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Crosswalker
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Config schema design (historical proposal)

Updated

Current state

Section titled “Current state”

The plugin’s CrosswalkerConfig (in src/types/config.ts) handles column mapping for a single import session. But it doesn’t support framework-specific transforms, crosswalk link definitions, or community config sharing. This page proposes the extended config schema.

Proposed FrameworkConfig

Section titled “Proposed FrameworkConfig”

Defines how to import a specific framework — which sheets to load, how to map columns, and what transforms to apply.

interface FrameworkConfig {
  // Identity
  name: string;                    // "NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5"
  version: string;                 // "Rev 5 Update 1"
  id: string;                      // "nist-800-53-r5" (machine-readable)
  
  // Source specification
  sourceFilePattern?: string;      // "sp800-53*.xlsx" (glob for auto-detection)
  sheets?: SheetConfig[];          // Which sheets to load and how
  
  // Column mapping overrides
  columnOverrides?: Record<string, ColumnRole>;
  
  // Custom transforms (per-framework logic)
  transforms?: TransformConfig[];
  
  // Output preferences
  outputPath?: string;             // "Frameworks/NIST-800-53-r5"
  noteTemplate?: string;           // Handlebars template for note body
  
  // Metadata
  author?: string;                 // Config author for sharing
  description?: string;
  tags?: string[];                 // ["compliance", "nist", "security-controls"]
}

interface SheetConfig {
  name: string;                    // "SP 800-53 Revision 5"
  headerRow?: number;              // 0-indexed (default 0)
  purpose: "primary" | "mapping" | "supplementary";
  mergeKey?: string;               // Column to join on when merging sheets
}

interface TransformConfig {
  type: "tag-aggregation" | "id-normalization" | "hierarchical-ffill" | 
        "preamble-extraction" | "custom";
  params: Record<string, any>;     // Transform-specific parameters
}

Example: CRI Profile config

{
  "name": "CRI Profile v2.0",
  "version": "2.0",
  "id": "cri-profile-v2",
  "sheets": [
    { "name": "CRI Profile v2.0 Structure", "headerRow": 2, "purpose": "primary" },
    { "name": "Diagnostic Statements by Tag", "headerRow": 3, "purpose": "supplementary", "mergeKey": "Profile Id" }
  ],
  "transforms": [
    { "type": "tag-aggregation", "params": { "sourceColumn": "CRI Profile Subject Tags", "prefix": "cri/" } },
    { "type": "hierarchical-ffill", "params": { "columns": ["Function", "Category", "Subcategory"] } }
  ]
}

Proposed LinkConfig

Section titled “Proposed LinkConfig”

Defines how to create crosswalk links between two imported frameworks.

interface LinkConfig {
  // Endpoints
  sourceFramework: string;         // "cri-profile-v2"
  targetFramework: string;         // "nist-csf-v2"
  
  // Matching
  sourceColumn: string;            // Column in source to match from
  targetColumn: string;            // Column in target to match against
  matchMode: "exact" | "array-contains" | "regex";
  
  // Output
  linkDirection: "source-to-target" | "target-to-source" | "both";
  linkProperty: string;            // Frontmatter key: "nist_csf_mapping"
  
  // Optional metadata template
  metadataTemplate?: Record<string, any>;  // Default metadata for all links
  
  // For typed-link syntax (advanced)
  inlineSyntax?: {
    dotKey: string;                // "cri.maps_to"
    wrapStyle: "none" | "brackets" | "parentheses";
  };
}

Example: CRI ↔ CSF crosswalk

{
  "sourceFramework": "cri-profile-v2",
  "targetFramework": "nist-csf-v2",
  "sourceColumn": "Profile Id",
  "targetColumn": "CSF Subcategory",
  "matchMode": "exact",
  "linkDirection": "both",
  "linkProperty": "csf_mapping"
}

Composition

Section titled “Composition”

A full CrosswalkerConfig wraps a FrameworkConfig plus optional LinkConfig[]:

interface CrosswalkerConfig {
  // Current fields (column mapping, output settings)
  // ...existing CrosswalkerConfig fields...
  
  // Extended
  frameworkConfig?: FrameworkConfig;
  linkConfigs?: LinkConfig[];
  
  // Sharing metadata
  exportedAt?: string;
  exportedFrom?: string;           // Plugin version
  compatibility?: string;          // Minimum plugin version
}

Community sharing model

Section titled “Community sharing model”

Configs can be exported as JSON for sharing:

  1. Export: User configures an import, saves config, exports as .crosswalker.json
  2. Share: Upload to GitHub, share in community forums, include in template vaults
  3. Import: Another user imports the config file, adjusting paths as needed
  4. Version pinning: Config includes compatibility field for minimum plugin version

Future: A community config registry (like npm for framework configs) where users can crosswalker install nist-800-53-r5 to get a pre-built import configuration.

Relation to saved configs

Section titled “Relation to saved configs”

The current config system uses fingerprinting to auto-match saved configs to new imports. FrameworkConfig extends this with:

  • Source file pattern matching: Detect which framework a file contains by its name or column patterns
  • Sheet-level configuration: Auto-select the right sheets for multi-sheet frameworks
  • Transform presets: Apply framework-specific transforms without manual configuration

The config selection algorithm would score FrameworkConfig matches higher than generic column-mapping matches, enabling “one-click re-import” for known frameworks.

Resources

Section titled “Resources”
Section titled “Related pages”