Brummel
82d42f1b6b
Owner decision, 2026-06-03: pause AILang. Status banner at the top of design/INDEX.md (the sole addressable spine), so any reader — human or agent — sees the state before the framing. The differentiating thesis (a language purpose-built for LLM authorship makes LLM authors measurably more correct) did not find support in the project's own cross-model measurements (experiments/2026-05-12-cross-model-authoring/format-findings.md): - the optimal surface is model-relative — depth-annotated parens help a 3B-active model (6/8 -> 7/8) but HURT a frontier model (7/8 -> 6/8, Llama-3.1-405B hallucinates structure it does not need); - a compiler-in-the-loop is not an equaliser — agentic Qwen collapses into generation repetition before a single valid tree exists, so the oracle never engages; - for a frontier author, AILang is at best neutral vs. a familiar language given a scan-plus-iterate workflow, not an edge. The hallucination-robustness pillar (content-addressed symbols) was separately falsified and removed (#66). What survives, and why this is a pause not a deletion: the language is a sound small ML/effect design, and the measurement harness is the most durable output. main HEAD, git history, and the design ledger are untouched; reversible if a new framing makes the remaining work worthwhile.
130 lines
9.0 KiB
Markdown
130 lines
9.0 KiB
Markdown
# AILang Design — Index
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> **Status: RETIRED (paused) as of 2026-06-03.** No further compiler or
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> language work is planned for now. The project's differentiating thesis —
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> that a language purpose-built for LLM authorship makes LLM authors
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> measurably more correct — did not find empirical support in the project's
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> own cross-model measurements: the optimal surface is model-relative (a
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> redundant-structure crutch helps a small model and *hurts* a frontier one),
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> a compiler-in-the-loop is not an equaliser, and for a frontier author AILang
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> is at best neutral versus a familiar language given a scan. The
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> hallucination-robustness pillar (content-addressed symbols) was separately
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> falsified and removed (#66). Evidence corpus:
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> `experiments/2026-05-12-cross-model-authoring/format-findings.md`. The
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> language design below remains a sound small ML/effect language and the
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> measurement harness remains the project's most durable output; the git
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> history and the `design/` ledger stand as the record. This is a pause, not
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> a deletion — reversible if a new framing makes the remaining work worthwhile.
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The sole addressable entry point. Every contract and model is
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reached from here. A contract is a prescriptive, test-linked
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invariant; a model is a whitepaper narrative. `ratifying-test` names
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the green test that proves a contract still holds. `link` is
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polymorphic: a `design/` file, or the authoritative source `//!`
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header when the code is the single source of truth.
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## Project framing
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### Goal
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AILang is a programming language for LLM authors. It compiles to LLVM IR.
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Performance: native, no GC for the MVP.
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Optimised for:
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- **Machine readability** over human ergonomics. The source is structured.
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- **Local reasoning.** Every definition carries its full type and effects.
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- **Provability.** Pure core language, explicit effects, optional refinements.
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- **Robustness against hallucinations.** Symbols are hashable; tools can verify
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existence without spending context window.
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### Project ecosystem
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AILang is not just a language but an ecosystem. The language on its own is
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only valuable when its surroundings make it usable, checkable, and
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extensible for its target user (LLM authors). The repo therefore contains
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several equally important components — none of them optional, all of them
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evolving in lockstep with the language:
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- **Language core** (`crates/ailang-core`, `crates/ailang-check`,
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`crates/ailang-codegen`): AST, type system, codegen.
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- **Surface forms** (`crates/ailang-surface`, `crates/ailang-prose`):
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the LLM-facing renderings of a module. `ailang-surface`
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is the lossless Form-A printer/parser — the canonical
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[authoring surface](contracts/0001-authoring-surface.md), with a
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round-trip property `parse ∘ print = id` gating every release. `ailang-prose`
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is the lossy Form-B projection — human-readable prose for review and
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edit, with no parser; re-integration goes through the
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LLM-mediator round-trip documented in `docs/PROSE_ROUNDTRIP.md`.
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- **CLI** (`crates/ail`): toolchain for tooling consumers — `manifest`,
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`describe`, `deps`, `check`, `build`, `parse`, `render`, `prose`,
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`merge-prose`, etc., preferably with `--json` for machine consumption.
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- **Examples** (`examples/`): canonical `.ail.json` programs. They are
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specification anchors, not demos — the E2E suite hangs off them.
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- **Skills** (`~/dev/skills/` plugin, wired in via
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`.claude/dev-cycle-profile.yml`): specialised disciplines
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(`brainstorm`, `planner`, `implement`, `audit`, `debug`,
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`fieldtest`, `docwriter`, `boss`) plus the agent rosters
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they dispatch. They form the project's development
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methodology; the plugin is versioned separately, the
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per-project profile is in-tree.
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- **Design ledger** (`design/`): `design/INDEX.md` (this file — the
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sole addressable spine for canonical state), `design/contracts/`
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(test-linked invariants), `design/models/` (onboarding
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whitepapers).
