCCESS;
+
+    match command {
+        cli::Commands::Django { command } => {
+            match command {
+                cli::Django::Bash => commands::django::bash(ctx),
+                cli::Django::Run { rest } => commands::django::run(ctx, &rest),
+                cli::Django::MakeCommand { app, name } => {
+                    commands::django::make_command(ctx, &app, &name)
+                }
+                cli::Django::Makemigrations => commands::django::makemigrations(ctx),
+                cli::Django::Manage { rest } => commands::django::manage(ctx, &rest),
+                cli::Django::Migrate { rest } => commands::django::migrate(ctx, &rest),
+                cli::Django::Shell => commands::django::shell(ctx),
+            }?;
+
+            Ok(done)
+        }
+        cli::Commands::Postgres { command } => {
+            match command {
+                cli::Postgres::Import { path } => commands::postgres::import(ctx, &path),
+                cli::Postgres::Psql { rest } => commands::postgres::psql(ctx, &rest),
+                cli::Postgres::Dump(args) => {
+                    // clap cannot say that a flag conflicts with one value of
+                    // another, and this is still an argument error: it belongs
+                    // with the usage and the exit code the others get
+                    if args.gzip && args.format == cli::Format::Directory {
+                        usage(
+                            "a directory dump is a directory of already \
+                             compressed files, not a stream",
+                        );
+                    }
+
+                    commands::postgres::dump(ctx, &args)
+                }
+            }?;
+
+            Ok(done)
+        }
+        cli::Commands::Link { command } => match command {
+            cli::Link::Add(args) => commands::link::add(ctx, &args).map(|()| done),
+            cli::Link::List(args) => commands::link::list(ctx, &args).map(|()| done),
+            cli::Link::Restore(args) => commands::link::restore(ctx, &args).map(|()| done),
+            // the one command with something to say through its exit code
+            cli::Link::Check(args) => match commands::link::check(ctx, &args)? && args.exit_code {
+                true => Ok(ExitCode::from(FINDINGS)),
+                false => Ok(done),
+            },
+        },
+        cli::Commands::Status { store } => {
+            commands::status::status(ctx, store.root.as_deref())?;
+
+            Ok(done)
+        }
+        cli::Commands::Completions { shell } => {
+            commands::completions::completions(shell)?;
+
+            Ok(done)
        }
-        cli::Commands::Docker { command } => match command {
-            cli::Docker::StopAll => scripts::docker::stop_all(),
-        },
-        cli::Commands::Compose { command } => match command {
-            cli::DockerCompose::Build => scripts::docker_compose::build(),
-            cli::DockerCompose::Down => scripts::docker_compose::down(),
-            cli::DockerCompose::Rebuild => scripts::docker_compose::rebuild(),
-            cli::DockerCompose::Restart => scripts::docker_compose::restart(),
-            cli::DockerCompose::Start => scripts::docker_compose::start(None),
-            cli::DockerCompose::Stop => scripts::docker_compose::stop(),
-            cli::DockerCompose::Up => scripts::docker_compose::up(),
-        },
-        cli::Commands::Django { command } => match command {
-            cli::Django::MakeCommand { app, name } => scripts::django::make_command(&app, &name),
-            cli::Django::Makemigrations => scripts::django::makemigrations(),
-            cli::Django::Manage { rest } => scripts::django::manage(&rest),
-            cli::Django::Migrate { rest } => scripts::django::migrate(&rest),
-            cli::Django::Shell => scripts::django::shell(),
-            cli::Django::Test => scripts::django::test(),
-        },
-        cli::Commands::Postgres { command } => match command {
-            cli::Postgres::Import { path } => scripts::postgres::import(&path),
-            cli::Postgres::Dump { path } => scripts::postgres::dump(&path),
-        },
    }
 }
--- a/src/output.rs
+++ b/src/output.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+use std::fmt::Arguments;
+use std::io::{self, Write};
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU8, Ordering};
+
+use anyhow::{Result, anyhow};
+
+// progress, on stderr and only when it was asked for
+macro_rules! note {
+    ($ctx:expr, $($arg:tt)*) => {
+        if !$ctx.quiet {
+            $crate::output::write_err(format_args!($($arg)*))
+        }
+    };
+}
+
+// not progress: it speaks about the result, so --quiet keeps it
+macro_rules! warning {
+    ($($arg:tt)*) => {
+        $crate::output::write_err(format_args!("warning: {}", format_args!($($arg)*)))
+    };
+}
+
+// what a command was asked for, on stdout
+macro_rules! line {
+    ($($arg:tt)*) => { $crate::output::write_line(format_args!($($arg)*)) };
+}
+
+// the same, for a caller that terminates its own entries
+macro_rules! text {
+    ($($arg:tt)*) => { $crate::output::write_text(format_args!($($arg)*)) };
+}
+
+// stdout is open, or it is not and why
+const OPEN: u8 = 0;
+// the reader left: nothing is wrong, there is just nowhere to write
+const CLOSED: u8 = 1;
+// the write itself failed, so what was asked for was never delivered
+const FAILED: u8 = 2;
+
+static STDOUT: AtomicU8 = AtomicU8::new(OPEN);
+static REASON: OnceLock<String> = OnceLock::new();
+
+pub(crate) fn write_line(args: Arguments) {
+    if writable() {
+        finish(writeln!(io::stdout(), "{args}"));
+    }
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn write_text(args: Arguments) {
+    if writable() {
+        finish(write!(io::stdout(), "{args}"));
+    }
+}
+
+// a path on unix is bytes, not text, so a record naming one is written as bytes
+pub(crate) fn write_bytes(bytes: &[u8]) {
+    if writable() {
+        finish(io::stdout().write_all(bytes));
+    }
+}
+
+// stderr is commentary about the work, not the work itself. there is nowhere to
+// report that it could not be written, so the error goes nowhere -- eprintln!
