CPAN::...ecfile(3perl)

💖 CPAN::Plugin::Specfile 💖

okay bestie, so this is CPAN::Plugin::Specfile from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide — it's a lowkey proof-of-concept implementation of a trivial CPAN::Plugin. like, the tiniest little plugin soul you've ever met 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

CPAN::Plugin::Specfile — a proof of concept implementation of a trivial CPAN::Plugin 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

  # once in the cpan shell
  o conf plugin_list push CPAN::Plugin::Specfile

  # make permanent
  o conf commit

  # any time in the cpan shell to write a spec file
  test Acme::Meta

  # disable
  # if it is the last in plugin_list:
  o conf plugin_list pop
  # otherwise, determine the index to splice:
  o conf plugin_list
  # and then use splice, e.g. to splice position 3:
  o conf plugin_list splice 3 1

periodt 💅 that's the whole flow. push it, commit it, run a test, and pop or splice it later when you're done with it.

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so here's the tea ☕: this plugin is implemented as a post-test hook, which means it writes a specfile after every successful test run. and the content? also written straight to your terminal. no cap. ✨

As a side effect, the timestamps of the written specfiles reflect the linear order of all dependencies. it's giving chronological receipts 🧾

WARNING 🚨 bestie, listen: this code is just a small demo how to use the plugin system of the CPAN shell, not a full fledged spec file writer. Do not expect new features in this plugin. it is what it is, and what it is is a demo 💀

🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

The target directory to store the spec files in can be set using dir as in

  o conf plugin_list push CPAN::Plugin::Specfile=dir,/tmp/specfiles-000042

The default directory for this is the plugins/CPAN::Plugin::Specfile directory in the cpan_home directory. so if you don't say anything, that's where the lil specfiles go 🏠💖

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✨ AUTHOR ✨

Andreas Koenig <andk@cpan.org>, Branislav Zahradnik <barney@cpan.org> — absolute legends, we love them, we thank them 👑🫶

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and that's the whole vibe, bestie! 🌈 this was pulled from perl v5.44.0, dated 2026-10-17, and it lives under the manual name CPAN::...ecfile(3perl) — slay, bye 💜🦋🌸