Rewrite nested Clojure data with a declared shape.

over compiles a selector and rewrite body into code in the style of update/mapv/update-vals, but keeps the shape in one place. It visits only what you select.

API

(over selector body)         ; => rewritten value
(over-> value selector body) ; => rewritten value (thread-first helper)
(over->> selector body value); => rewritten value (thread-last helper)

Examples

1) Update nested numbers without a full walk

(def data
  {:left [{:p 1 :q 2}
          {:r 3}
          {:s 4}]
   :right [{:t 5}]})

(over [{_ [{_ n}]} data]
  {n (cond-> n (even? n) inc)})

;; => {:left [{:p 1 :q 3} {:r 3} {:s 5}]
;;     :right [{:t 5}]}

Sequential example:

(over [[n] [1 2 3]]
  {n? (even? n)})
;; => [2]

Threading helpers:

(-> data
    (over-> [{_ [{_ n}]}]
            {n (cond-> n (even? n) inc)}))

Map + vector traversal with one binding.

Plain Clojure:

(update-vals data
             #(mapv (fn [m]
                      (update-vals m (fn [n] (cond-> n (even? n) inc))))
                    %))

2) Filter map entries + normalize a field

(require '[clojure.string :as str])

(def users
  {:alice {:active true  :email "ALICE@EXAMPLE.COM"}
   :bob   {:active false :email "bob@example.com"}
   :cara  {:active true  :email "CARA@EXAMPLE.COM"}})

(over [{_ {:keys [active email] :as u}} users]
  {u?    active
   email (str/lower-case email)})

;; => {:alice {:active true :email "alice@example.com"}
;;     :cara  {:active true :email "cara@example.com"}}

Map-entry traversal with a guard (u?) to drop entries.

Plain Clojure:

(->> users
     (reduce-kv (fn [m id u]
                  (if (:active u)
                    (assoc m id (update u :email str/lower-case))
                    m))
                {}))

3) Vendor-specific SKU rewrite (multiple levels)

(def db
  {:orders [{:id 1
             :lines [{:sku "A" :qty 2 :vendor "x"}
                     {:sku "B" :qty 1 :vendor "y"}]}
            {:id 2
             :lines [{:sku "C" :qty 1 :vendor "y"}]}]
   :users {"tim" {:cart [{:sku "B" :qty 3 :vendor "y"}]}}})

(over [{:keys [orders users]} db
       [{:keys [lines]}] orders
       [{line-sku :sku, vendor :vendor}] lines
       {id {:keys [cart]}} users
       [{cart-sku :sku cart-vendor :vendor}] cart]
  {line-sku (if (= vendor "y") (str line-sku "-y") line-sku)
   cart-sku (if (= cart-vendor "y") (str cart-sku "-y") cart-sku)})

;; => {:orders [{:id 1, :lines [{:sku "A", :qty 2, :vendor "x"}
;;                              {:sku "B-y", :qty 1, :vendor "y"}]}
;;              {:id 2, :lines [{:sku "C-y", :qty 1, :vendor "y"}]}]
;;     :users {"tim" {:cart [{:sku "B-y", :qty 3, :vendor "y"}]}}}

Plain Clojure:

(let [suffix-sku (fn [{:keys [sku vendor] :as line}]
                   (if (= vendor "y")
                     (assoc line :sku (str sku "-y"))
                     line))]
  (-> db
      (update :orders
              (fn [orders]
                (mapv (fn [order]
                        (update order :lines #(mapv suffix-sku %)))
                      orders)))
      (update :users
              (fn [users]
                (update-vals users #(update % :cart (fnil (partial mapv suffix-sku) [])))))))

Selector semantics (query, not destructuring)

A selector is a vector of alternating pattern and source:

(over [pattern1 source1
       pattern2 source2
       ...]
  body-map)

• The first source is the input expression.
• Later sources must be previously bound symbols.
• The selector looks like destructuring, but it is a query: it binds and traverses; it does not introduce locals the way Clojure destructuring does.

Supported patterns

• Map-entry traversal: {kpat vpat}
  • Requires a map value; iterates entries.
  • kpat binds the key (no traversal). vpat may traverse.
  • Key traversal is intentionally not supported to keep map semantics and identity guarantees predictable.
• Sequential traversal: [pat]
  • Requires a sequential or set value; iterates elements.
• Sequential destructure traversal: (seq [k v & more])
  • Iterates elements and destructures each element as a vector, supporting & and :as.
• Plain symbol: sym
  • Binds the current value.
• Map destructuring form: {:keys [...], :strs [...], :as sym, :or {...}}
  • No traversal; binds keys and/or :as.
  • Nested destructuring inside :keys/:strs is rejected.
  • Explicit key bindings are allowed, Clojure-style: {user-id :id, org-id "org_id"}
• Records are treated as maps and may come back as plain maps after rewrite.

Unsupported or ambiguous patterns are rejected with ex-info including :phase, :path, and :pattern.

Rewrite/body semantics

The body is a map from target symbols to expressions.

• A key x rewrites the binding x.
• A key x? is a guard. When false, the corresponding structural position is elided.

Elision rules:

• Map-entry traversal: false guard removes the entry.
• Sequential traversal: false guard removes the element.
• Map destructure key: false guard removes that key.
• :as binding: false guard removes the whole element at that level.

Traversal is post-order: children are processed before parents. Guards see post-child values.

Tradeoffs

Plain Clojure is already a win when:

• A couple of update calls are clearer than any DSL.
• update-vals + mapv is easier to scan for simple shapes.

clojure.walk/postwalk is better when:

• You need full-tree traversal.
• You don’t know the shape ahead of time.

over fits when:

• You have a known shape and want to touch a few nested spots.
• You want the traversal shape and the rewrite adjacent.
• You want compiled code that avoids full walks and keeps structural sharing.

Non-goals

• Not a general tree rewriting engine.
• Not a replacement for all data transformation.
• Not arbitrary destructuring: selectors are queries, not local binding forms.
• No :let or computed traversal paths.

Notes

• Identity: if no effective change occurs (value and metadata equality at all rewritten points), over returns a result that is identical? to the input.
• See CLOS.md for the CLOS-style generic function system in this repo.

Check (format + test + lint)

Release (Clojars)

Dependency coordinate:

com.github.tailrecursion/restructure {:mvn/version "1.0.0"}

Deploy:

License

MIT