+// panics instead, which turns a closed pipe into a crash
+pub(crate) fn write_err(args: Arguments) {
+    let _ = writeln!(io::stderr(), "{args}");
+}
+
+fn writable() -> bool {
+    STDOUT.load(Ordering::Relaxed) == OPEN
+}
+
+// a failed write must not end the process: a command halfway through moving
+// files would leave the rest undone and still report the success it had planned
+// on. writing stops, the command runs to its end, and main asks how it went
+fn finish(written: io::Result<()>) {
+    let Err(e) = written else {
+        return;
+    };
+
+    match e.kind() {
+        io::ErrorKind::BrokenPipe => STDOUT.store(CLOSED, Ordering::Relaxed),
+        _ => {
+            STDOUT.store(FAILED, Ordering::Relaxed);
+            let _ = REASON.set(e.to_string());
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// whether everything a command was asked for actually reached stdout. the
+// buffered writes text! makes are flushed here rather than by the runtime after
+// main returns, which discards the error and truncates the output in silence
+pub(crate) fn delivered() -> Result<()> {
+    if writable() {
+        finish(io::stdout().flush());
+    }
+
+    if STDOUT.load(Ordering::Relaxed) != FAILED {
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    Err(match REASON.get() {
+        Some(reason) => anyhow!("writing to stdout failed: {reason}"),
+        None => anyhow!("writing to stdout failed"),
+    })
+}
+
+pub(crate) use {line, note, text, warning};
+
+// the `s` on a counted noun, so a message reads right for one and for many
+pub(crate) fn plural(n: usize) -> &'static str {
+    match n {
+        1 => "",
+        _ => "s",
+    }
+}
--- a/src/project.rs
+++ b/src/project.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,334 @@
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow};
+use serde_json::Value;
+
+use crate::cmd::Cmd;
+use crate::ctx::Ctx;
+
+const POSTGRES_IMAGES: [&str; 4] = ["postg", "timescale", "pgvector", "citus"];
+const DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: &str = "DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE";
+
+pub struct Project {
+    services: Value,
+}
+
+impl Project {
+    pub fn resolve(ctx: &Ctx) -> Result<Self> {
+        let json = ctx.compose().config().capture(ctx)?;
+        let config: Value = serde_json::from_str(&json).context("parsing docker compose config")?;
+        let services = config
+            .get("services")
+            .cloned()
+            .context("compose config has no services")?;
+
+        Ok(Self { services })
+    }
+
+    pub fn django(&self) -> Result<String> {
+        let candidates: Vec<&str> = self
+            .names()
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter(|name| {
+                let service = &self.services[name];
+                service.get("build").is_some() && env_var(service, DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE).is_some()
+            })
+            .collect();
+
+        match candidates.as_slice() {
+            [] => Err(anyhow!(
+                "no service both builds an image and sets {DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE}, looked at {}",
+                self.names().join(", ")
+            )),
+            [only] => Ok(only.to_string()),
+            several => {
+                let serving: Vec<&&str> = several
+                    .iter()
+                    .filter(|name| self.publishes_ports(name))
+                    .collect();
+
+                match serving.as_slice() {
+                    [only] => Ok(only.to_string()),
+                    // publishing ports is the tie-break, so say which way it
+                    // failed: none of them serving is the opposite complaint
+                    // from all of them serving
+                    [] => Err(anyhow!(
+                        "cannot tell which service runs django, {} all build an image \
+                         and set {DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE}, and none publishes ports \
+                         to tell them apart",
+                        several.join(", ")
+                    )),
+                    _ => Err(anyhow!(
+                        "cannot tell which service runs django, {} all build an image, set \
+                         {DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE} and publish ports",
+                        serving
+                            .iter()
+                            .map(|name| **name)
+                            .collect::<Vec<&str>>()
+                            .join(", ")
+                    )),
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn postgres(&self) -> Result<String> {
+        let candidates: Vec<&str> = self
+            .names()
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter(|name| {
+                self.services[name]
+                    .get("image")
+                    .and_then(Value::as_str)
+                    .is_some_and(is_postgres_image)
+            })
+            .collect();
+
+        match candidates.as_slice() {
+            [] => Err(anyhow!(
+                "no service uses a postgres image, looked at {}",
+                self.names().join(", ")
+            )),
+            [only] => Ok(only.to_string()),
+            several => Err(anyhow!(
+                "cannot tell which service is the database, {} all use a postgres image",
+                several.join(", ")
+            )),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn postgres_credentials(&self, service: &str) -> Result<(String, String)> {
+        let entry = &self.services[service];
+
+        let user = env_var(entry, "POSTGRES_USER").unwrap_or_else(|| "db".to_string());
+        let database = env_var(entry, "POSTGRES_DB").unwrap_or_else(|| "db".to_string());
+
+        Ok((
+            usable_name(service, "POSTGRES_USER", user)?,
+            usable_name(service, "POSTGRES_DB", database)?,
+        ))
+    }
+
+    pub fn names(&self) -> Vec<&str> {
+        let mut names: Vec<&str> = self
+            .services
+            .as_object()
+            .map(|services| services.keys().map(String::as_str).collect())
+            .unwrap_or_default();
+
+        names.sort_unstable();
+        names
+    }
+
+    // the image a service runs, which a service that builds its own does not have
+    pub fn image(&self, service: &str) -> Option<&str> {
+        self.services[service].get("image")?.as_str()
+    }
+
+    // whether a value was set in the project or is ahab's own fallback
+    pub fn env(&self, service: &str, key: &str) -> Option<String> {
+        env_var(&self.services[service], key)
+    }
+
+    fn publishes_ports(&self, service: &str) -> bool {
+        self.services[service]
+            .get("ports")
+            .and_then(Value::as_array)
+            .is_some_and(|ports| !ports.is_empty())
+    }
+}
+
+fn env_var(service: &Value, key: &str) -> Option<String> {
+    service
+        .get("environment")?
+        .get(key)?
+        .as_str()
+        .map(str::to_string)
+}
+
+// the compose file chooses these, and every postgres tool ahab runs takes them
+// as a role or database name. libpq reads a name holding `=` or a uri as a whole
+// connection string, so one could send a dump to another server entirely, and a
+// leading dash is read as an option however the argv is quoted
+fn usable_name(service: &str, key: &str, value: String) -> Result<String> {
+    let wrong = if value.is_empty() {
+        Some("is empty")
+    } else if value.starts_with('-') {
+        Some("starts with a dash, which the postgres tools read as an option")
+    } else if value.contains('=') {
+        Some("holds an `=`, which libpq reads as a connection string")
+    } else if value.contains("://") {
+        Some("holds a url, which libpq reads as a connection string")
+    } else if value.chars().any(|c| c.is_whitespace() || c.is_control()) {
+        Some("holds whitespace")
+    } else {
+        None
+    };
+
+    match wrong {
+        None => Ok(value),
+        Some(wrong) => Err(anyhow!(
+            "{key} of service {service} {wrong}: {value:?}. \
+             ahab passes it to psql, pg_dump and dropdb as a name, \
+             so it has to be one"
+        )),
+    }
+}
+
+fn is_postgres_image(image: &str) -> bool {
+    let image = image.to_lowercase();
+    POSTGRES_IMAGES.iter().any(|kind| image.contains(kind))
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{Project, is_postgres_image, usable_name};
+    use serde_json::json;
+
+    fn compose(services: serde_json::Value) -> Project {
+        Project { services }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_name_the_postgres_tools_would_read_as_something_else_is_refused() {
