Roadmap

SprigConfig follows a phased development approach, prioritizing stability and backward compatibility. This roadmap outlines planned features and the principles guiding development.

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Guiding Principles

These principles inform all development decisions:

1. Config behavior > file format — What configuration does matters more than how it’s written
2. Parsing is a leaf concern — Format handling is separate from configuration semantics
3. Backward compatibility is sacred in 1.x — Existing projects continue to work
4. 2.0 only when contracts change — Major versions are reserved for breaking changes

Any change violating these principles is either deferred or reserved for a major version bump.

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Current Version: 1.4.2

Released: January 2026

Features

• Multi-format support (YAML, JSON, TOML)
• Profile-based configuration overlays
• Recursive imports with cycle detection
• Deep merge with collision warnings
• Encrypted secrets with lazy decryption
• Complete provenance tracking
• CLI for configuration inspection
• pytest integration
• Dependency injection — ConfigValue, @ConfigurationProperties, @config_inject
• Dynamic instantiation — Hydra-style _target_ support via instantiate()

Recent Additions (1.3.0 - 1.4.2)

• Dependency injection patterns (1.3.0) — Spring Boot-style configuration injection with three patterns:
  • ConfigValue — Field-level descriptor for lazy config binding with type conversion
  • @ConfigurationProperties — Class-level decorator for auto-binding config sections
  • @config_inject — Function parameter injection decorator with override support
• Dynamic class instantiation (1.4.0) — Hydra-style _target_ support for instantiating classes from configuration
• Type conversion system — Automatic conversion based on Python type hints
• Security patches (1.4.1, 1.4.2) — Dependency vulnerability fixes

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Phase 5: 1.5.x

Focus: Validation and Enhanced Type Support

Potential Enhancements

• Validation framework (@Min, @Max, @Pattern)
• Complex type hints (list[str], Optional[str])
• Nested collection binding (list[NestedConfig])
• Enhanced error messages for configuration binding

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Phase 6: 2.0.0

Focus: Stable Parser Platform

A 2.0 release happens only when public contracts must change.

Scope

• Parser interfaces frozen and documented
• Supported plugin system with versioning guarantees
• Defined expectations for:
  • Parser lifecycle
  • Error behavior
  • Merge semantics

Potential Enhancements

• Optional XML support
• Optional schema integration hooks
• Advanced provenance features

What Triggers 2.0

• Need to change public APIs in breaking ways
• Parser plugin contracts require formalization
• Significant architectural changes

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What We’re Not Planning

Some features are intentionally out of scope:

Flat format support (INI, Properties)

Flat formats require inventing behavior (dot-splitting, type inference) that conflicts with SprigConfig’s explicit philosophy. See Philosophy.

Remote configuration

SprigConfig loads local files. Remote configuration (Consul, etcd, etc.) is a separate concern better handled by specialized tools.

Hot reloading

Configuration is loaded once at startup. Hot reloading introduces complexity and potential race conditions.

Schema validation

Use Pydantic or similar for validation after loading. SprigConfig focuses on loading and merging.

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Version History

1.4.2 (January 2026)

• Security patch for jaraco-context CVE-2026-23949

1.4.1 (January 2026)

• Security patches for weasyprint and filelock vulnerabilities

1.4.0 (January 2026)

• Hydra-style _target_ support for dynamic class instantiation
• instantiate() function for creating instances from configuration
• Type conversion based on Python type hints
• Seamless @config_inject integration

1.3.0 (January 2026)

• Spring Boot-style dependency injection patterns
• ConfigValue field-level descriptor
• @ConfigurationProperties class-level decorator
• @config_inject function parameter injection
• LazySecret integration with configurable decrypt behavior

1.2.5 (January 2026)

• Security scanning with pip-audit and Bandit
• Pre-commit hooks for local security scanning
• Dependency management documentation

1.2.4 (December 2025)

• Full TOML format support with feature parity

1.2.0 (December 2025)

• TOML configuration format support
• --format CLI flag
• Merge order bug fix

1.1.0 (December 2025)

• Format-agnostic configuration loading
• JSON configuration format support
• Internal parser abstraction

1.0.0 (December 2025)

• Initial stable release
• YAML-based deep-merge configuration
• Profile overlays
• Recursive imports
• Secure lazy secrets
• CLI tooling

See CHANGELOG for complete version history.

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Contributing to the Roadmap

Have ideas for SprigConfig’s future?

Feature requests

Open an issue describing:

• The problem you’re trying to solve
• Why existing features don’t address it
• How the feature aligns with SprigConfig’s principles

Pull requests

• Discuss significant changes in an issue first
• Ensure backward compatibility
• Include tests for new behavior

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

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Stability Promise

SprigConfig is committed to stability:

• 1.x releases are backward compatible
• Deprecation warnings precede removal
• Major versions are infrequent and well-communicated
• Migration guides accompany breaking changes

You can depend on SprigConfig in production with confidence.

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