Brummel
72e54f4fd3
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.
137 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
137 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
name: fieldtest
|
|
description: Boss-dispatched only, after audit closes clean (or with ratified drift only), when the orchestrator judges the iteration is complete and wants a field test. Picks 2-4 real-world programming tasks within the milestone's scope, implements each in the AIL Surface form (.ail — not raw JSON), runs the resulting binaries, and writes a friction-and-bug spec to docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md. The spec feeds the next plan as a reference. Implementer simulates a downstream LLM that has only DESIGN.md plus the public examples — never the language's own implementation.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# fieldtest — LLM-usability field test for a shipped milestone
|
|
|
|
> **Violating the letter of these rules is violating the spirit.**
|
|
|
|
## Overview
|
|
|
|
`audit` measures drift between DESIGN.md and what the codebase claims
|
|
to do. `fieldtest` measures something audit cannot: whether the
|
|
language, *as it now ships*, is usable by an LLM author who has only
|
|
DESIGN.md and public examples to work from. The shipping LLM-author
|
|
*is* the user of AILang. If a freshly shipped feature is awkward for
|
|
that author to reach for, or if DESIGN.md leaves a corner ambiguous
|
|
that real code immediately exercises, the milestone has shipped a
|
|
latent debt — even when audit reports `clean`.
|
|
|
|
The skill produces a friction-and-bug spec that the next iteration's
|
|
`planner` consumes as a reference. The spec sits next to milestone-design
|
|
specs at `docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md`.
|
|
|
|
The substantive process — read DESIGN.md + JOURNAL + milestone spec,
|
|
pick 2-4 real-world programming tasks per milestone axis, implement
|
|
each in `.ail` Surface form, run via `ail check`/`build`/`run`,
|
|
classify findings, write the spec — lives in
|
|
`agents/ailang-fieldtester.md`. That file also carries the spec
|
|
template, the source-isolation discipline (no reading under
|
|
`crates/`, `runtime/`, `bench/`), and the per-finding classification
|
|
rules. This skill file only governs trigger, dispatch, and handoff.
|
|
|
|
## When to Use / Skipping
|
|
|
|
Triggers:
|
|
- Boss-dispatched after audit closes cleanly, when the orchestrator
|
|
believes the iteration is correct and wants a field test. The
|
|
pre-condition is a clean (or `ratify`-d) audit; the trigger is the
|
|
Boss's judgment-call that the iteration is complete.
|
|
- A shipped feature is suspected of being LLM-hostile in some way the
|
|
earlier brainstorm could not foresee.
|
|
- A user-facing surface change (Decision 6, schema rev, new
|
|
effect/typeclass mechanic) has just landed.
|
|
|
|
Findings cluster around two shapes — simple bugs (route via `debug` →
|
|
`implement` mini) or catastrophic architecture problems (route via next
|
|
`brainstorm`). Friction and spec-gap items are also possible; the
|
|
routing table below applies in all cases.
|
|
|
|
**Skipping is permitted only** for:
|
|
- Bug-fix iterations (use `debug`).
|
|
- Tidy iterations whose scope is purely internal cleanup with zero
|
|
surface impact.
|
|
- Iterations whose entire scope is documentation in `docs/`.
|
|
|
|
**Skipping is not permitted** for:
|
|
- A milestone that introduced or changed surface syntax, schema,
|
|
effects, types, modes, or any user-visible diagnostic.
|
|
- A milestone whose JOURNAL entry claims "LLM author can now write
|
|
X". `fieldtest` is the gate that empirically substantiates such
|
|
claims; an unverified claim is drift.
|
|
|
|
## The Iron Law
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
THE FIELDTESTER WORKS FROM DESIGN.MD AND PUBLIC EXAMPLES — NOT FROM THE COMPILER SOURCE.
|
|
EVERY EXAMPLE IS WRITTEN IN .ail (SURFACE) FIRST. RAW .ail.json IS NEVER HAND-AUTHORED.
|
|
EVERY FRICTION POINT AND BUG IS RECORDED. NONE IS WORKED AROUND.
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The first clause is load-bearing: the whole point of the field test is
|
|
to simulate a downstream LLM author who has only the specification and
|
|
the example corpus. The agent file enforces this with a hard path
|
|
allowlist; the orchestrator must trust that contract and not feed the
|
|
agent compiler-internal hints in the carrier.
|
|
|
|
## Dispatch
|
|
|
|
Dispatch `ailang-fieldtester` with the carrier from the Handoff
|
|
Contract below. The agent picks 2-4 examples (one per axis the
|
|
milestone touched), implements them in `.ail`, runs them through the
|
|
public `ail` CLI, classifies findings, and writes the spec. All
|
|
artefacts (fixtures + spec) stay in the working tree as unstaged
|
|
changes; the Boss commits them after reviewing the report (suggested
|
|
commit subject: `fieldtest: <milestone> — <N> examples, <K> findings`).
|
|
|
|
Two to four examples is the right size. One is too few (no signal on
|
|
variation); five is too many for one report to stay readable.
|
|
|
|
## Handoff Contract
|
|
|
|
`fieldtest` consumes (from orchestrator at milestone close):
|
|
|
|
| Field | Content |
|
|
|-------|---------|
|
|
| `milestone_id` | e.g. `milestone-22` |
|
|
| `milestone_scope` | 1-3 sentences naming what shipped |
|
|
| `axis_hints` | bullet list, one per milestone axis the test should probe |
|
|
| `commit_range` | `<prev-milestone-close>..HEAD` |
|
|
|
|
`fieldtest` produces:
|
|
|
|
| Field | Content |
|
|
|-------|---------|
|
|
| `spec_path` | `docs/specs/<date>-fieldtest-<milestone>.md` |
|
|
| `examples_added` | list of `.ail` paths committed |
|
|
| `findings` | list, each with class (`bug` / `friction` / `spec_gap` / `working`) + recommendation |
|
|
| `status` | `clean` / `friction_found` / `bugs_found` / `infra_blocked` |
|
|
|
|
The orchestrator drives downstream:
|
|
- `bug` → `debug` (RED-first; GREEN via `implement` mini-mode)
|
|
- `friction` → next `brainstorm` or a tidy iteration via `planner`
|
|
- `spec_gap` → ratify in JOURNAL + DESIGN.md, or tighten DESIGN.md
|
|
- `working` → carry-on (worth recording, no follow-up)
|
|
|
|
`fieldtest` does NOT self-resolve.
|
|
|
|
## Cross-references
|
|
|
|
- **Agent dispatched:** `skills/fieldtest/agents/ailang-fieldtester.md`
|
|
— carries the five-phase process, the Iron Law in operational form,
|
|
the spec template, the per-finding classification rules, the Common
|
|
Rationalisations table, and the Red Flags list.
|
|
- **Upstream gate:** `skills/audit/SKILL.md` runs first; fieldtest
|
|
comes after a clean (or ratified) audit.
|
|
- **Cadence ordering:** fieldtest runs *before* `skills/docwriter/SKILL.md`;
|
|
docwriter happens at a later, longer stability window.
|
|
- **Downstream targets:**
|
|
- `skills/debug/SKILL.md` — for each `bug` finding
|
|
- `skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md` or `skills/planner/SKILL.md` — for
|
|
`friction` and `spec_gap` findings worth a follow-up iteration
|
|
- **Project source:** `docs/DESIGN.md` "Feature-acceptance criterion"
|
|
— the field test is the empirical complement to brainstorm's
|
|
prospective application of that criterion. Brainstorm asks "would
|
|
an LLM author reach for this?"; fieldtest asks "did one?"
|