Marvin - The Code Assistant CLI

Overview

Marvin is a sophisticated code assistant designed to help with course assignments. With a brain the size of a planet, it provides seamless build, check, and submission capabilities for students.

Key Features

• Zero-Conflict Environments: Isolated Nix configurations prevent dependency clashes while preserving system packages.
• Reproducibility Guaranteed: Identical environments across development, CI, and grading via declarative setup.
• Unified Workflows: One CLI for both CI pipelines (private/public) and local development.
• Multi-Language Pipelines: C++ (CMake/Clang) & Go with sanitizers, sandboxed tests, and auto-linting.
• IDE/Build Ready: Preconfigured for VSCode and CLion.

Cross-Platform Support

The client runs on:

• Linux (native)
• macOS (native)
• Windows (via WSL)

Getting Started

The CLI tool is designed to work with Nix for environment management. To activate the development environment in the course repository:

source cli/activate

This will set up the necessary environment variables and paths for the CLI tool to function properly.

Usage

Navigate to a course directory and run:

cli <command> [options]

Available Commands

• test: Run tests for the current task
• lint: Run linter checks
• format: Check or fix code formatting
• run-checks: Run all checks (format, test, lint)
• clean: Remove build files
• submit: Submit task to grading system
• list-tasks: List all available course tasks

Course Integration

The client is currently used in two courses:

1. Parallel and Concurrent Programming (PCP)
2. Distributed Systems (DS)

To use this client in a course:

1. Add the cli/ directory to the course repository
2. Set the appropriate version in course configuration
3. Students can then use source cli/activate to set up their environment

Module Structure

The CLI tool uses a modular architecture:

• lib.py: Core utilities and shared functionality
• main.py: CLI interface and command routing
• cpp.py: C++ specific build, test, and check functionality
• go.py: Go specific build and test functionality
• private.py: Private/internal commands for staff use

Language Support

C++

C++ projects use CMake as the build system with support for:

• Multiple build profiles (e.g., debug, release)
• Backtrace symbolization out of the box
• Sanitizer support (ASAN, TSAN)
• Clang-based tooling (Clang-Tidy, Clang-Format)
• IDE integration (VSCode, CLion)
• Build version tracking
• Test timeout configuration

Task config example

cpp_targets:
  spinlock_task:
    timeout: 30s
    profiles:
      - release-lines
      - asan-lines
      - release
      - asan
      - tsan

cpp_lint_files:
  - test.cpp

cpp_lint_profiles:
  - release

submit_files:
  - spinlock.hpp

Go

Go projects support:

• Go test execution
• Build caching
• Sandbox execution (Linux only)
• Test timeout configuration

Task config example

go_targets:
  ds/2pc:
    timeout: 1m

submit_files:
  - client.go