Iter form-a.1 recon surfaced a load-bearing constraint the original
spec didn't anticipate: ailang-core embeds prelude.ail.json at
compile time via include_str! + serde_json::from_str (workspace.rs:417,
main.rs:474), and ailang-core cannot import ailang-surface to switch
the embed to .ail (crate-cycle, documented at loader.rs:9-13).
§C4 splits into two carve-out categories:
- (a) seven subject-matter carve-outs (unchanged, the original list)
- (b) one compile-time-embed carve-out: prelude.ail.json
Acceptance criteria #1, #2 and §T4 carve-out inventory test updated
from 7 to 8.
Roadmap: new [milestone] "Prelude embed: Form-A as compile-time source"
queued to retire §C4(b) by either splitting the workspace loader
(prelude-init moves to ailang-surface) or generating prelude.ail.json
via build.rs. examples/prelude.ail (rendered iter form-a.0) is the
dual-form symptom that milestone exists to resolve. Strike the [todo]
"Author examples/prelude.ail" entry — satisfied by iter form-a.0.
Re-grounding-checked PASS over six load-bearing assumptions (embed
sites verified at workspace.rs:417 + main.rs:474; crate-cycle
constraint real; eight carve-outs all on disk; prelude.ail green
under both roundtrip tests).
Form A (.ail) becomes the sole authoring surface for every program
in the working tree. The seven negative-test JSON-AST fixtures are
the only post-milestone .ail.json files; everything else is rendered
to .ail and the JSON counterpart is deleted (single representation
per program).
Spec decides the four open design questions inline:
- A1: in-process parse via ailang_surface::parse, no build-time
target/ artefacts (would reintroduce a second representation).
- A2: prelude.ail ships as iter-0 pilot, validated by the existing
every_ail_fixture_matches_its_json_counterpart gate.
- A3: per-file deletion cadence; iter 0 is the singular dual-form
window because the JSON counterpart is the witness the CI gate
uses.
- A4: CLAUDE.md and DESIGN.md reworded — canonical vs authoring
forms separated, JSON-AST stays canonical/hashable, .ail becomes
the authoring entry point.
Roundtrip invariant restates from "two forms agree byte-for-byte"
to "parse is deterministic + idempotent under print"; carve-out
inventory test pins the seven JSON-only fixtures against silent
list drift.
Grounding-check PASS over 8 load-bearing assumptions.
Iteration scope: iter 0 = prelude pilot only (render
prelude.ail.json -> prelude.ail; do not delete the JSON yet; do
not touch CLAUDE.md/DESIGN.md/tests yet).
Ships fn print : forall a. Show a => (a borrow) -> () !IO in the
prelude with explicit-let body \\x -> let s = show x in do
io/print_str s. Three new E2E fixtures + tests verify the full
path:
- show_print_smoke: 4 primitives smoke (print 42 / true / 'hello' /
3.14) — compile, run, expected stdout
- show_user_adt: data IntBox + instance prelude.Show IntBox +
print (MkIntBox 7) — stdout '7'
- show_no_instance: let f : Int -> Int = \\x -> x in do print f —
fires Show-aware NoInstance with DESIGN.md §Prelude(built-in)
classes cross-reference
IR-shape pin in print_mono_body_shape.rs asserts post-mono
print__Int.body is structurally Term::Let → App(show__Int) →
Do(io/print_str). Protects the explicit let-binder for the heap-Str
RC discipline per eob.1 Str carve-out.
Three plan-defects-fixed-inline surfaced during user-ADT E2E,
necessary repairs to make the spec's stated user-ADT trajectory
work end-to-end:
(a) mono.rs (2 sites): MonoTarget::FreeFn::type_args were carrying
bare type-cons references; normalised to canonical
<owner>.<bare> form via workspace_registry.normalize_type_for_lookup
so synthesised cross-module bodies' post-mono walks reach the
registry-keyed instance entries. Symmetric to the existing
class-method-arm normalisation.
(b) codegen/lib.rs (3 sites: resolve_top_level_fn, lower_app
cross-module arm, synth_with_extras Var arm): post-mono
synthesised bodies may carry cross-module references to modules
their source template didn't import (prelude.print__<UserType>
references show_user_adt.show__<UserType> even though prelude
does not import user modules). Fall back to direct
module_user_fns lookup when prefix not in import_map. Both
ends were independently typechecked before mono ran; the
cross-module ref is created by mono not by source.