+        // libpq takes a dbname holding `=` or a url as a whole conninfo string,
+        // so a compose file could otherwise pick the server a dump goes to
+        let refused = [
+            "postgresql://myproject:pw@evil.example.net:5432/loot",
+            "host=evil.example.net dbname=loot",
+            "--file=/var/lib/postgresql/data/pg_hba.conf",
+            "-h evil.example.net",
+            "my db",
+            "",
+        ];
+
+        for value in refused {
+            assert!(
+                usable_name("db", "POSTGRES_DB", value.to_string()).is_err(),
+                "should have been refused: {value:?}"
+            );
+        }
+
+        // and the names real projects actually use are left alone
+        for value in ["myproject_db", "my-db", "db", "app.prod", "DB_2"] {
+            assert_eq!(
+                usable_name("db", "POSTGRES_DB", value.to_string()).unwrap(),
+                value,
+                "should have been accepted: {value:?}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn recognises_postgres_flavours() {
+        for image in [
+            "postgres:18",
+            "postgis/postgis:16-3.4",
+            "timescale/timescaledb:latest-pg16",
+            "pgvector/pgvector:pg16",
+            "citusdata/citus:12",
+            "PostgreSQL:16",
+        ] {
+            assert!(is_postgres_image(image), "{image} should count as postgres");
+        }
+
+        for image in ["redis:7-alpine", "mysql:8", "nginx", "local-django"] {
+            assert!(!is_postgres_image(image), "{image} should not");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn picks_the_service_that_builds_and_has_the_settings_module() {
+        let compose = compose(json!({
+            "db": {"image": "postgres:18", "environment": {"POSTGRES_DB": "n"}},
+            "django": {
+                "build": {"context": "."},
+                "environment": {"DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE": "config.settings.local"},
+                "ports": [{"target": 8000}],
+            },
+        }));
+
+        assert_eq!(compose.django().unwrap(), "django");
+        assert_eq!(compose.postgres().unwrap(), "db");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn breaks_a_worker_tie_on_published_ports() {
+        let compose = compose(json!({
+            "django": {
+                "build": {"context": "."},
+                "environment": {"DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE": "config.settings.local"},
+                "ports": [{"target": 8000}],
+            },
+            "worker": {
+                "build": {"context": "."},
+                "environment": {"DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE": "config.settings.local"},
+            },
+        }));
+
+        assert_eq!(compose.django().unwrap(), "django");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn refuses_when_two_candidates_both_serve() {
+        let serving = json!({
+            "build": {"context": "."},
+            "environment": {"DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE": "config.settings.local"},
+            "ports": [{"target": 8000}],
+        });
+        let compose = compose(json!({"api": serving, "web": serving}));
+
+        let error = compose.django().unwrap_err().to_string();
+        assert!(error.contains("api, web"), "{error}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn refuses_when_nothing_matches() {
+        let compose = compose(json!({
+            "db": {"image": "postgres:18"},
+            "cache": {"image": "redis:7"},
+        }));
+
+        assert!(
+            compose
+                .django()
+                .unwrap_err()
+                .to_string()
+                .contains("cache, db")
+        );
+        assert_eq!(compose.postgres().unwrap(), "db");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn refuses_two_postgres_services() {
+        let compose = compose(json!({
+            "db": {"image": "postgres:18"},
+            "replica": {"image": "postgres:18"},
+        }));
+
+        let error = compose.postgres().unwrap_err().to_string();
+        assert!(error.contains("db, replica"), "{error}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn reads_credentials_off_the_detected_service() {
+        let compose = compose(json!({
+            "db": {
+                "image": "postgres:18",
+                "environment": {"POSTGRES_USER": "myproject", "POSTGRES_DB": "myproject_db"},
+            },
+        }));
+
+        let (user, database) = compose.postgres_credentials("db").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            (user.as_str(), database.as_str()),
+            ("myproject", "myproject_db")
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn falls_back_to_db_when_the_service_says_nothing() {
+        let compose = compose(json!({"db": {"image": "postgres:18"}}));
+
+        let (user, database) = compose.postgres_credentials("db").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!((user.as_str(), database.as_str()), ("db", "db"));
+    }
+}
--- a/src/scripts/django.rs
+++ b/src/scripts/django.rs
@@ -1,89 +0,0 @@
-use std::env;
-use std::fs::create_dir;
-use std::io::Write;
-use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
-
-use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
-
-use crate::command_builder::CommandBuilder;
-use crate::{create_file, safe_create_file};
-
-fn get_django_settings_module() -> Result<String> {
-    let dsm = env::var("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE")?;
-    println!("USING: {dsm}");
-
-    Ok(dsm)
-}
-
-const DEBUG_TEMPLATE: &str = r#"from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
-
-class Command(BaseCommand):
-    def handle(self, *args, **options):
-        pass
-
-"#;
-
-pub fn make_command(app: &PathBuf, name: &str) -> Result<()> {
-    let app_name = app.to_string_lossy();
-    let app_dir = Path::new(&app);
-
-    let not_app_exists = !app_dir.is_dir();
-    if not_app_exists {
-        return Err(anyhow!("directory {app_name} does not exist"));
-    }
-
-    println!("found app {app_name}");
-
-    let management_dir = app_dir.join("management");
-
-    let not_management_exists = !management_dir.exists();
-    if not_management_exists {
-        create_dir(&management_dir)?;
-        create_file(management_dir.join("__init__.py"))?;
-
-        println!("created module {app_name}.management")
-    };
-
-    let commands_dir = management_dir.join("commands");
-
-    let not_commands_exists = !commands_dir.exists();
-    if not_commands_exists {
-        create_dir(&commands_dir)?;
-        create_file(commands_dir.join("__init__.py"))?;
-
-        println!("created module {app_name}.management.commands")
-    };
-
-    let mut file = safe_create_file(commands_dir.join(format!("{name}.py")))?;
-    file.write_all(DEBUG_TEMPLATE.as_bytes())?;
-
-    println!("created command {app_name}.management.commands.{name}");
-    Ok(())
-}
-
-pub fn manage(rest: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
-    let dsm = get_django_settings_module()?;
-    let joined = rest.join(" ");
-    let command = format!("exec appserver python manage.py {joined} --settings={dsm}");
-    CommandBuilder::docker_compose().args(&command).exec()
-}
-
-// shortcuts
-pub fn makemigrations() -> Result<()> {
-    manage(&["makemigrations".to_string()])
-}
-
-pub fn migrate(rest: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
-    let mut full_rest = vec!["migrate".to_string()];
-    full_rest.extend_from_slice(rest);
-
-    manage(&full_rest)
-}
-
-pub fn shell() -> Result<()> {
-    manage(&["shell".to_string()])
-}
-
-pub fn test() -> Result<()> {
-    manage(&["test".to_string()])
-}
--- a/src/scripts/docker.rs
+++ b/src/scripts/docker.rs
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-use anyhow::Result;
-
-use crate::command_builder::CommandBuilder;
-
-pub fn stop_all() -> Result<()> {
-    let running_containers = CommandBuilder::docker().args("ps -q").exec_get_stdout()?;
-
-    if running_containers.is_empty() {
-        return Ok(());
-    }
-
-    CommandBuilder::docker()
-        .args(&format!("stop {running_containers}"))
-        .exec()
-}
--- a/src/scripts/docker_compose.rs
+++ b/src/scripts/docker_compose.rs
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-use anyhow::Result;
-
-use crate::command_builder::CommandBuilder;
-
-// simple commands
-pub fn build() -> Result<()> {
-    CommandBuilder::docker_compose().args("build").exec()
-}
-
-pub fn down() -> Result<()> {
-    CommandBuilder::docker_compose().args("down").exec()
-}
-
-/// Start containers via `docker compose start`. Optionally pass containers to be started.
