attune/work-summary/2026-02-04-timer-sensor-crate-rename.md

Timer Sensor Crate Rename

Date: 2026-02-04 Task: Rename sensor-timer crate to core-timer-sensor Status: ✅ Complete

Summary

Renamed the timer sensor crate from crates/sensor-timer to crates/core-timer-sensor to better reflect its role as a core pack component. The binary name was kept as attune-core-timer-sensor for backward compatibility.

Approach: Minimal Disruption

Decision: Keep binary name as attune-core-timer-sensor to minimize changes

• ✅ No changes needed to pack YAML files
• ✅ No changes needed to Dockerfiles (except build commands)
• ✅ No changes needed to systemd service files
• ✅ Backward compatible with existing deployments

Files Modified

1. Workspace Configuration

File: Cargo.toml

• Updated workspace members from crates/sensor-timer → crates/core-timer-sensor

2. Crate Configuration

File: crates/core-timer-sensor/Cargo.toml

• Changed package name to core-timer-sensor
• Added [[bin]] section to keep binary name as attune-core-timer-sensor:

[[bin]]
name = "attune-core-timer-sensor"
path = "src/main.rs"

3. Documentation Updates

Updated crate path references in all documentation:

• crates/core-timer-sensor/README.md

  • Build commands: cargo build -p core-timer-sensor
  • Test commands: cargo test -p core-timer-sensor
  • Install path: cargo install --path crates/core-timer-sensor
  • Code structure path

• docs/guides/timer-sensor-quickstart.md

  • Build/test/run commands
  • Code path references

• docs/sensors/timer-sensor-implementation.md

  • Test command reference

• docs/authentication/token-rotation.md

  • README path reference

• docs/sensors/sensor-lifecycle-management.md

  • Implementation path reference

• docs/sensors/native-runtime.md

  • Implementation path reference

Files NOT Modified (No Changes Needed)

• ✅ packs/core/sensors/interval_timer_sensor.yaml - entry_point still attune-core-timer-sensor
• ✅ docker/Dockerfile - binary name unchanged
• ✅ docker/Dockerfile.pack-builder - binary name unchanged
• ✅ docker-compose.yaml - no direct references
• ✅ Systemd service files (in docs) - binary name unchanged
• ✅ All deployment configurations - binary name unchanged

Verification

Build Test

$ cargo build -p core-timer-sensor
Compiling core-timer-sensor v0.1.0 (.../crates/core-timer-sensor)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo]

Binary Verification

$ ls -lh target/debug/attune-core-timer-sensor
-rwxrwxr-x 2 david david 150M Feb  4 14:10 target/debug/attune-core-timer-sensor

Binary name preserved: ✓

Test Verification

$ cargo test -p core-timer-sensor
test result: ok. 34 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

All tests passing: ✓

Package Name Verification

$ cargo metadata --format-version 1 | jq '.packages[] | select(.name=="core-timer-sensor") | .name'
"core-timer-sensor"

Package renamed: ✓

Benefits

1. Clearer Naming: core-timer-sensor better indicates this is part of the core pack
2. Minimal Disruption: Binary name unchanged means:
   • No deployment changes needed
   • No Docker changes needed
   • No pack YAML changes needed
3. Backward Compatible: Existing references to attune-core-timer-sensor binary still work
4. Consistent Pattern: Aligns with naming convention for core pack components

Migration Guide

For developers:

Old Commands

cargo build -p attune-core-timer-sensor
cargo test -p attune-core-timer-sensor
cargo run -p attune-core-timer-sensor

New Commands

cargo build -p core-timer-sensor
cargo test -p core-timer-sensor
cargo run -p core-timer-sensor

Binary Name (Unchanged)

./target/release/attune-core-timer-sensor  # Still works!

Technical Details

Cargo Binary Name Override

The key to maintaining backward compatibility is the [[bin]] section in Cargo.toml:

[package]
name = "core-timer-sensor"  # Package name (used in -p flag)

[[bin]]
name = "attune-core-timer-sensor"  # Binary name (unchanged)
path = "src/main.rs"

This allows:

• Package name to be core-timer-sensor (for organization)
• Binary name to remain attune-core-timer-sensor (for compatibility)

Path References

All path references updated from:

• crates/sensor-timer/ → crates/core-timer-sensor/

Binary name references unchanged:

• attune-core-timer-sensor (no changes needed)

Related Work

This rename is part of organizing the core pack components:

• Timer sensor (this rename)
• Future: Other core pack sensors may follow similar pattern

Conclusion

The crate rename was completed successfully with minimal disruption. By keeping the binary name unchanged, we avoided breaking changes to deployments, Docker configurations, and pack definitions while improving code organization and clarity.

Status: Ready for use with new package name core-timer-sensor