(c) lib.rs synth FreeFnCall arm: walked Type::Forall.constraints,
substituted rigid vars with fresh metavars, pushed one
ResidualConstraint per declared constraint. Without this,
print f at Int -> Int would silently typecheck and fail with
a confusing 'unknown variable: show' at codegen rather than
fire the right typecheck-time NoInstance diagnostic.
NoInstance Float-aware arm in check/lib.rs:770-779 extended with
a parallel class == 'prelude.Show' branch that cross-references
DESIGN.md §Prelude(built-in) classes verbatim. Negative-fixture
test asserts code 'no-instance' + Show substring + Prelude-(built-in)-
classes substring.
DESIGN.md §Prelude(built-in) classes milestone-24 paragraph flips
fn print from 'ships in 24.3' to 'shipped in iter 24.3' with body
shape + pin file reference. §Float semantics gains a Show-Float
NaN-spelling cross-reference paragraph linking show 1.5 / show nan /
show inf to instance Show Float via float_to_str.
Roadmap P1 'Post-22 Prelude — Show + print rewire' flipped to [x]
with closing summary naming all three shipped iters (24.1 / 24.2 /
24.3). New P2 entry 'Retire io/print_int|bool|float effect-ops +
migrate example corpus to print' inserted at top of P2.
Tests: 556 passed (was 552 + 4 new). bench/cross_lang exit 0;
bench/compile_check + bench/check exit 1 on documented noise-class
metrics per the audit-cma lineage envelope (8th consecutive
audit-grade observation, baseline pristine per conservative-call).
Milestone 24 closes structurally with this iter. Standard audit
pipeline next.
Closes the module-qualified-class-names milestone. Deletes the
workspace-load workaround; the two-libraries case now resolves via
type-driven dispatch at the call site with explicit qualifier as the
LLM-author's disambiguation tool. Resolves both mq.2 known-debt items
(active_declared_constraints plumbing, (class,method) re-key). New
synth warnings channel emits class-method-shadowed-by-fn at all three
fn-precedence branches per spec section Class-fn collisions. Three new
E2E fixtures + integration tests cover the ambiguous, qualified, and
class-fn-shadow trajectories. DESIGN.md class-names paragraph rewritten,
new section Method dispatch added. Roadmap P2 marked done, milestone-24
unblocked for re-brainstorm.
9/9 tasks. 545 tests green. bench/compile_check.py + cross_lang.py
exit 0; bench/check.py exit 1 (2 noise-class regressions, runtime
uncoupled to typecheck iter).
24.2 plan-recon surfaced a spec-gap: adding `class Show` to the prelude
would collide with the user-class `Show` declared by 14 test fixtures
under examples/test_22b{1,2,3}_*.ail.json (plus hardcoded "Show" /
"show" assertions in crates/ail/tests/typeclass_22b{2,3}.rs) through
the workspace-global method-name-collision pre-pass at
crates/ailang-core/src/workspace.rs:547.
Three resolution paths surfaced: (A) prep-iter rename Show→Render in
fixtures+tests, (B) inline-rename in 24.2 (makes iter bigger),
(C) defer 24.2+24.3 until the P2 milestone "Module-qualified class
names + type-driven method dispatch" retires the MethodNameCollision
workaround. User picked C.
Spec status flips Draft → Partial; the document remains as historical
context for the future re-brainstorm. Iter 24.1 retains as standalone
runtime infrastructure (`bool_to_str` + `str_clone` heap-Str
primitives are user-callable today; they wait for the deferred Show
instances to find their primary caller). Roadmap P1 entry flips
`[ ] → [~]` with `depends on:` line pointing at the P2 milestone.
Language rule: Term::Do.args[*] are walked in Position::Borrow by
the uniqueness + linearity passes, symmetric to Term::Ctor.args[*]
being walked in Position::Consume. The kind itself carries the
ownership default — no per-op field on EffectOpSig. Three
analyser sites flip in lockstep: uniqueness.rs:289, linearity.rs:506,
and the shared doc-comment at linearity.rs:42.
Heap-Str-specific consequences (closing hs.4's leak):
- int_to_str / float_to_str ret_mode: Implicit → Own at four lockstep
sites (builtins.rs:200,210 + synth.rs:172,179). The codegen
trackability gate (drop.rs:464-475, iter 18g.2) now fires on these
callees, so the let-binder receives a scope-close drop.
- drop_symbol_for_binder's App arm gets a Type::Con{name:"Str"} →
"ailang_rc_dec" carve-out, symmetric to field_drop_call's existing
Str arm. Without it, the new Own-trackable App binder would emit
drop_<m>_Str (undefined).