-/// ```
-/// start(None);
-/// ```
-/// is roughly the same as
-/// `docker compose --env-file ./.env -f docker/local/docker-compose.yaml up start`
-pub fn start(containers: Option<&str>) -> Result<()> {
-    let args = format!("start {}", containers.unwrap_or(""));
-    CommandBuilder::docker_compose().args("start").exec()
-}
-
-pub fn stop() -> Result<()> {
-    CommandBuilder::docker_compose().args("stop").exec()
-}
-
-pub fn up() -> Result<()> {
-    CommandBuilder::docker_compose().args("up -d").exec()
-}
-
-// shortcuts
-pub fn rebuild() -> Result<()> {
-    stop()?;
-    build()?;
-    up()
-}
-
-pub fn restart() -> Result<()> {
-    stop()?;
-    up()
-}
--- a/src/scripts/mod.rs
+++ b/src/scripts/mod.rs
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-pub mod django;
-pub mod docker;
-pub mod docker_compose;
-pub mod postgres;
--- a/src/scripts/postgres.rs
+++ b/src/scripts/postgres.rs
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-use anyhow::{anyhow, Context, Result};
-use std::{
-    fs::File,
-    path::{Path, PathBuf},
-    process::Stdio,
-};
-
-use super::docker_compose;
-use crate::command_builder::CommandBuilder;
-
-fn get_containers() -> Result<[String; 2]> {
-    // get db container
-    // FIX: we assume we are running db in service named "postgresbd"
-    let db_container = CommandBuilder::docker_compose()
-        .args("ps -q postgresdb")
-        .exec_get_stdout()?
-        .trim()
-        .to_string();
-
-    let no_result = db_container.is_empty();
-    if no_result {
-        return Err(anyhow!("no container"));
-    }
-
-    // get all containers and filter out db container
-    let app_containers = CommandBuilder::docker_compose()
-        .args("ps -q")
-        .exec_get_stdout()?
-        .split_whitespace()
-        .filter(|x| x != &db_container)
-        .collect::<Vec<&str>>()
-        .join(" ");
-
-    Ok([db_container, app_containers])
-}
-
-pub fn import(file: &Path) -> Result<()> {
-    let [db_container, app_containers] = get_containers()?;
-    let dump_file = file.to_string_lossy();
-
-    println!("stopping all containers");
-    docker_compose::stop()?;
-
-    println!("starting db container");
-    docker_compose::start(Some(&db_container))?;
-
-    println!("restoring database");
-    let commands = [
-        format!("cp {dump_file} {db_container}:/tmp/dbdump"),
-        format!("exec {db_container} dropdb -U db db"),
-        format!("exec {db_container} createdb -U db -E utf8 -T template0 db"),
-        format!("exec {db_container} pg_restore -U db --dbname=db /tmp/dbdump"),
-    ];
-    for command in commands {
-        CommandBuilder::docker().args(&command).exec()?;
-    }
-
-    println!("restarting containers");
-    docker_compose::stop()?;
-    docker_compose::up()?;
-
-    Ok(())
-}
-
-pub fn dump(file: &PathBuf) -> Result<()> {
-    let [db_container, _] = get_containers()?;
-
-    println!("dumping to local file {}", file.to_string_lossy());
-
-    let file = File::create(file)?;
-    let stdout = Stdio::from(file);
-
-    let command = format!("exec {db_container} pg_dump -U db --format=c db");
-    CommandBuilder::docker()
-        .args(&command)
-        .exec_redirect_stdout(stdout)?;
-
-    Ok(())
-}
--- a/tests/link_store.rs
+++ b/tests/link_store.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,262 @@
+// what the store is for: a path a sandbox should not read living somewhere it
+// cannot. every case here is one that was once wrong.
+mod support;
+
+use std::fs;
+use support::Case;
+
+#[test]
+fn a_path_moves_into_the_store_and_reads_back_through_the_link() {
+    let case = Case::new("roundtrip");
+    case.write(".env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    case.write("secrets/token", b"tok\n");
+    case.gitignore(".env\nsecrets/\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", ".env", "secrets"]).ok();
+
+    assert!(case.is_symlink(".env"));
+    assert_eq!(fs::read(case.path(".env")).unwrap(), b"SECRET=1\n");
+    assert_eq!(fs::read(case.path("secrets/token")).unwrap(), b"tok\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--exit-code"]).ok();
+    case.ahab(&["link", "restore", "--all"]).ok();
+
+    assert!(!case.is_symlink(".env"));
+    assert_eq!(fs::read(case.path(".env")).unwrap(), b"SECRET=1\n");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn add_refuses_a_symlink_that_already_leads_out_of_the_repository() {
+    let case = Case::new("launder");
+    fs::write(case.outside.join("key"), b"KEY\n").unwrap();
+    case.link(&case.path("cache"), &case.outside);
+
+    // moving the link would move the pointer and leave the contents there,
+    // and check would then see a link into the store and call it clean
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", "cache"])
+        .failed()
+        .says("outside the repository");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--exit-code"]).code_is(4);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn check_reports_a_store_entry_that_leads_back_out() {
+    let case = Case::new("poisoned");
+    fs::create_dir_all(&case.store).unwrap();
+    fs::write(case.outside.join("key"), b"KEY\n").unwrap();
+    // the state an older ahab left: the store holds a way back out
+    case.link(&case.store.join("cache"), &case.outside);
+    case.link(&case.path("cache"), &case.store.join("cache"));
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--exit-code"]).code_is(4);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn check_reports_a_tracked_symlink_leading_out() {
+    let case = Case::new("tracked-link");
+    fs::create_dir_all(case.outside.join("aws")).unwrap();
+    case.link(&case.path("awsdir"), &case.outside.join("aws"));
+    case.git(&["add", "-f", "awsdir"]);
+    case.git(&["commit", "-qm", "commit a symlink out"]);
+
+    // git tracks symlinks, so this is in no untracked or ignored listing
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--exit-code"]).code_is(4);
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--porcelain"]).says("T>");
+    // and add cannot fix it, so saying so is all check can do
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", "awsdir"])
+        .failed()
+        .says("tracked by git");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_stored_symlink_is_one_entry_rather_than_a_tree_to_walk() {
+    let case = Case::new("walk-out");
+    fs::create_dir_all(case.outside.join("private")).unwrap();
+    fs::write(case.outside.join("private/diary"), b"x\n").unwrap();
+    fs::write(case.outside.join(".netrc"), b"x\n").unwrap();
+    fs::create_dir_all(&case.store).unwrap();
+    case.link(&case.store.join("cache"), &case.outside);
