fieldtest: loop-recur — 10 examples, 6 findings (milestone CLOSE, clean on all axes)

Post-audit downstream-LLM-author field test of the shipped
loop/recur surface (DESIGN.md + public examples only). 3 real
iterative programs (Newton isqrt, Collatz, Euclidean gcd) + 5
plausible-mistake negatives + 2 no-termination probes, all run
through the public ail CLI. 0 bugs. 4 working findings on the
milestone's own axes: rejection diagnostics point-exact AND
self-fixing; recur tail-position threads through match/let/outer-if
(spec only showed if); loop composes as a value sub-expression +
byte-stable round-trip; no-termination boundary exact. This
empirically substantiates the "LLM author can now write iterative
programs" claim.

Two orthogonal non-blocking findings, neither in loop/recur scope,
both routed to P2 todos (refused the scope creep into a loop/recur
tidy): niladic (app f) spec_gap independently re-confirms the
existing mut-local-F3 roadmap item (the design-fork decision
deliberately NOT auto-ratified under /boss — parked,
priority-strengthened); module-level (doc) diagnostic-hint friction
(one-line tidy). Boss-verified independently (gcd->27;
recur-outside-loop fires exact).

The standalone loop/recur milestone is fully ratified and CLOSED:
3 iterations + tidy shipped, audit clean (drift resolved, bench
pristine carry-on), fieldtest clean on every axis. Roadmap P0
marked closed.

docs/journals/INDEX.md

@@ -85,3 +85,4 @@
 - 2026-05-17 — iter loop-recur.2: standalone-`loop`/`recur` milestone (2 of 3) — Component 4 typecheck semantics. The iter-1 `synth` `CheckError::Internal` stub for `Term::Loop`/`Term::Recur` is replaced with real binder typing (each init synthed in outer scope + already-declared binder names of THIS loop via ordinary `locals` save/restore mirroring `Term::Let` verbatim; loop's static type = body type) + positional `recur` arity/per-arg-type checking via a new `loop_stack: &mut Vec<Vec<Type>>` frame threaded exactly as mut.2's `mut_scope_stack` (every recursive + cross-module + test synth caller, compile-swept). New private `verify_loop_body(t,in_loop_tail)` pass — a SIBLING of the byte-frozen `verify_tail_positions` (0 deletions, tail-app role untouched), invoked in `check_fn` after it so synth-raised codes take precedence by pass ordering. Four `Recur*` `CheckError` variants (`RecurOutsideLoop`, `RecurArityMismatch{expected,got}`, `RecurTypeMismatch{position,expected,got}`, `RecurNotInTailPosition`) + `code()` + 2 `ctx()` arms, bracket-`[code]`-free Display (F2); four negative `.ail.json` fixtures fire their codes point-exactly (`assert_eq!`, non-vacuous) via a new `loop_recur_typecheck_pin.rs` (7 tests) + a ct1 F2 human-mode sibling; `carve_out_inventory` 13→17 with the pre-existing mut.4-tidy "Twelve"-vs-13 stale-header drift corrected in passing. iter-1's `loop_sum_to.ail` round-trip fixture now ALSO typechecks clean (one fixture, two properties — no near-duplicate); `loop_forever.ail` (loop whose only path is `recur`) typechecks clean, asserting the spec "no termination claim is made or enforced". Three binding Boss design calls (mirrored into the journal): (1) `RecurTypeMismatch` is an Assign-style `subst.apply`-both-then-structural-`!