Migration Guide: cancer to ferro

This guide documents the upgrade path from cancer to ferro (v2.0).

Overview

The framework has been renamed from "cancer" to "ferro" for crates.io publication. The API remains identical - only package names and imports have changed.

Migration Steps

1. Update Cargo.toml Dependencies

Replace all cancer dependencies with their ferro equivalents:

# Before
[dependencies]
cancer = "1.0"
cancer-events = "1.0"
cancer-queue = "1.0"
cancer-notifications = "1.0"
cancer-broadcast = "1.0"
cancer-storage = "1.0"
cancer-cache = "1.0"

# After
[dependencies]
ferro = "2.0"
ferro-events = "2.0"
ferro-queue = "2.0"
ferro-notifications = "2.0"
ferro-broadcast = "2.0"
ferro-storage = "2.0"
ferro-cache = "2.0"

2. Update Rust Imports

Replace cancer with ferro in all import statements:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
// Before
use cancer::prelude::*;
use cancer_events::Event;
use cancer_queue::Job;

// After
use ferro::prelude::*;
use ferro_events::Event;
use ferro_queue::Job;
}

Use find-and-replace across your project:

use cancer:: to use ferro::
use cancer_ to use ferro_
cancer:: to ferro:: (in type paths)

3. Update CLI Commands

The CLI binary has been renamed:

# Before
cancer serve
cancer make:model User
cancer migrate

# After
ferro serve
ferro make:model User
ferro migrate

Update any scripts, CI configurations, or documentation that reference the CLI.

4. Update MCP Server Configuration

If using the MCP server for IDE integration:

// Before
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cancer-mcp": {
      "command": "cancer-mcp",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

// After
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ferro-mcp": {
      "command": "ferro-mcp",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

5. Update Environment Variables (Optional)

If you have custom environment variable prefixes, consider updating them for consistency:

# Optional - these still work but consider updating
CANCER_APP_KEY=... -> FERRO_APP_KEY=...

Breaking Changes

None. The v2.0 release contains only naming changes. All APIs, behaviors, and features remain identical to v1.x.

Verification

After migration, verify your setup:

# Check CLI installation
ferro --version

# Run tests
cargo test

# Start development server
ferro serve

Gradual Migration

For large projects, you can migrate gradually using Cargo aliases:

[dependencies]
# Temporary: use new crate with old import name
cancer = { package = "ferro", version = "2.0" }

This allows keeping existing imports while transitioning. Remove the alias once all code is updated.

Ferro Framework