+
+    let run = case.ahab(&["link", "list"]);
+    run.ok().says("cache");
+    // is_dir() would follow the link and enumerate what is behind it
+    run.silent_about(".netrc");
+    run.silent_about("diary");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_store_inside_the_repository_is_refused_however_it_is_spelled() {
+    let case = Case::new("store-inside");
+    case.write(".env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    case.gitignore(".env\n");
+
+    // named directly
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", "--store", "./within", ".env"])
+        .failed()
+        .says("inside the repository");
+
+    // and reached through a symlink, which a prefix test does not catch
+    case.mkdir("within");
+    let sneaky = case.repo.parent().unwrap().join("sneaky");
+    case.link(&sneaky, &case.path("within"));
+    let run = case.ahab(&[
+        "link".as_ref(),
+        "add".as_ref(),
+        "--store".as_ref(),
+        sneaky.as_os_str(),
+        ".env".as_ref(),
+    ]);
+    run.failed().says("inside the repository");
+    assert!(!case.is_symlink(".env"));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_relative_store_root_still_resolves_from_anywhere() {
+    let case = Case::new("relative-store");
+    case.write("sub/.env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    case.gitignore("sub/.env\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", "--store", "../store", "sub/.env"])
+        .ok();
+
+    // the target is written into the symlink, so a relative one would resolve
+    // from the link's own directory rather than the working one
+    assert!(case.is_symlink("sub/.env"));
+    assert_eq!(fs::read(case.path("sub/.env")).unwrap(), b"SECRET=1\n");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn the_store_directories_are_the_owners_alone() {
+    let case = Case::new("modes");
+    case.write("deep/nested/.env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    case.gitignore("deep\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", "deep/nested/.env"]).ok();
+
+    for dir in [
+        case.store.as_path(),
+        &case.store.join("deep"),
+        &case.store.join("deep/nested"),
+    ] {
+        assert_eq!(case.mode(dir), 0o700, "{}", dir.display());
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_failed_link_puts_the_payload_back() {
+    let case = Case::new("rollback");
+    case.write("x.env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    // ahab's own temp name, but a real file: it must not be removed, and the
+    // payload must not be left in the store with nothing pointing at it
+    case.write("x.env.ahab-tmp", b"THE PROJECT OWNS THIS\n");
+    case.gitignore("x.env\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", "x.env"]).failed();
+
+    assert!(!case.is_symlink("x.env"));
+    assert_eq!(fs::read(case.path("x.env")).unwrap(), b"SECRET=1\n");
+    assert_eq!(
+        fs::read(case.path("x.env.ahab-tmp")).unwrap(),
+        b"THE PROJECT OWNS THIS\n"
+    );
+    assert!(!case.store.join("x.env").exists());
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_directory_of_symlinks_out_keeps_its_destinations() {
+    let case = Case::new("collapse");
+    fs::write(case.outside.join("a"), b"A\n").unwrap();
+    case.link(&case.path("bundle/one"), &case.outside.join("a"));
+
+    // collapsing to `bundle/` would drop both the destination and the code
+    let run = case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--porcelain"]);
+    run.code_is(0).says("?>").says("bundle/one");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_filename_that_is_not_utf_8_is_reported_and_moved_as_itself() {
+    use std::ffi::OsStr;
+    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+
+    let case = Case::new("latin1");
+    let name = OsStr::from_bytes(b"caf\xe9.env");
+    fs::write(case.repo.join(name), b"SECRET=1\n").unwrap();
+
+    // the whole listing used to fail on the one entry
+    let run = case.ahab(&["link", "check", "-z"]);
+    run.code_is(0);
+    assert!(
+        run.stdout.windows(4).any(|w| w == b"caf\xe9"),
+        "-z must write the bytes the name actually has"
+    );
+
+    case.gitignore("caf\u{e9}.env\n");
+    case.ahab(&["link".as_ref(), "add".as_ref(), name]).ok();
+    assert!(
+        fs::symlink_metadata(case.repo.join(name))
+            .unwrap()
+            .is_symlink()
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_tracked_filename_that_is_not_utf_8_is_still_refused() {
+    use std::ffi::OsStr;
+    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+
+    let case = Case::new("latin1-tracked");
+    let name = OsStr::from_bytes(b"caf\xe9.env");
+    fs::write(case.repo.join(name), b"TRACKED\n").unwrap();
+    case.git(&["add".as_ref(), "-f".as_ref(), name]);
+    case.git(&["commit", "-qm", "track a latin-1 name"]);
+
+    // asked about lossily, git answers about a path nothing has and says
+    // "not tracked", and a tracked file leaves the working tree
+    case.ahab(&["link".as_ref(), "add".as_ref(), name])
+        .failed()
+        .says("tracked by git");
+
+    assert!(
+        !fs::symlink_metadata(case.repo.join(name))
+            .unwrap()
+            .is_symlink()
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_pathspec_is_asked_about_as_a_name_not_a_pattern() {
+    let case = Case::new("pathspec");
+    // git reads pathspec magic after `--` too, so this used to have git list
+    // every tracked file *except* the named one, which read as "it is tracked"
+    case.write(":!untracked.env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    case.gitignore(":!untracked.env\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "add", ":!untracked.env"]).ok();
+    assert!(case.is_symlink(":!untracked.env"));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn distinct_remotes_do_not_share_one_store_directory() {
+    let case = Case::new("remotes");
+
+    case.git(&[
+        "remote",
+        "set-url",
+        "origin",
+        "https://git.example.org/a/my_api",
+    ]);
+    let plain = case.ahab(&["link", "list"]).out();
+
+    case.git(&[
+        "remote",
+        "set-url",
+        "origin",
+        "https://git.example.org/a/my~api",
+    ]);
+    let awkward = case.ahab(&["link", "list"]).out();
+
+    assert_ne!(plain, awkward);
+    // the ordinary remote keeps the path it already had
+    assert!(plain.contains("/a/my_api"), "{plain}");
+}
--- a/tests/output_io.rs
+++ b/tests/output_io.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// what a command reports and how it exits, including when the write fails.
