How to Write Pants BUILD Targets from a Module Inventory

Pants files rot when they enable pants.backend.go that nobody locked. The inventory named python_sources mailer and util. Tests NONE.

The matching generator is the Pants BUILD Targets from a Module Inventory (Version-Locked, No Invented Backends) (Pants Build Targets From A Module Inventory Version Locked No Invented Backends) prompt. Browse related cards in the PromptDig library (Browse more prompts). When a filled run survives, share the version you actually use (Share a prompt).

Print the backend lock table first

Write Pants BUILD targets from a module inventory. Version-lock backends. Do not invent extra modules. Start by filling Inputs, not by asking the model to remember last week's run. If a field is blank, write NONE or NOT IN INPUTS and leave it blank through Generate. The card is built so the model cannot honestly invent a number, owner, URL, or command that you did not paste.

Paste these fields before you hit run:

Module inventory I lock (names, kinds, sources I allow): [Modules]
Backends I lock with versions (or UNKNOWN): [Backends]
Pants version I lock (or UNKNOWN): [Version]
Interpreter I lock (or UNKNOWN): [Py]
Words I must not use: [Banned]
What I must never invent (backends, extra modules, resolver URLs): [Never]
Output format: [Format]
Language for comments: [Lang]
Test targets I allow (or NONE): [Tests]

That inventory is the honesty ledger. Anything that does not appear there is forbidden in the draft. If you catch yourself adding a nice-to-have after the run, you are no longer using the card. You are ghostwriting. Put the extra fact in Inputs and run again.

Write pants.toml deps only from the locked set

Generate is numbered on purpose. Do not skip a step because the first paragraph looked done. The early steps exist to stop later prose from smuggling claims.

Walk the Generate list in order:

1. Honesty ledger: Modules, Backends, Version, Py, Tests, Lang. Forbidden: invented backends, extra modules, resolver URLs.
2. Backend lock table: each Backends line quoted. If a target needs a backend not listed, write NOT IN INPUTS.
3. pants.toml sketch: pants_version from Version or VERSION UNKNOWN. backend_packages only from Backends. interpreter from Py or PY UNKNOWN.
4. BUILD: targets only from Modules. sources only listed files. Do not add python_distribution unless Modules named it.
5. Refuse list: bazel_dep, Buck2 prelude, dagger.gen, invented pants.backend.python.mixed.
6. Tests: quote Tests or write NONE. Do not add a catch-all python_tests glob.
7. Never: do not write a pytest extra unless Tests named it. Do not invent a PyPI index URL.
8. Compliance pass: quote Banned and Never hits. Cut them. Format as Format.

If a step asks for a version lock, quote the version from Inputs in the output. If a step asks for a refuse list, keep the refuse list in the published artifact, not in a sidebar you delete. Reviewers should see what the model was not allowed to do.

Refuse Bazel dumps and extra modules

Most failures are the same shape: a missing field gets a confident fill. A conversion rate appears. A Gradle task appears. A flash point appears. A caption appears on a job that asked for slide text only. Your review is to search the draft for numbers, names, and commands, then grep Inputs. No match means cut.

Honor the constraints as hard stops, not vibes:

• Pants BUILD from Modules and Backends only. Not Bazel and not Buck2.
• Never invent backends, extra modules, or resolver URLs.
• Only Tests named in Inputs.
• No emojis.

When the card says not legal advice, not certification, not an exam dump, or not a caption engine, that sentence belongs at the top of the output. Deleting it to look more finished is how you inherit risk.

Keep python_tests NONE if the inventory omitted them

Finish with the compliance pass the prompt already asks for. Quote the banned-word hits. Cut them. Print character counts when the job has a cap. Print word counts when the job has a budget. List gaps as gaps. Five missing facts are more useful than one smooth paragraph.

Tags on the card (pants build targets, module inventory lock, no invented backends) are a reminder of the job shape, not an invitation to wander into a neighboring cluster. If you need a different surface, open a different PromptDig card rather than stretching this one.

Fill the card, then run

Replace every bracket. Run on ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Read the ledger first, then the artifact. If the model invents a commit, KPI, DOI, PEL, bid, or logo, discard the run. Tighten Inputs. Run again. Share the filled card that survived, not the first draft that sounded done.