Your First Project

This guide follows the real new-project workflow end to end: scaffold a project, resolve the standard library, check the model, and build it to a standards format. Every command below is implemented in the current CLI.

1. Scaffold a new project

deal init creates a project directory with a starter model and a deal.toml manifest:

deal init my-project

deal init: project 'my-project' created in ./my-project/
Next: cd my-project && deal install

It writes the following layout:

• Directorymy-project/

  • deal.toml project manifest
  • .gitignore
  • Directorypackages/

    • starter.deal definitions (part, port, requirement)
  • Directorymodel/

    • starter.dealx composition + traceability
  • Directorysimulations/

    • …
  • Directorytest/data/

    • …
  • Directorydocs/

    • …

The generated deal.toml

[project]
name = "my-project"
version = "0.1.0"
schema = "deal/0.1"
marking = "Unclassified"
description = "A DEAL project"

[workspace]
packages = ["packages/*"]

[dependencies]
deal-std = { git = "https://github.com/deal-lang/deal-stdlib", tag = "v0.4.0" }

deal-std is the standard library — SI and imperial units, base types, and standard math — resolved from the deal-stdlib repository.

The starter model

packages/starter.deal holds the definitions:

package starter;

part def StarterPart {}
port def StarterPort {}

requirement def REQ_001 {
    verification {
        accepts: [analysis];
    }
}

model/starter.dealx composes them and records traceability:

package model;

[<system StarterSystem>]
    [<StarterPart as="part" />]
[</system>]

[<traceability>]
    [<satisfy requirement="REQ_001" by="StarterSystem" method="analysis">]
    [</satisfy>]
[</traceability>]

2. Install dependencies

cd my-project
deal install

Downloading deal-std v0.4.0 from https://github.com/deal-lang/deal-stdlib...
deal install: 1 dependency resolved, deal.lock updated

This clones the git dependency into .deal/deps/ and writes a SHA-pinned deal.lock.

Tip

Commit deal.lock to version control so teammates and CI resolve the exact same dependency revisions.

3. Check your model

deal check parses every source, resolves imports, and runs semantic and dimensional analysis. It exits 0 when there are no error-severity diagnostics:

deal check

Point it at specific files or a directory to narrow the scope (deal check packages/starter.deal). Add --verify to evaluate requirement criteria against captured evidence, or --simulations to validate deal.sims.toml bindings.

Note

Formatting is built in too — deal fmt rewrites files in place, and deal fmt --check fails if anything is unformatted, which is handy in CI.

4. Build to SysML v2 or ReqIF

Generate SysML v2 JSON for import into Cameo and other SysML v2 API tooling:

deal build --target sysml-v2 --output build/system.sysml.json

Generate a ReqIF archive for IBM DOORS and other requirements tools:

deal build --target reqif --output build/requirements.reqifz

Add --validate to run offline schema validation on the generated output before it leaves your machine.

Next steps

You now have a working project and a build. Continue to Core Concepts to learn the building blocks — definitions, compositions, requirements, traceability, and units — behind the starter model.