+mod support;
+
+use std::fs;
+use support::Case;
+
+#[test]
+fn findings_are_reported_through_the_exit_code() {
+    let case = Case::new("findings");
+    case.write("loose.txt", b"x\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check"]).ok();
+    case.ahab(&["link", "check", "--exit-code"]).code_is(4);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn an_argument_error_exits_two() {
+    let case = Case::new("usage");
+
+    case.ahab(&["link", "restore"]).code_is(2);
+    case.ahab(&["link", "restore", "--all", "some/path"])
+        .code_is(2);
+    case.ahab(&["postgres", "dump", "-F", "directory", "-z", "d"])
+        .code_is(2);
+    case.ahab(&["nonsense"]).code_is(2);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_write_that_cannot_be_delivered_is_a_failure_rather_than_a_success() {
+    let case = Case::new("devfull");
+    for n in 0..200 {
+        case.write(&format!("file-{n}.txt"), b"x\n");
+    }
+
+    // /dev/full accepts the open and fails the write. exiting 0 there would
+    // report a listing that was never delivered
+    let Ok(full) = fs::File::create("/dev/full") else {
+        eprintln!("skipped: this system has no /dev/full to fail a write against");
+        return;
+    };
+
+    let out = std::process::Command::new(env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_ahab"))
+        .current_dir(&case.repo)
+        .env("XDG_DATA_HOME", case.repo.join("../xdg"))
+        .args(["link", "check", "--exit-code", "--porcelain"])
+        .stdout(full)
+        .output()
+        .expect("running ahab");
+
+    assert_eq!(out.status.code(), Some(1), "{:?}", out.status);
+    assert!(
+        String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr).contains("writing to stdout failed"),
+        "{}",
+        String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr)
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn every_named_path_is_moved_even_when_the_reader_leaves() {
+    let case = Case::new("partial");
+    for name in ["a.env", "b.env", "c.env"] {
+        case.write(name, b"x\n");
+    }
+    case.gitignore("a.env\nb.env\nc.env\n");
+
+    // a closed stdout must stop the writing, not the moving: the command had
+    // planned to move all three and reported success for doing so
+    let run = case.ahab(&["link", "add", "a.env", "b.env", "c.env"]);
+    run.ok();
+
+    for name in ["a.env", "b.env", "c.env"] {
+        assert!(case.is_symlink(name), "{name} was left behind");
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn quiet_keeps_the_reason_a_path_failed() {
+    let case = Case::new("quiet");
+    case.write("ok.env", b"x\n");
+    case.gitignore("ok.env\n");
+
+    let run = case.ahab(&["-q", "link", "add", "ok.env", "missing.env"]);
+    run.failed()
+        .says("1 of 2 paths failed")
+        // the line saying *which* and *why* is a result, not progress
+        .says("missing.env");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn a_dry_run_changes_nothing_on_disk() {
+    let case = Case::new("dryrun");
+    case.write(".env", b"SECRET=1\n");
+    case.gitignore(".env\n");
+
+    case.ahab(&["--dry-run", "link", "add", ".env"]).ok();
+
+    assert!(!case.is_symlink(".env"));
+    assert!(!case.store.join(".env").exists());
+}
--- a/tests/support/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/support/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+// enough scaffolding to run ahab against a throwaway repository, hand-rolled
+// rather than pulled in: the crate has no dependencies it does not need, and a
+// dev-dependency is still something to trust and keep current.
+
+// each integration test file compiles this module separately, so a helper only
+// one of them needs looks unused to the others
+#![allow(dead_code)]
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
+use std::fmt::Write as _;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::process::{Command, Output};
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU32, Ordering};
+use std::{env, fs};
+
+// unique per case even with the suite running in parallel
+static NEXT: AtomicU32 = AtomicU32::new(0);
+
+pub struct Case {
+    root: PathBuf,
+    pub repo: PathBuf,
+    pub store: PathBuf,
+    pub outside: PathBuf,
+}
+
+impl Case {
+    // a repository with an origin remote, a store of its own, and one commit
+    pub fn new(label: &str) -> Self {
+        let root = env::temp_dir().join(format!(
+            "ahab-{label}-{}-{}",
+            std::process::id(),
+            NEXT.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed)
+        ));
+        let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&root);
+
+        let case = Self {
+            repo: root.join("repo"),
+            store: root
+                .join("xdg/ahab/git.example.org/acme/proj")
+                .to_path_buf(),
+            outside: root.join("outside"),
+            root,
+        };
+
+        for dir in [&case.repo, &case.outside] {
+            fs::create_dir_all(dir).expect("creating the case directories");
+        }
+
+        case.git(&["init", "-q", "."]);
+        case.git(&["config", "user.email", "test@example.org"]);
+        case.git(&["config", "user.name", "test"]);
+        case.git(&["config", "commit.gpgsign", "false"]);
+        case.git(&[
+            "remote",
+            "add",
+            "origin",
+            "https://git.example.org/acme/proj.git",
+        ]);
+        case.write("tracked.txt", b"tracked\n");
+        case.git(&["add", "tracked.txt"]);
+        case.git(&["commit", "-qm", "init"]);
+
+        case
+    }
+
+    pub fn git<S: AsRef<OsStr>>(&self, args: &[S]) -> Output {
+        let out = Command::new("git")
+            .current_dir(&self.repo)
+            .args(args)
+            .output()
+            .expect("running git");
+
+        assert!(
+            out.status.success(),
+            "git {:?} failed: {}",
+            args.iter()
+                .map(|a| a.as_ref().to_string_lossy())
+                .collect::<Vec<_>>(),
+            String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr)
+        );
+        out
+    }
+
+    // ahab, in the repository, with a store nothing else shares
+    pub fn ahab<S: AsRef<OsStr>>(&self, args: &[S]) -> Run {
+        let out = Command::new(env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_ahab"))
+            .current_dir(&self.repo)
+            .env("XDG_DATA_HOME", self.root.join("xdg"))
+            // the git commands ahab runs must not read the developer's own config
+            .env("GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL", "/dev/null")
+            .env("GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM", "/dev/null")
+            .args(args)
+            .output()
+            .expect("running ahab");
+
+        Run {
+            code: out.status.code(),
+            stdout: out.stdout,
+            stderr: String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr).into_owned(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn path(&self, rel: &str) -> PathBuf {
+        self.repo.join(rel)
+    }
+
+    pub fn write(&self, rel: &str, contents: &[u8]) {
+        let path = self.path(rel);
+        if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+            fs::create_dir_all(parent).expect("creating a parent directory");
+        }
+        fs::write(path, contents).expect("writing a file");
+    }
+
+    pub fn mkdir(&self, rel: &str) {
+        fs::create_dir_all(self.path(rel)).expect("creating a directory");