Tests: the two pre-existing RED tests at e2e.rs (commit 592d87b)
flip to GREEN unchanged with predicted numbers (allocs=1,frees=1,
live=0 and allocs=2,frees=2,live=0). Two new positive tests pin
the rule's coverage: primitive-Int arg through io/print_int produces
zero RC traffic; heap-Str through 2× io/print_str in sequence
typechecks (no use-after-consume) and balances allocs=1,frees=1,
live=0.
DESIGN.md §Decision 10 gets the arg-position-policy table for both
AST node kinds (Ctor=Consume, Do=Borrow) plus a linking paragraph
explaining how Do=Borrow cooperates with ret_mode==Own.
heap-str-abi milestone closes here: WhatsNew entry shipped (Strings
produced at runtime now release cleanly), roadmap P1 entry checked
off, Post-22-Prelude depends-on line removed.
Workspace cargo test + cross_lang.py + compile_check.py all green.
check.py noisy latency cluster + bench_list_sum.bump_s ±12% — same
precedent as the previous two audits, not coupled to this milestone.
Closes the loop opened by this morning's .ailx → .ail rename. Every
path-taking ail subcommand (check, build, run, manifest, render,
prose, merge-prose, describe, emit-ir, diff, workspace, deps) now
accepts a .ail (Form A) input as well as .ail.json (Form B). For
.ail paths the subcommand parses through ailang_surface::parse
in-line and proceeds with the same loaded Module value .ail.json
would have produced; binary semantics are extension-agnostic.
Architecture: a new ailang_surface::{load_module, load_workspace}
pair dispatches on file extension. A new injection point
ailang_core::workspace::load_workspace_with<F> lets the surface
crate plug in an extension-aware loader without core having to
import surface (which would close a crate cycle). Import resolution
in workspace::visit now prefers a .ail sibling over a .ail.json
sibling. The CLI binary's 18 callsites switched to the surface
loaders. Surface parse failures route through
workspace_error_to_diagnostic as a new SurfaceParse variant of
WorkspaceLoadError, so `ail check --json foo.ail` on a malformed
.ail returns a parseable JSON diagnostic with code
surface-parse-error instead of the misleading
`json: expected value at line 1 column 1` fall-through.
Boss pre-commit correction: the implementer followed the plan
verbatim and used snake_case `surface_parse_error`, but every
existing diagnostic code in the codebase is kebab-case (verified
via `git grep` over crates/ailang-check/src and crates/ail/src);
realigned to `surface-parse-error` at three sites (the diagnostic
arm + two ct1 test strings). Journal Concerns section records
the correction.
Tests: cargo test --workspace 487 green (+7 from this iter:
1 core unit, 4 surface integration, 1 ail E2E pair, 1 ct1 CLI
diagnostic-shape). bench/check.py, compile_check.py, cross_lang.py
clean on re-run; the latency.{explicit,implicit}_at_rc tail
cluster occasionally flagged on first runs is the same
nondeterministic cluster the previous two audits documented;
baseline left pristine for the third consecutive iter.
Roadmap follow-up "ail check/build/run accept .ail extension" (P2)
removed.
DESIGN.md §Decision 6 / "CLI" bullet gained the symmetric upward
sentence: both .ail and .ail.json are first-class CLI inputs.
The surface-form file extension changes from .ailx to .ail. AILang's
authoring surface now uses the same .ail stem as its canonical JSON
form (.ail.json), giving the language a single coherent extension
family: .ail is the LLM-authored Form A, .ail.json is the canonical
JSON-AST Form B.
Scope (touched):
- 61 example renames examples/**/*.ailx → .ail (git mv)
- 1 rename experiments/.../rendered/ailx.md → ail.md
- 35 content-edited live-toolchain files (crates/, docs/DESIGN.md,
docs/roadmap.md, docs/PROSE_ROUNDTRIP.md, skills/, bench/reference/*.c,
experiment crates under experiments/.../{render,harness,master})
- Experiment-crate cohort rename Cohort::Ailx → Cohort::Ail,
Form::Ailx → Form::Ail, per_cohort/ailx → per_cohort/ail,
{form-only: ailx} → {form-only: ail}, ```ailx → ```ail
Out of scope (deliberately untouched, to preserve honest history):
- docs/journal-archive.md (content-frozen per CLAUDE.md)
- docs/journals/, docs/specs/, docs/plans/, bench/orchestrator-stats/
- experiments/.../runs/ (frozen LLM-output artefacts; models actually
saw .ailx — renaming would falsify the experimental record)
Verification: cargo build/test --workspace green; experiment crate
cargo test green; bench/check.py + compile_check.py + cross_lang.py
all 0-regressed; negative grep for ailx|Ailx|AILX outside the
out-of-scope paths returns zero matches.