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- **Docs** (`docs/`): `specs/` (per-milestone design specs),
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`plans/` (per-iteration implementation plans). Project history
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lives in `git log`; the forward queue lives in the Gitea issue
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backlog (http://192.168.178.103:3000/Brummel/AILang/issues).
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- **Tests**: unit tests per crate plus E2E in `crates/ail/tests/e2e.rs`. Every
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new compiler path needs a test, otherwise the feature does not count as done.
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### Project language: English
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All in-tree content is written in English: source code (identifiers,
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comments, string literals, CLI help), design documents, agent
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prompts, READMEs, commit messages, examples, and `CLAUDE.md`. The live
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conversation between user and me stays German for ergonomic reasons;
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everything that lands in git is English. This keeps diffs and tooling output
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uniform and matches the audience for AILang (LLM authors), for whom English
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is the default.
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## Contracts
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| id | consumer / lifetime | ratifying-test | link |
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|----|---------------------|----------------|------|
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| feature-acceptance | brainstorm-gate / stable | CLAUDE.md | design/contracts/0004-feature-acceptance.md |
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| authoring-surface | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs | design/contracts/0001-authoring-surface.md |
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| roundtrip-invariant | every release / stable | crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs | design/contracts/0009-roundtrip-invariant.md |
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| language-constraints | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-core/src/ast.rs (no thunk/ref/IORef node — by construction) | design/contracts/0015-language-constraints.md |
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| memory-model | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-check/src/uniqueness.rs + linearity.rs (in-source mod tests) | design/contracts/0008-memory-model.md |
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| data-model | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-core/tests/design_schema_drift.rs | design/contracts/0002-data-model.md |
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| mangling | codegen / stable | crates/ail/tests/eq_ord_e2e.rs | crates/ailang-codegen/src/lib.rs //! |
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| env-construction | codegen / stable | crates/ailang-check/tests/duplicate_ctor_pin.rs | crates/ailang-codegen/src/lib.rs //! |
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| qualified-xref | check→codegen / stable | crates/ail/tests/codegen_import_map_fallback_pin.rs | crates/ailang-check/src/lower_to_mir.rs (classify_callee) + design/contracts/0018-check-codegen-boundary.md |
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| frozen-value-layout | embedding ABI / one-way-frozen| crates/ailang-codegen/tests/embed_record_layout_pin.rs | design/contracts/0006-frozen-value-layout.md + runtime/rc.c §layout |
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| float-semantics | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/eq_float_noinstance.rs | design/contracts/0005-float-semantics.md |
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| typeclasses | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs | design/contracts/0013-typeclasses.md |
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| method-dispatch | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs | design/contracts/0016-method-dispatch.md |
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| prelude-classes | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs | design/contracts/0017-prelude-classes.md |
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| str-abi | runtime ABI / stable | crates/ail/tests/e2e.rs (Str path) | design/contracts/0011-str-abi.md + runtime/str.c §heap-Str |
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| tail-calls | codegen / stable | crates/ailang-check/src/lib.rs (in-source tail_call_in_non_tail_position_is_rejected) | design/contracts/0012-tail-calls.md |
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| honesty-rule | architect+grounding / stable | crates/ailang-core/tests/docs_honesty_pin.rs | design/contracts/0007-honesty-rule.md |
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| embedding-abi | embedding host / stable | crates/ailang-codegen/tests/embed_record_layout_pin.rs | design/contracts/0003-embedding-abi.md |
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| scope-boundaries | architect+author / stable | crates/ailang-core/tests/effect_doc_honesty_pin.rs | design/contracts/0010-scope-boundaries.md |
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| verification | architect / stable | crates/ail/tests/ir_snapshot.rs (+ round_trip, hash_pin, e2e) | design/contracts/0014-verification.md |
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| check-codegen-boundary| architect / stable | crates/ailang-check/tests/lower_to_mir_ty.rs (callee_classification_builtin_and_static) | design/contracts/0018-check-codegen-boundary.md |
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## Models
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| id | consumer / lifetime | link |
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|----|---------------------|------|
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| rc-uniqueness | onboarding / evolves | design/models/0004-rc-uniqueness.md |
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| typeclasses | onboarding / evolves | design/models/0005-typeclasses.md |
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| effects | onboarding / evolves | design/models/0002-effects.md |
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| authoring-surface | onboarding / evolves | design/models/0001-authoring-surface.md |
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| prose-projection | onboarding / evolves | design/models/0006-prose-projection.md |
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| pipeline | onboarding / evolves | design/models/0003-pipeline.md |
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| kernel-extensions | onboarding / evolves (mechanisms milestone closed 2026-05-28; ratified end-to-end by the `ailang-kernel/src/raw_buf` base extension; series library extension step-1 shipped via `ailang-kernel/src/series`, SoA step-2 #62 pending) | design/models/0007-kernel-extensions.md |
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