Tracking Issue for JSON output format of `cargo package --list`

[weihanglo]

Summary

Original issue: #11666
Implementation: #15311
Documentation: https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/cargo/reference/unstable.html##package-message-format

The --message-format flag in cargo package controls the output message format. The initial purpose of the flag is providing an alternative JSON output format for file listing of the --list flag.

Unresolved Issues

• --list json or --message-format json, see feat(package): add unstable --message-format flag  #15311 (comment)
  • a single json blob vs N? What is N? See feat(package): add unstable --message-format flag  #15311 (comment)
• Is the current format plain or human, see feat(package): add unstable --message-format flag  #15311 (comment)
• snake_case or kebab-case for the JSON schema, see feat(package): add unstable --message-format flag  #15311 (comment)
• Should the path to the file on disk be absolute paths or relative?
  • (The current implementation) Using absolute paths is less ambiguous, but then users need to post-handle them.
  • Relative paths makes the JSON blob smaller and more reproducible, though not sure why cargo package --list needs this level of reproducibility.
• Should the path field follow symlinks? There might be a use case needing to know if a packaged file was a symlink. This could also be future extension that the JSON provides more file metadata.

Future Extensions

No response

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