Opens immediate follow-up: roadmap.md P2 todo `ail check`/build/run
accept .ail extension — after this rename, .ail is canonical
authoring surface but the CLI still produces a misleading JSON-parse
error on `ail check foo.ail`. That's the next iter.
Milestone "Cross-model authoring-form test" closed. Live IONOS run
against Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-Next executed at temperature=0, max-turns=5,
token-budget=500000. Raw dataset under runs/2026-05-12-df7531/:
RUN_STATUS=ok, scores.csv with 8 rows (4 tasks × 2 cohorts),
summary.md, plus 156 per-turn raw artefacts (request/response/program/
stderr/stdout) preserved for any future analysis.
Headline numbers:
- AILX cohort: 2/4 green, 1/4 first-attempt, ~95k prompt + ~2.6k completion
- JSON cohort: 1/4 green, 0/4 first-attempt, ~192k prompt + ~15k completion
- Only first-attempt success was AILX on t3_main_prints (~5 lines of
tagged s-expr vs ~23 lines of structured JSON for the JSON cohort's
turn-1 attempt that needed correction).
- Per spec, single subject + single deterministic run = data point,
not verdict.
DESIGN.md §"Decision 6: authoring surface" gains an "Empirical
addendum (2026-05-12)" subsection: 6-row metric table, illustrative
t3 contrast, explicit single-subject scope note pointing at the
roadmap follow-up entry for multi-subject expansion.
Roadmap: P2 entry "Cross-model authoring-form test" removed (this
journal is the convention's one-line mirror); P3 entry
"Multi-subject expansion (cross-model authoring-form follow-up)"
added with the run dir named as baseline.
Milestone artefacts span three iters (cma.1 master mini-spec +
renderer; cma.2 harness + tasks + reference solutions; cma.3 this
live run + DESIGN.md addendum + close).
Names the runtime infrastructure prerequisite (malloc-backed refcounted
Str alongside static @.str_* globals) as its own milestone. Show + print
rewire now carries an explicit depends-on link. Existing Eq/Ord [x]
entry removed (shipped milestone 23; mirrored in WhatsNew + journal).
Closes the P1 todo from earlier today: Step 7.5 PASS report is
bound to the exact bytes of the spec at dispatch time. Any
subsequent edit — wording polish, user-requested change, anything
— invalidates the report and forces a fresh dispatch before the
Step 8 commit.
Three edits:
- Step 7.5 gets a 'Re-dispatch on any post-PASS edit' subsection
stating the rule and explaining why (PASS attests to bytes).
- Step 8 wording: '... edit in place, re-run Step 7 AND re-dispatch
Step 7.5, then return here. Only proceed after approval AND a
fresh Step 7.5 PASS.'
- Common Rationalisations + Red Flags gain matching entries
('just polishing wording, no need to re-dispatch' / 'Editing the
spec after PASS without re-dispatching').
Roadmap P1 todo retired with this commit.
Milestone-close audit found three drift items (architect) plus
two carry-on items; bench all-green.
Fixes (rt.tidy, boss-direct):
- 5th test parse_then_print_then_parse_is_idempotent_on_every_ailx_fixture
enforces Direction 2 of the Roundtrip Invariant directly. The
DESIGN.md enforcement list grows from four to five tests.
- docs/roadmap.md P1 'Round-trip completeness invariant' entry
retired with one-line journal mirror per roadmap convention.
- DESIGN.md wording sync: <16-hex> → <16-lowercase-hex> for the
Float-bits-hex spelling in the new section (matches §Data model).
Milestone closed clean; five workspace-wide tests anchor the
.ail.json ↔ .ailx bijection plus AST-variant coverage.
Surfaced while scoping an empirical test of Decision 6 (.ailx as the
AI authoring projection). The cross-model test depends on a structural
.ail.json <-> .ailx bijection being established and prominently anchored
in DESIGN.md first; otherwise measured form-preference is contaminated
by expressive-power gaps rather than authoring ergonomics. P2 entry
carries the smoke-test evidence and full IONOS-endpoint addressing
notes so the test can be picked up without redoing the connection work.