=` pre-check, NOT a `unify`-propagate (a propagate would surface generic `type-mismatch` and fail the point-exact-code acceptance); (2) `loop_stack` element type is positional `Vec<Type>` NOT name-keyed `IndexMap` (recur rebinds by position; binder names live in `locals`); (3) diagnostic-code precedence is by pass ordering (synth before verify_loop_body), no explicit logic. NO codegen (iter-1 `lower_term` `CodegenError::Internal` stub stays — iter 3); NO `Diverge`/`verify_structural_recursion`/guardedness (spec deliberate boundary). Two DONE_WITH_CONCERNS, both Task 2, both journalled: (a) a plan-ordering defect — Task 2's `cargo build` 0-errors gate is unsatisfiable while `check_fn` (deferred by the plan to Task 4) is an unthreaded caller; orchestrator pulled the byte-identical declaration+threading forward to Task 2, left only the `verify_loop_body` invocation in Task 4 (no semantic change, only sequencing); (b) recon-undercount of cross-module synth callers (`builtins.rs`×2, `lift.rs:746`, `mono.rs:720`/`:1361`), the recurring mut.2-class, resolved via the plan's own designated compile-sweep oracle. Boss systemic fix folded into this commit: planner SKILL.md Step-5 self-review gains item 7 (compile-gate vs. deferred-caller ordering) so the Concern-(a) class is scrubbed at plan time, not discovered at execution. `cargo test --workspace` 608→616 / 0 red (Boss-reran independently); `verify_tail_positions`/tail-app byte-frozen confirmed by diff-hunk inspection. Component 5 (codegen loop-header/phi/back-edge) + the positive RUN-to-value / deep-`n` E2E = iteration 3 → 2026-05-17-iter-loop-recur.2.md
 - 2026-05-17 — iter loop-recur.3: standalone-`loop`/`recur` milestone (3 of 3, TERMINAL) — Component 5 codegen + run-to-value E2E. The iter-1 `lower_term` `CodegenError::Internal` stub for `Term::Loop`/`Term::Recur` is replaced with real LLVM-IR lowering: loop binders are loop-carried values lowered as entry-block allocas (the mut.3 `pending_entry_allocas` mechanism) registered in the EXISTING `mut_var_allocas` map so the EXISTING `Term::Var` load path resolves them with zero new Var code (representation-sharing only — Var-lowering byte-unchanged); a fresh `loop.header.<id>` block reached by an unconditional `br` from the pre-header; `recur` lowers ALL args to SSA BEFORE any store (simultaneous positional rebind), stores into the binder allocas, back-edges `br` to the header, and sets the SINGLE existing `block_terminated` field at its OWN new emit site (a parallel SET call-site) so the loop's exit value is the emergent product of the existing `if`/`match` join — no separate loop-result phi/exit-block. A new `loop_frames` codegen stack lets `recur` find its target header+slots; saved/reset/restored at the single lambda-lowering boundary exactly as mut.3's `mut_var_allocas` triple. `clang -O2` mem2reg promotes the binder allocas to the phi nodes the spec's secondary implementation-shape describes. Four binding Boss design calls (mirrored into the journal), all on architectural-consistency / spec-pinned-invariant grounds (NOT effort): (1) alloca+mem2reg NOT hand-emitted phi (the linear-emit architecture has no phi-with-body-discovered-back-edge-predecessor precedent; the `if` arm sidesteps by opening its join last — a loop header cannot be opened last; mem2reg yields identical optimized output; spec's "phi" is the explicitly-secondary impl-shape the spec subordinates to the planner's exact-bytes authority); (2) reuse `mut_var_allocas` + the existing `Term::Var` load path (byte-unchanged; representation-sharing, the iter-2 AST/typecheck binder distinction is post-typecheck-irrelevant to codegen); (3) emergent loop-exit via the existing if/match join once recur terminates its block, no separate result phi; (4) reuse the single `block_terminated` field, recur sets it at its own emit site, ZERO edits to any existing SET/READ site (a second field would force editing every READ site — the opposite of the spec-pinned "tail-app's use byte-unchanged"). Diff confirmed surgical by hunk-header inspection: codegen/lib.rs = exactly 3 hunks (field + init + the stub→2-arms replacement), codegen/lambda.rs = exactly 2 hunks (save + restore); NO hunk at any existing `block_terminated` SET/READ site, at tail-app/tail-do lowering, or at `verify_tail_positions`. Three new `.ail` fixtures: `loop_sum_to_run.ail`→`55` (run-to-value), `loop_sum_to_deep.ail`→`500000500000` (1e6 iterations via the back-edge, no stack growth — the spec clause-2 correctness claim made executable), `loop_forever_build.ail` (infinite loop, no non-recur exit, `ail build` exit 0 — "typechecks AND compiles, no termination claim"; never executed). Codegen-ONLY iteration: no schema/AST/serde/typecheck change; hash pins (`loop_recur` + iter13a) + drift trio + `carve_out_inventory` confirmed green UNTOUCHED (not modified); the 3 new `.ail` fixtures are round-trip-auto-covered, NOT carve-outs. One DONE_WITH_CONCERNS (T3): the plan's literal `cargo test --workspace tail` filter resolves to ZERO tests (real guards are `*_tail_position_*`/`*musttail*`); orchestrator ran the gate via real names + the authoritative full-suite 619/0 which subsumes it — recurring `feedback_plan_pseudo_vs_reality` class, no behaviour change. Boss systemic fix folded into this commit: planner SKILL.md Step-5 gains item 8 (verification-command filter strings must resolve to ≥1 named test, or use the unfiltered suite + a count assertion) — the SECOND planner-meta-gap this milestone surfaced (iter-2 added item 7). `cargo test --workspace` 616→619 / 0 red (Boss-reran independently); the 3 loop/recur e2e explicitly green (55 / 500000500000 / infinite-compiles). **All three components shipped — the loop/recur milestone is structurally complete; milestone-close (mandatory `audit`, then `fieldtest` since loop/recur is user-visible Form-A surface) is the Boss's next pipeline step.** → 2026-05-17-iter-loop-recur.3.md
 - 2026-05-18 — iter loop-recur.tidy: milestone-close audit resolution (RED `39380d3` + this GREEN). Architect drift review found a `[high]` correctness defect: a `(lam ...)` body capturing an enclosing `Term::Loop` binder passed `ail check` (exit 0) then panicked `unreachable!()` at `crates/ailang-codegen/src/lambda.rs:102` on type-correct input — a DESIGN.md "Robustness against hallucinations" violation. Root cause (debugger-confirmed RED-first): the `Term::Lam` escape guard at `crates/ailang-check/src/lib.rs:3608` iterated only `mut_scope_stack`; loop binders live in the ordinary `locals` (iter-2 design) and never entered any escape-checked scope, so the mut.4-tidy `MutVarCapturedByLambda`-class rejection had no loop-binder counterpart. Fix (GREEN, implement mini-mode): new `CheckError::LoopBinderCapturedByLambda { name }` (bracket-`[code]`-free F2 Display) + `code()` `loop-binder-captured-by-lambda` + `ctx() {name}`, symmetric to `MutVarCapturedByLambda`; the `Term::Lam` escape guard gained a parallel pass over `loop_stack` (gate widened to `!mut_scope_stack.is_empty() || !loop_stack.is_empty()`). Minimal-mechanism design call: `loop_stack`'s frame element extended `Vec<Type>` → `Vec<(String, Type)>` so the already-threaded per-loop scope frame also carries binder names (`Term::Recur` still reads `.1` BY POSITION — Boss-call-2's positional-recur invariant preserved verbatim, the name is a second field consumed only by the escape guard, a consumer iter-2 did not anticipate; the parallel-stack alternative would touch all 35 `synth` call sites, strictly larger). Codegen byte-unchanged (typecheck-only fix; the lambda.rs:102 `unreachable!