---
id: colcon-recursive-crawl
version: "0.2.3"
license: Apache License, Version 2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# colcon-recursive-crawl — Extension for colcon to recursively crawl for packages.

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 195.5K/mo

## 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 above — verify before relying.

A colcon-core extension that recursively crawls directory trees to discover and locate packages for the colcon build system.

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

pip install colcon-recursive-crawl
uv add colcon-recursive-crawl
poetry add colcon-recursive-crawl

## Installing colcon-recursive-crawl

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 Maintenance is dormant—last release was over a year ago and the repository has not been archived, but activity is minimal.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.

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-core

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.

Verify 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_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 195.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

colcon package discovery, recursive package crawling, colcon build extension, colcon workspace scanning, find packages colcon, colcon plugin, directory tree package search, colcon-plugin, build-automation, monorepo

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/colcon-recursive-crawl) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/colcon-recursive-crawl/)