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+# Component Registries
+
+This document describes the design of using component registries from 
+`cargo-component`.
+
+## Motivation
+
+Currently, `cargo-component` only supports referencing interface definitions 
+from local files.
+
+It also lacks support for directly referencing other components to use as a 
+dependency.
+
+In the near future, _component registries_ will exist that are designed 
+specifically to support the WebAssembly component model.
+
+Component authoring tooling like `cargo-component` should be able to easily 
+reference packages from a component registry to facilitate the development of 
+components.
+
+## Goals
+
+The design follows these goals:
+
+* **Follow `cargo` conventions**
+
+  * The design should be familiar (enough) to Rust developers given that using 
+    dependencies from `crates.io` is universally understood.
+
+* **Don't force wit on users**
+
+  * The design should enable users to use components from a registry without
+    forcing them to immediately learn wit.
+
+* **Fully support the component model**
+
+  * The design should enable users to leverage wit when authoring their 
+    component and make it easy to reference registry packages in wit.
+
+## Registry package types
+
+This design follows the [SIG Registry glossary](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/SIG-Registries/blob/main/glossary.md)
+definition of package types.
+
+`cargo-component` will support expressing dependencies on the following package 
+types:
+
+* `wit` - a binary-encoded wit document defining any number of interfaces and 
+  worlds; a wit package describes component model _types_.
+
+* `component` - a binary-encoded WebAssembly component; a component package 
+  contains an _implementation_ (i.e. code) in addition to describing component 
+  model _types_.
+
+Note that both package types use the binary AST of the component model.
+
+## Design
+
+With the goal being to feel familiar to Rust developers, `Cargo.toml` will be 
+used to express dependencies on packages from a component registry.
+
+However, as to not recreate all of the expressivity of wit itself using TOML, 
+what can be accomplished with `Cargo.toml` alone will be limited.
+
+When more expressivity is required, a wit document can be used to directly describe the authored component's type.
+
+### `Cargo.toml` syntax
+
+This design proposes the following tables in `Cargo.toml`:
+
+* `[package.metadata.component]`
+
+  This table contains information about the component being authored. The 
+  supported fields are:
+
+  * `package` - the name of the component package to use when publishing to a 
+    component registry; required to publish.
+
+  * `targets` - a target world for the component being authored; this causes 
+    bindings to be generated for the specified world's imports and exports.
+
+  See below for more information on the `targets` field.
+
+* `[package.metadata.component.dependencies]`
+
+  This table contains information about component dependencies.
+  
+  The dependencies may come from a component registry or from local wit 
+  documents and components.
+
+  Specifying dependencies from a registry is done in the general form of:
+
+  ```toml
+  name = { package = "<package-id>", version = "<version>", registry = "<registry>" }
+  ```
+
+  The `registry` field is optional and defaults to `default` (see the `[package.metadata.component.registries]`
+  table below).
+
+  As packages in a component registry are namespaced (unlike Rust crate 
+  registries), the shorthand form differs from what is supported by `cargo`:
+
+  ```toml
+  name = "<package-id>:<version>"
+  ```
+
+  Which is equivalent to:
+
+  ```toml
+  name = { package = "<package-id>", version = "<version>" }
+  ```
+
+  Local wit documents and components are specified using the `path` field:
+
+  ```toml
+  name = { path = "<path>" }
+  ```
+
+  In the future, it may be possible to specify a path to a directory containing 
+  a `Cargo.toml` that itself defines a component and treat it as a component 
+  package dependency.
+
+  The names of dependencies correspond to "packages" in a `wit` document and 
+  may also influence the names of imports in the component being authored ([see dependency behavior](#dependency-behavior)).
+
+* `[package.metadata.component.registries]`
+
+  This table is entirely optional and is a map of friendly names to registry 
+  URL (the format of the URL is dependent upon the underlying 
+  registry client implementation):
+
+  ```toml
+  name = "<registry-url>"
+  ```
+
+  This is the shorthand form of:
+
+  ```toml
+  name = { url = "<registry-url>" }
+  ```
+
+  Dependencies may specify a specific registry to use by specifying the `registry` field:
+
+  ```toml
+  [package.metadata.component.dependencies]
+  foo = { package = "ns/foo", version = "0.1.0", registry = "my-registry" }
+  ```
+
+  The `default` name is used when no `registry` field is specified in a
+  dependency. Therefore, specifying a registry with name `default` will 
+  override the built-in default in `cargo-component` (expected to be a 
+  future Bytecode Alliance component registry instance).
+
+  A local filesystem registry (i.e. a directory containing vendored packages 
+  and their package logs) may be specified using the `path` field of a registry 
+  entry:
+
+  ```toml
+  name = { path = "<path>" }
+  ```
+
+  Local filesystem registries will be the first supported registry 
+  implementation in `cargo-component` while the implementation of 
+  component registries is still in progress.
+
+  It should be possible to specify the registries at the workspace root `Cargo.toml`
+  as well, allowing for a single set of registries to be used across a 
+  workspace.
+
+#### The `targets` field
+
+The `targets` field in `[package.metadata.component]` is used to specify a 
+world the component is intended to target.