+    }
+
+    pub fn link(&self, at: &Path, to: &Path) {
+        if let Some(parent) = at.parent() {
+            fs::create_dir_all(parent).expect("creating a parent directory");
+        }
+        std::os::unix::fs::symlink(to, at).expect("creating a symlink");
+    }
+
+    pub fn gitignore(&self, lines: &str) {
+        self.write(".gitignore", lines.as_bytes());
+        self.git(&["add", ".gitignore"]);
+        self.git(&["commit", "-qm", "ignore"]);
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_symlink(&self, rel: &str) -> bool {
+        fs::symlink_metadata(self.path(rel)).is_ok_and(|meta| meta.is_symlink())
+    }
+
+    pub fn mode(&self, path: &Path) -> u32 {
+        use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+
+        fs::symlink_metadata(path)
+            .expect("reading a mode")
+            .permissions()
+            .mode()
+            & 0o777
+    }
+}
+
+impl Drop for Case {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&self.root);
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Run {
+    pub code: Option<i32>,
+    pub stdout: Vec<u8>,
+    pub stderr: String,
+}
+
+impl Run {
+    pub fn out(&self) -> String {
+        String::from_utf8_lossy(&self.stdout).into_owned()
+    }
+
+    pub fn ok(&self) -> &Self {
+        assert_eq!(self.code, Some(0), "{}", self.report());
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn failed(&self) -> &Self {
+        assert_ne!(self.code, Some(0), "{}", self.report());
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn code_is(&self, want: i32) -> &Self {
+        assert_eq!(self.code, Some(want), "{}", self.report());
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn says(&self, needle: &str) -> &Self {
+        assert!(
+            self.out().contains(needle) || self.stderr.contains(needle),
+            "expected {needle:?}\n{}",
+            self.report()
+        );
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn silent_about(&self, needle: &str) -> &Self {
+        assert!(
+            !self.out().contains(needle) && !self.stderr.contains(needle),
+            "did not expect {needle:?}\n{}",
+            self.report()
+        );
+        self
+    }
+
+    fn report(&self) -> String {
+        let mut out = String::new();
+        let _ = write!(
+            out,
+            "exit: {:?}\n--- stdout\n{}--- stderr\n{}",
+            self.code,
+            self.out(),
+            self.stderr
+        );
+        out
+    }
+}
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
Matej Janežič	49d9df64ae	chore: release v0.5.0	2026-09-09 15:43:26 +02:00
Matej Janežič	19b34cd946	merge: structural code changes	2026-09-09 15:41:44 +02:00
Matej Janežič	c55273d80c	refactor: one helper each for the repeated blocks	2026-09-09 15:41:30 +02:00
Matej Janežič	5dbe99a304	refactor: hand clap's own structs to the commands	2026-09-09 15:41:30 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b40dfe6124	refactor: put the dry-run and quiet checks on Ctx	2026-09-09 15:41:30 +02:00
Matej Janežič	d9439253fd	test: cover the store and the exit codes before moving any of it	2026-09-09 15:41:28 +02:00
Matej Janežič	2563d56595	merge: review fixes	2026-09-09 15:41:00 +02:00
Matej Janežič	5d121b13b5	docs: say what changed about names, modes and what check looks at	2026-09-09 15:40:43 +02:00
Matej Janežič	462d9cbec2	chore: stop sharing a cache with the binary the audit job runs	2026-09-09 15:40:42 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b6a6750499	fix: dumps and imports that quietly did the wrong thing	2026-09-09 15:40:41 +02:00
Matej Janežič	6b2d86ff5a	fix: make the link store hold what it says it holds	2026-09-09 15:40:40 +02:00
Matej Janežič	e146b0460a	fix: keep a path's bytes, so a filename that is not utf-8 survives	2026-09-09 15:40:39 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b4b6d5918f	fix: report what happened instead of losing it	2026-09-09 15:40:33 +02:00
Matej Janežič	75f293ce36	docs: bring the readme up to date with the commands that exist	2026-09-08 17:44:52 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b224519952	merge: qol improvements	2026-09-08 17:35:32 +02:00
Matej Janežič	d7a54c70f9	feat!: report findings with exit code 4, not the code for failure	2026-09-08 17:35:27 +02:00
Matej Janežič	23b7fde0ea	fix: separate the paths of a -z entry with a NUL, not an arrow	2026-09-08 17:35:27 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b372472de6	feat!: drop django test, which only ever ran one of the runners	2026-09-08 17:35:26 +02:00
Matej Janežič	99010cb641	fix: end quietly when a reader leaves the pipe early	2026-09-08 17:35:25 +02:00
Matej Janežič	1ecf7f1ee4	feat: show what ahab makes of this project	2026-09-08 17:35:25 +02:00
Matej Janežič	79ef5cca2d	feat: list what the store holds for this repository	2026-09-08 17:35:24 +02:00
Matej Janežič	6389f3f1f5	feat: open psql in the database container	2026-09-08 17:35:23 +02:00
Matej Janežič	61f35f5ae4	feat: silence progress with --quiet	2026-09-08 17:35:22 +02:00
Matej Janežič	cabbbde438	fix: import into a cluster that has no such database yet	2026-09-08 17:35:19 +02:00
Matej Janežič	5239e000d7	merge: code reorg	2026-09-08 15:43:51 +02:00
Matej Janežič	bb0a2cca44	refactor: name the modules after what they hold	2026-09-08 15:43:45 +02:00
Matej Janežič	a3c08f6eaa	refactor: put every filesystem write behind one module	2026-09-08 15:43:44 +02:00
Matej Janežič	bbbca755be	refactor: run git through the same layer as everything else	2026-09-08 15:43:43 +02:00
Matej Janežič	d7626d9f5e	refactor: give every command we run a type of its own	2026-09-08 15:43:42 +02:00
Matej Janežič	3d06f7dcb0	refactor: pass invocation options down instead of reading a global	2026-09-08 15:43:41 +02:00
Matej Janežič	056da8b9b2	refactor: build one binary instead of a library and a binary	2026-09-08 15:43:37 +02:00
Matej Janežič	27c6b261a6	merge: bug fixes	2026-09-08 13:18:24 +02:00
Matej Janežič	afa0b65c13	fix: stop --dry-run from writing to the working tree	2026-09-08 13:18:17 +02:00
Matej Janežič	e1817a6824	fix: fail a dump when its first pipeline stage dies	2026-09-08 13:18:11 +02:00
Matej Janežič	432fa12c53	fix: prune the store the caller asked for	2026-09-08 13:17:58 +02:00
Matej Janežič	01b0b5c2dd	merge: cli modernization	2026-09-08 12:01:34 +02:00
Matej Janežič	876e239769	chore: declare lints in the manifest	2026-09-08 12:00:58 +02:00
Matej Janežič	061b77f619	feat: colour the help, and check the command definition	2026-09-08 12:00:55 +02:00
Matej Janežič	4b1e9d68b0	feat: take the store root as an option	2026-09-08 12:00:52 +02:00
Matej Janežič	11ecd0ac89	refactor: return an exit code from main	2026-09-08 12:00:49 +02:00
Matej Janežič	aec7afb274	feat: hand back the command's exit code	2026-09-08 12:00:45 +02:00
Matej Janežič	3fa4739451	chore: update metadata	2026-09-08 11:46:21 +02:00
Matej Janežič	7bd2de6783	merge: link restore	2026-09-08 11:34:33 +02:00
Matej Janežič	260ef24174	feat: add link restore	2026-09-08 11:34:22 +02:00
Matej Janežič	ef3ad1a410	merge: general cli improvements	2026-09-08 11:27:40 +02:00
Matej Janežič	43d55b1003	style: normalise command help	2026-09-08 11:27:32 +02:00
Matej Janežič	15bcaafa85	feat: add exit-code to link check	2026-09-08 11:27:30 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b2a0c08256	feat: add verbose and dry run	2026-09-08 11:27:26 +02:00
Matej Janežič	ab93e7ef4f	fix: give the readiness wait a timeout	2026-09-08 11:27:22 +02:00
Matej Janežič	a489d77b0a	fix: write the dump to a temporary file first	2026-09-08 11:27:18 +02:00