Five polymorphic prelude free fns (ne/lt/le/gt/ge) plus three E2E
fixtures: positive composition over Int/Bool/Str, user-ADT with
user-written Eq/Ord on IntBox, and Float-NoInstance with a
Float-aware diagnostic addendum cross-referencing DESIGN.md §"Float
semantics".
Two checker-side fixes were needed alongside the prelude additions,
both symmetric to the iter 23.4-prep visibility fix:
- linearity::check_module_with_visible — workspace-aware callee-mode
resolution so a Borrow-mode user fn forwarding into a prelude poly
fn (e.g. `at_most x y = not (gt x y)`) doesn't false-fire
consume-while-borrowed.
- mono::collect_mono_targets — distinguish rigid forall vars from
unbound metavars; rigid-bearing free-fn targets skip (they get
re-collected with concrete subst when the enclosing fn itself
monomorphises). Without this, a polymorphic body calling another
polymorphic free fn produced a spurious __Unit specialisation
whose body referenced compare at Unit.
Roadmap split: shipped Eq/Ord half checked, Show + print-rewire half
remains pending behind the heap-Str ABI prerequisite. DESIGN.md
§"Prelude classes" amended.
One pre-existing fixture (test_22b1_missing_method) renamed its
class method ne → tne to avoid collision with the new prelude `ne`.
Bench: check.py + cross_lang.py exit 0; compile_check.py exits 1
with one sub-ms check_ms.local_rec_capture at +26% (tolerance 25%) —
prelude-growth-related noise-band fluctuation, ratifiable per spec
§248-249 and journal Concerns.
Claude Code categorically forbids subagents from spawning other
subagents (code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents and the Agent SDK
subagents page). The `or.1` architecture (and `pr.1` that ran on
top of it) presumed a named-exception for `ailang-implement-
orchestrator` to dispatch implementer / spec-reviewer / quality-
reviewer / tester per task. That exception never existed at the
platform level; the `Agent` tool was silently dropped from the
orchestrator-agent's tool set at dispatch time.
Architecture revised, doc-only:
- Per-task phases (implementer → spec-compliance check → quality
check) now run as sequential role-switches in the orchestrator-
agent's own context, not as nested subagents.
- The four role-files (implementer / spec-reviewer / quality-
reviewer / tester) become phase reference files the
orchestrator-agent consults at role-switch boundaries.
- Boss-context offload preserved; fresh-per-phase context given
up (the property that drove or.1's nested-dispatch design is
not buildable in Claude Code).
Files touched:
- skills/implement/agents/ailang-implement-orchestrator.md
(frontmatter, Iron Law, Phase 2/3 rewrite, rationalisations,
red flags)
- skills/implement/SKILL.md (frontmatter, Iron Law, sub-status
vocabulary note, cross-references)
- skills/README.md (Conventions: no more named exception; agent
roster: role-files recast as phase references)
- docs/journals/INDEX.md (or.2 entry appended)
- docs/journals/2026-05-11-iter-or.2.md (new — full rationale)
- docs/roadmap.md (P1 tool-wiring item removed; resolved as
categorically-not-fixable)
- docs/WhatsNew.md (user-facing correction entry appended)
No code changes; no bench impact; CLAUDE.md untouched (no stale
references to fix there).
Per-iter journal entry for the fieldtest run plus INDEX pointer.
Roadmap absorbs four actionable findings as P2/P3 todos (split the
merged BadCrossModuleTypeRef diagnostic, workspace subdir search,
`ail check` on `.ailx` extension, `.ailx` counterpart for the
canonical happy-path JSON exhibit). The two carry-on items
(`(import prelude)` doc-gap, the working ones) stay as notes in the
fieldtest spec only. P0 Floats milestone removed — closed
2026-05-10 and no longer load-bearing context.
No bug findings, so no debug dispatch. canonical-type-names is fully
shipped.
The "tasks 1-3 of 6 landed" snapshot ages out with every
sub-commit; the plan's own checkboxes are the live source.
Roadmap entry now just carries `[~]` + a pointer to the plan.
Adds a priority-ordered, checkbox-format roadmap that the
orchestrator maintains. Three states (`[ ]` open / `[~]` in
progress / `[x]` done), four kinds (milestone / feature / todo /
idea), four priorities (P0..P3). Initial population lifts the
queued items from the JOURNAL tail.
JOURNAL's role narrows: chronological decisions log only, no
forward queue. CLAUDE.md "Roles of ..." section updated to
reflect the split.
Brummel