XIDL Documentation

XIDL is an OMG IDL-based toolchain for generating APIs, runtimes, and schema artifacts from a single IDL source. The documentation is organized by audience so you can move directly to the material you need.

Choose a path

User Guides

Use the user guides when you want to install xidlc, write IDL, generate code, or understand the supported HTTP and JSON-RPC workflows.

• Start with Installation
• Continue with Using xidlc
• Learn the language in IDL Guide
• Explore transports in HTTP Guide and JSON-RPC Guide

Reference

Use the reference section when you need a fast answer about syntax, annotations, pragmas, or target support.

• Reference Overview
• IDL Elements
• Annotations
• Pragmas
• Targets

RFCs

Use the RFCs when you need the formal transport mapping rules. User guides link to them for exact semantics.

• HTTP, HTTP Stream, and HTTP Security
• JSON-RPC and JSON-RPC Stream

Development

Use the development section when you want to understand the repository architecture, code generation pipeline, or plugin model.

• Development Overview
• Architecture
• Plugin Development
• Documentation Audit

AI Skills

Use the AI section when you want a compact, operational summary for an agent or automation workflow.

• XIDL AI Skill

Source of truth

This documentation is implementation-backed. When a behavior matters, the most authoritative sources are:

• the generator code under xidlc/src/generate/
• the transport RFCs under docs/rfc/
• runnable examples under xidlc-examples/
• build integration code under xidl-build/

If a page looks too high-level for your task, jump from the guide to the linked reference or RFC page.