Matej Janežič	1bb205bb79	feat: build commands from arguments instead of strings	2026-09-08 11:27:14 +02:00
Matej Janežič	25f7b7df9d	feat: fail when a command fails	2026-09-08 11:27:09 +02:00
Matej Janežič	0aeecdcb54	feat: remove stop_all	2026-09-08 11:27:03 +02:00
Matej Janežič	9caf9599b3	merge: postgres dump formats	2026-09-08 11:13:36 +02:00
Matej Janežič	ad269308cc	feat: dump in every format import understands	2026-09-08 11:13:22 +02:00
Matej Janežič	77703485b9	feat: support custom format, plain sql and cluster dumps	2026-09-08 11:12:49 +02:00
Matej Janežič	0f16949190	merge: compose subcommand deprecation	2026-09-07 15:14:41 +02:00
Matej Janežič	6e44527a9a	feat: deprecate compose subcommand	2026-09-07 13:11:36 +00:00
Matej Janežič	d11b0c68cd	feat: drop dotenvy	2026-09-07 13:11:36 +00:00
Matej Janežič	9d63233d9a	feat: detect the django and postgres services ahab guessed that the django service is called django and the postgres one db, falling back on AHAB_DJANGO_CONTAINER and AHAB_POSTGRES_CONTAINER. The standard project layout happens to agree, but nothing enforces it, and a stack naming them web and database could not use ahab without setting both variables. One `docker compose config --format json` call, roughly 120ms, resolves the stack even while it is down, and the services are identified from what they are rather than what they are called: - postgres is the service whose image is a postgres flavour, matching postg, timescale, pgvector or citus. Nothing else counts. - django is the service that both builds an image and has DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE in its environment. A celery worker sharing the same build and env_file matches too, so published ports break the tie: the service answering requests wins. Neither guess is allowed to be wrong quietly. No match, or two candidates that cannot be told apart, is an error naming the services it looked at. There is no variable to fall back on: both container variables are gone, along with the guessed defaults they backed up, so an ambiguous stack is fixed in the compose file rather than worked around per developer. Every service lookup goes through these rules, so `compose exec` and the whole django group agree on which container they mean. POSTGRES_USER and POSTGRES_DB come off the detected service, so dropdb, createdb, pg_restore and pg_dump stop assuming the role and database are both literally `db`, falling back to that only when the service declares neither. Note that env_file entries are merged into a service's environment, so POSTGRES_* is not safe for identifying the database service: one such line in a project's .env would make the django service match as well. That is why identification uses the image and only credentials use the environment. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-09-07 13:11:35 +00:00
Matej Janežič	836bbaac08	feat: let docker compose find its own file	2026-09-07 15:06:17 +02:00
Matej Janežič	7d71dd054c	docs: bring the readme up to date	2026-09-07 15:06:12 +02:00
Matej Janežič	d6bf3efb15	merge: completions improvements	2026-09-04 16:03:46 +02:00
Matej Janežič	ef19f49c63	feat: add completions subcommand	2026-09-04 16:03:35 +02:00
Matej Janežič	627812029d	fix: install completions per shell, and re-run when asked	2026-09-04 16:03:08 +02:00
Matej Janežič	471169612b	merge: maintenance	2026-09-04 11:46:35 +02:00
Matej Janežič	1afff02ee9	ci: add gitlab pipeline	2026-09-04 11:24:21 +02:00
Matej Janežič	8751c39cce	style: run cargo fmt	2026-09-04 11:24:14 +02:00
Matej Janežič	e10e1fb017	chore: drop allow(unused) and clear what it hid	2026-09-04 11:24:02 +02:00
Matej Janežič	ec4168769e	fix: keep existing contents in create_file	2026-09-04 11:23:52 +02:00
Matej Janežič	a301097120	refactor: drop unused CommandBuilder::new	2026-09-04 11:23:46 +02:00
Matej Janežič	3ed1fad4a7	chore: move to edition 2024	2026-09-04 11:23:42 +02:00
Matej Janežič	c52683e53c	chore: upgrade dependencies	2026-09-04 11:23:08 +02:00
Matej Janežič	3dc3da4592	merge: link subcommand	2026-09-03 15:58:41 +02:00
Matej Janežič	54395f83e4	feat: add link command	2026-09-03 15:58:28 +02:00
Matej Janežič	63d04a9393	chore: release v0.4.2	2026-03-02 14:51:03 +01:00
Matej Janežič	f92227a679	chore: generalize build.sh	2026-03-02 14:50:43 +01:00
Matej Janežič	27a1ec6d2c	chore(release): v0.4.1	2026-02-26 17:45:58 -05:00
Matej Janežič	1b1f9a31ed	feat: add -L to docker cp	2026-02-26 17:45:28 -05:00
Matej Janežič	e5eddb39f7	chore(release): v0.4.0	2026-02-24 08:53:28 -05:00
Matej Janežič	2000204250	feat: update default service names	2026-02-24 08:52:08 -05:00
Matej Janežič	7912e9a516	chore(release): v0.3.2	2025-07-01 17:37:36 +02:00
Matej Janežič	568d126fc2	test: add imports to doc snippets	2025-07-01 17:36:36 +02:00
Matej Janežič	3ce4cbfad7	chore(release): v0.3.1	2025-02-12 16:53:28 +01:00
Matej Janežič	36fcc84881	feat: don't read DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE	2025-02-12 16:52:50 +01:00
Matej Janežič	c8b3a817f0	chore: correctly document env variables in README	2025-02-12 16:52:09 +01:00
Matej Janežič	f7737ea00d	fix: dump from database `db`	2024-11-27 20:00:37 +01:00
Matej Janežič	f56965abc2	chore: add completion and configuration to readme	2024-11-27 18:48:20 +01:00
Matej Janežič	e7308bd5c6	feat: control default services via env vars Read default postgres compose service name and default django compose service name from env variables. AHAB_POSTGRES_CONTAINER - defaults to `appserver` AHAB_DJANGO_CONATINER - defaults to `postgresdb` Default values are there for 100% backwards compatibility.	2024-11-27 18:13:12 +01:00
Matej Janežič	3077420db2	feat!: respect COMPOSE_FILE env and remove docker command Read COMPOSE_FILE from env and use it if it is set. Default is still docker/local/docker-compose.yaml. BREAKING CHANGE: Removed docker subcommand. Added deprecation notice to compose subcommand.	2024-10-25 09:37:13 +02:00
Matej Janežič	73a0b87c31	feat: swap println for eprintln or debug_eprintln Unified expected output to always eprintln so outputs can be piped to other processes. Added debug_eprintln and switched all occurances of debug_println.	2024-10-25 09:03:49 +02:00
Matej Janežič	6fcf48ed61	feat: redirect `pg_isready` output to /dev/null Fixed bug where restore commands were called inside pg_isready loop. Made CommandBuilder::build public. Redirected stdout for pg_isready calls to /dev/null via Stdio::null().	2023-11-27 20:58:28 +01:00
Matej Janežič	0b0ca06398	chore: update README with install info Added install instructions to README; both normal and debug install.	2023-11-27 20:40:37 +01:00
Matej Janežič	98f02c1c08	feat: pg_isready in `postgres import` Fixed issue where arguments passed to `compose stop` weren't passed to the underlying command. Added pg_isready call between each command call in restore script.	2023-11-27 20:40:24 +01:00
Matej Janežič	2754a3bb30	feat: compile time completion generation Removed `completion` command in favor of compile time completion generation. This tool will only be build from source for the foreseeable future so this makes sense for now.	2023-08-09 14:45:07 +02:00
Matej Janežič	e061d6dc6c	feat: add compose ps command Ps is new command scoped under compose. It is just proxy to `docker compose ps`.	2023-08-09 13:59:58 +02:00
Matej Janežič	b45cfd3e0a	feat: add compose exec and compose bash commands Exec is new command scoped under compose. It allows sending commands directly into appserver container. I will make this customizable/controllable in the future.	2023-06-15 19:58:43 +02:00