colcon-recursive-crawl
Extension for colcon to recursively crawl for packages.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you use colcon and need recursive package discovery in a nested workspace structure. The low install friction, permissive license, and absence of known vulnerabilities make it safe to add. However, verify compatibility with your colcon-core version first, as the package is dormant and may not be updated for breaking changes in colcon's plugin API.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires colcon-core to be installed and Python >= 3.6.
- The extension is a plugin that integrates into colcon's discovery system rather than a standalone library.
- Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (colcon-core).
License · maintenance · safety
Apache License, Version 2.0 (permissive) — Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (permissive), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. No licensing concerns for most projects.
last release 2023-10-05 (1044 days) · last repo commit 2024-11-25 · 1 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 195,547 downloads/mo, #9,814 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install colcon-recursive-crawl
from colcon_recursive_crawl.plugin import RecursiveCrawlExtension
# Extension is automatically discovered and registered by colcon-core- Whether the recursive crawl strategy is suitable for very large monorepos or deeply nested directory structures.
- Current compatibility with recent colcon-core versions given the dormant maintenance status.
What it is and what it does
colcon-recursive-crawl is a plugin for the colcon build system that extends its package discovery mechanism. It adds the ability to recursively search through directory hierarchies to find and index packages, rather than relying on flat or manually-specified package lists. This is useful in monorepo or workspace setups where packages are organized in nested folder structures.
The extension integrates directly into colcon-core's plugin architecture, so once installed, it becomes available as a discovery strategy. It has been in alpha status since its initial release in 2018 and has received minimal updates since late 2023. It carries no known security vulnerabilities and depends only on colcon-core, making it lightweight to add to an existing colcon installation.
Use it for
- Discovering packages in a monorepo with nested subdirectories without manually listing each package path.
- Automating workspace setup when package structure is hierarchical or changes frequently.
- Extending colcon's default discovery to handle non-standard directory layouts in large projects.
- Building ROS 2 workspaces where packages are organized in nested folders across multiple levels.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you use colcon and need recursive package discovery in a nested workspace structure.
The low install friction, permissive license, and absence of known vulnerabilities make it safe to add. However, verify compatibility with your colcon-core version first, as the package is dormant and may not be updated for breaking changes in colcon's plugin API.
Install
colcon-recursive-crawl on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (colcon-core). Maintenance is dormant—last release was over a year ago and the repository has not been archived, but activity is minimal. Suitable for stable use if the underlying colcon-core API remains compatible.
Requires colcon-core to be installed and Python >= 3.6. The extension is a plugin that integrates into colcon's discovery system rather than a standalone library.
License in practice
Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (permissive), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. No licensing concerns for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install colcon-recursive-crawl
from colcon_recursive_crawl.plugin import RecursiveCrawlExtension
# Extension is automatically discovered and registered by colcon-coreVerify before relying
- Whether the recursive crawl strategy is suitable for very large monorepos or deeply nested directory structures.
- Current compatibility with recent colcon-core versions given the dormant maintenance status.
Package facts
| License | Apache License, Version 2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.6 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagecolcon-core |
| Maintenance | Dormant 1,044 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 195,547 / month, #9,814 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 3 - AlphaEnvironment :: PluginsIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: POSIXProgramming Language :: PythonTopic :: Software Development :: Build Tools |
Evidence: colcon_recursive_crawl-0.2.3-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “colcon package discovery”
- colcon-recursive-crawlA colcon-core extension that recursively crawls directory trees to…
- colcon-library-pathExtends colcon to configure environment variables for locating shared…
- colcon-devtoolsExtends colcon-core to expose information about the plugin system,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Build Tools packages
Provides reusable utilities for Python packaging interoperability, including version handling, specifiers, markers, requirements, tags, and metadata parsing according to standards like PEP 440 and PEP 425.
Wraps any iterable to display a real-time progress bar in the terminal or Jupyter notebook, showing iteration count, elapsed time, and estimated time remaining.
pip is the standard installer for Python packages, enabling you to download and install packages from the Python Package Index and other indexes into your Python environment.
Hatchling is a standards-compliant Python build backend that handles packaging, metadata, and distribution of Python projects when configured in a project's pyproject.toml file.
Generates Python gRPC service stubs and message classes from Protocol Buffer definitions, enabling developers to build gRPC clients and servers.
pre-commit is a framework for installing and running git hooks written in any language before commits are made, automating code quality and validation checks across multi-language projects.
Install it if your team needs consistent, automated validation at commit time.
See also colcon-package-information · colcon-devtools · colcon-parallel-executor · colcon-package-selection · colcon-python-setup-py · colcon-ros · colcon-metadata · formic2 · scantree · abx-plugins