+
+Specifying the target is done in the general form of:
+
+```toml
+targets = { dependency = "<dependency>", document = "<document>", world = "<world>" }
+```
+
+If _only_ the `dependency` field is specified, the dependency must be a 
+component and it signifies that the component being authored will target the 
+same world as the dependency.
+
+Otherwise, the specified dependency must be a wit package and the `document` 
+field is required. The `world` field remains optional; if not present the 
+default world of the specified document is used.
+
+The `targets` field has a shorthand form of `"<dependency>[.<document>[.<world>]]"`.
+
+For example, the following:
+
+```toml
+targets = "wasi.cli.command"
+```
+
+is equivalent to:
+
+```toml
+targets = { dependency = "wasi", document = "cli", world = "command" }
+```
+
+Components may target a local wit package by specifying the `path` field:
+
+```toml
+targets = { path = "<path>", world = "<world>" }
+```
+
+The path will be parsed as a wit document and it may reference external packages
+as specified in the `package.metadata.component.dependencies` table. If `world` is omitted in this form, the document must define a default world.
+
+Components that target a local wit document _will not_ automatically import
+from component package dependencies; it is expected that the document will
+fully describe the imports and exports of the component.
+
+Components that target a dependency's world will _additionally import_ from
+any component package dependencies in addition to the imports of the targeted world
+
+## Examples
+
+### Targeting a world from a dependency
+
+An example `Cargo.toml`:
+
+```toml
+[package]
+name = "my-component"
+version = "1.2.3"
+
+[dependencies]
+# Rust crate dependencies here
+
+[package.metadata.component]
+package = "my-org/my-component"
+targets = "wasi.cli.command"
+
+[package.metadata.component.dependencies]
+wasi = "webassembly/wasi:1.2.3"
+```
+
+The above might be the future default output from `cargo component new`.
+
+Here the component being authored _may_ import what is expected to be imported 
+by the `command` world and _must_ export what is expected to be exported 
+by the `command` world via the generated bindings.
+
+In theory, the authored component could then simply run in any host that 
+supports the `wasi.cli.command` world (e.g. a future Wasmtime CLI).
+
+### Targeting a dependency's world and using other components from a registry
+
+An example `Cargo.toml`:
+
+```toml
+[package]
+name = "my-component"
+version = "1.2.3"
+
+[dependencies]
+# Rust crate dependencies here
+
+[package.metadata.component]
+package = "my-org/my-component"
+targets = "wasi.cli.command"
+
+[package.metadata.component.dependencies]
+wasi = "webassembly/wasi:1.2.3"
+regex = "fancy-components/regex:1.0.0"
+transcoder = "fancy-components/transcoder:1.0.0"
+```
+
+In this example, the component still targets the `wasi.cli.command` world as 
+above.
+
+However, it will also import an _instance_ named `regex` and an instance named 
+`transcoder` that export the functions directly exported by the `regex` and 
+`transcoder` components, respectively.
+
+The component produced by `cargo-component` will contain URL references to the 
+component dependencies and these serve as hints for later composition tooling 
+to instantiate those particular components and link them with this one by 
+default. As they are instance imports, the authored component may still be 
+linked against alternative implementations provided they implement the expected 
+interfaces according to component model subtyping rules.
+
+### Defining a custom world for a component
+
+An example `Cargo.toml`:
+
+```toml
+[package]
+name = "my-component"
+version = "1.2.3"
+
+[dependencies]
+# Rust crate dependencies here
+
+[package.metadata.component]
+package = "my-org/my-component"
+targets = { path = "component.wit" }
+
+[package.metadata.component.dependencies]
+wasi = "webassembly/wasi:1.2.3"
+regex = "fancy-components/regex:1.0.0"
+transcoder = "fancy-components/transcoder:1.0.0"
+```
+
+An example `component.wit`:
+
+```wit
+default world my-component {
+  include wasi.cli.command # a proposed syntax for including a world in another
+  
+  import regex: regex.root
+  import transcoder: transcoder.root
+  
+  export parse: func(x: string) -> result<_, string>
+}
+```
+
+Because the `targets` specifies a local wit document, the dependencies are 
+interpreted as wit external packages only; `regex` and `transcoder` are not 
+imported automatically as in the previous example.
+
+The resulting type for this component will be the same as the previous example, 
+but it will also export a `parse` function of type `(string) -> result<_, string>`
+as specified in the world.
+
+The wit document package names of `wasi`, `regex`, and `transcoder` map 
+directly to the names of the dependencies in `[package.metadata.component.dependencies]`.
+
+Referencing a package in the wit document that is not defined in the `[package.metadata.component.dependencies]`
+table is an error.
+
+### Exporting only functions from a component
+
+An example `Cargo.toml`:
+
+```toml
+[package]
+name = "my-component"
+version = "1.2.3"
+
+[dependencies]
+# Rust crate dependencies here
+
+[package.metadata.component]
+package = "my-org/my-component"
+targets = { path = "component.wit" }
+```
+
+An example `component.wit`:
+
+```wit
+default world my-component {
+  export greet: func(name: string) -> string
+}
+```
+
+Here this component has no component registry dependencies and only exports a 
+single function named `greet` with type `(string) -> string`.