What is happening
We are pleased to announce that jig has joined the Vox Pupli project. Jig is a fast and dependency-free reimplementation of the Puppet Development Kit (PDK). By bringing it under the Vox Pupli umbrella, we are providing the community with a reliable and sustainable module-authoring tool that is maintained in a neutral, long-term environment.
What jig does
Jig is designed to support the daily tasks involved in authoring Puppet modules. It provides scaffolding for new modules, classes, defined types, facts, functions, providers, tasks, transports, and tests, ensuring that the standard directory layout and specification files are generated automatically.
Jig also assists with building and packaging modules for distribution on the Forge. It supports validation and unit testing, running the necessary checks that are expected prior to a release. Jig streamlines the process of creating versioned releases.
What distinguishes jig is its delivery as a single static binary, requiring neither a Ruby runtime nor any external dependencies. Once downloaded and placed in your system path, it is immediately operational. There is no need for bundler, no risk of gem conflicts, and no requirement for a large runtime in your continuous integration environments. This approach results in fast cold starts in CI and a straightforward, single-file setup for developers.
Why it matters for Vox Pupuli
With the transition of PDK to a closed-source model, the open Puppet ecosystem lost a tool that many module authors had depended on for years. Vox Pupuli was established to ensure that this ecosystem remains open and governed by the community, and providing robust module tooling is a key aspect of that mission.
Jig has always been open source, and its move into Vox Pupuli ensures that it is no longer dependent on a single individual’s account or availability. Issues, releases, and the project roadmap are now managed within the community, allowing the tool to evolve alongside the broader Vox Pupuli toolchain and to benefit from a wider range of contributors.
Thanks
Jig has already been strengthened by the efforts of early contributors and testers. I would like to extend particular thanks to Ben Ford and Martin Alfke for their contributions and feedback, as well as to everyone who provided issues and tested the tool during its initial development.
Try it
If you are involved in authoring Puppet modules, I encourage you to try jig and share your experiences, both positive and negative. The repository is now maintained within the Vox Pupuli organization, and contributions are welcome. This is a community-driven tool, and its future direction will be shaped by all of us.
We invite you to visit https://github.com/voxpupuli/jig to download jig, read documentation, and learn how you can contribute to the project.