()` is now genuinely unreachable, kept as a defensive assertion). Two mut.4-tidy-mirrored in-source unit tests; lockstep `carve_out_inventory` 17→18 + `ct1_check_cli` mut-F2 sibling `cases`; DESIGN.md one-line symmetric-rule note. Boss folded into this GREEN commit: the two `[medium]` doc-honesty edits the audit also surfaced (`mut_var_allocas` rustdoc now states its mut-var+loop-binder dual use truthfully; `Term::Loop` doc-comment now describes the real shipped iter-2/3 typecheck+alloca+mem2reg state, not iter-1's stale "per-binder phi" stub forward-look) + a `[low]` P2 roadmap `[todo]` (the recon-undercount 3×-pattern → an `ailang-plan-recon` agent-definition countermeasure; pairs with planner Step-5 items 7+8). Bench gate (audit Step 2): `check.py`/`compile_check.py`/`cross_lang.py` all exit 0, 25 metrics 0 regressed — **pristine** (strictly-additive surface, no hot-path; the pre-existing P2 `*.bump_s` hardware-staleness drift did not trip) → carry-on, no baseline/ratify. `cargo test --workspace` 619→622 / 0 red (Boss-reran independently incl. hash_pin 11/0 — the ast.rs/codegen doc-comment edits moved no canonical-JSON hash). **The loop/recur milestone is audit-clean** — architect drift cleared, bench pristine; the only remaining pipeline step before full close is `fieldtest` (loop/recur is user-visible Form-A surface) → 2026-05-17-iter-loop-recur.tidy.md
+- 2026-05-18 — fieldtest loop-recur (milestone CLOSE, clean on all milestone axes): post-audit downstream-LLM-author field test of the shipped loop/recur surface. The fieldtester (DESIGN.md + public examples only, never compiler source) wrote 3 real iterative programs — integer Newton sqrt (multi-binder, recur buried in if/let/if, loop result into let/seq), Collatz length (recur in match-arm tails), Euclidean gcd (loop as a value sub-expression in argument position) — plus 5 plausible-mistake negatives and 2 no-termination probes, all run through the public `ail` CLI. **0 bugs; 4 working findings, all on the milestone's own axes**: the five rejection diagnostics (recur-outside-loop / -arity / -type / -not-in-tail / loop-binder-captured-by-lambda) are point-exact AND self-fixing (name the fn, describe the fix, no false positives, no crash — the clause-2 silent-failure-class-becomes-compile-error claim made real); recur tail-position threads correctly through match-arm/let/outer-if (the spec only demonstrated `if` — generalises exactly as an author assumes); loop composes as a value sub-expression everywhere + every loop/recur fixture is `ail parse|render|parse` byte-identical (Roundtrip Invariant holds in practice); the no-termination boundary is exactly as specified (infinite loop check+build clean, zero spurious diagnostics — the precise difference from the reverted Iteration-discipline milestone). This empirically substantiates the milestone's "an LLM author can now write iterative programs with loop/recur" claim — the gate fieldtest exists to provide. Two ORTHOGONAL non-blocking findings surfaced incidentally while probing the no-termination/negative axes, neither in loop/recur scope, both routed to P2 todos (not a loop/recur tidy — refusing the scope creep): (spec_gap) niladic `(app f)` is unrepresentable in Form A and DESIGN.md's `Term::App args:[Term...]` states no minimum — INDEPENDENTLY re-confirms the existing mut-local-F3 roadmap todo (two fieldtests now hit it; the accept-`(app f)`-vs-ratify-DESIGN.md decision is a genuine design fork deliberately NOT auto-ratified under autonomous /boss — parked, priority-strengthened); (friction) the module-level `(doc …)` rejection lists valid def heads but omits that doc attaches inside fn/data — a one-line diagnostic-hint tidy. Independent Boss verification: `loop_recur_4_gcd_value_pos.ail` re-run → stdout `27`; `loop_recur_3a` re-run → `ail check` exit 1 `[recur-outside-loop] countdown: …`. **The standalone loop/recur milestone is fully ratified and CLOSED**: 3 iterations + a tidy shipped, audit clean (architect drift resolved, bench pristine carry-on), fieldtest clean on every milestone axis. Fixtures `examples/fieldtest/loop_recur_*.ail` + spec `docs/specs/2026-05-18-fieldtest-loop-recur.md` committed; roadmap P0 entry marked closed; the two orthogonal findings tracked as P2 todos → 2026-05-18-fieldtest-loop-recur.md