Course of Raku / Advanced / Modules / Distributing modules 🆕

The META6 file

A distribution is described by a single file in its top directory, META6.json. It is plain JSON that tells the tools the distribution’s name, version, what it provides, and what it depends on:

{
    "name": "Maths::Simple",
    "version": "0.0.1",
    "description": "Simple maths helpers",
    "authors": [ "Your Name" ],
    "license": "Artistic-2.0",
    "depends": [],
    "provides": {
        "Maths::Simple": "lib/Maths/Simple.rakumod"
    }
}

The two keys that matter most are provides, which maps each module name to the file that implements it, and depends, which lists other distributions this one needs.

The file sits at the root of a standard directory layout:

Maths-Simple/
├── META6.json
├── README.md
├── lib/
│   └── Maths/
│       └── Simple.rakumod
└── t/
    └── 01-basic.rakutest

The module code lives under lib/, with the directory path matching the :: parts of the name (Maths::Simple → lib/Maths/Simple.rakumod). Tests live under t/. With this structure and a correct META6.json, the tools can build, test, and install the distribution.

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