Brummel
d745399a1f
Adds design/models/kernel-extensions.md as the architectural anchor for the kernel-extensions arc — a plugin-style mechanism for domain-specific types that live outside ailang-core and present themselves to user code as if they were primitives. The whitepaper articulates a two-tier extension architecture: - Base extensions ship as a kernel-tier module + Rust codegen intercepts emitting LLVM IR. They provide primitives that are not expressible in AILang itself (mutable indexed storage, hardware/OS interaction, library wrappers). The first base extension will be RawBuf. - Library extensions ship as pure AILang code in a kernel-tier .ail module, wrapping a base extension to provide domain-specific API. The first library extension will be Series. Four language-level mechanisms enable this: 1. Type-scoped namespacing — `<TypeName>.<member>` resolves to the type's home module. 2. The `new` term construct — `(new T args...)` calls the `new` def in T's home module. 3. Kernel-tier modules — `Module.kernel: bool` flag with auto-import (generalises the existing hardcoded prelude auto-injection at loader.rs:98-108 + workspace.rs:308-311, 467, 2655 into a flag-driven mechanism). 4. `param-in` — closed-set type-parameter restriction on TypeDefs. The full Series-via-SMA worked example serves as the clause-1 feature-acceptance evidence: the .ail program an LLM author naturally writes when asked to compute a moving average over streaming float data. Series.push uses ownership-mode threading (`(own (Series a)) -> (own (Series a))`), not a separate `Series` effect — mutation discipline is mode-tracked, not effect-tracked, consistent with AILang's existing memory model. Coexistence with existing mechanisms (class dispatch, algebraic effects, RC + uniqueness, heap-Str ABI, term-ctor) is named explicitly. Migration policy stated: pre-production stage, so the right design is chosen even where it requires rewriting existing test fixtures. STATUS header marks the document as design-accepted, impl in progress across milestones #6 → #7 → #8. As each closes, the relevant sections transition from forward-looking to present state per the honesty-rule. design/INDEX.md gains a corresponding Models-table entry. Refs Gitea milestones #6 (kernel-extension-mechanics), #7 (raw-buf), #8 (series). Closes #2 (Flat array/slice primitive) as duplicate of #7. Closes #4 (Stateful islands) as superseded by this arc — the streaming-analytics workload class the stateful-islands design targeted is delivered by kernel-extensions without re-introducing `mut`/`var`/`assign` (atomically removed in `remove-mut-var-assign.1`) or adding a `!Mut` effect.
112 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
112 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
# AILang Design — Index
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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/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** (`skills/`): specialised disciplines
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(`brainstorm`, `planner`, `implement`, `audit`, `debug`,
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`fieldtest`) plus the agent rosters they dispatch
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(`skills/<name>/agents/`). They form the project's own
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development methodology and are versioned with the codebase.
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See `skills/README.md`.
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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 | skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md | design/contracts/feature-acceptance.md |
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| authoring-surface | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs | design/contracts/authoring-surface.md |
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| roundtrip-invariant | every release / stable | crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs | design/contracts/roundtrip-invariant.md |
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| language-constraints | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-check/src/uniqueness.rs (in-source mod tests) | design/contracts/language-constraints.md |
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| memory-model | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-check/src/uniqueness.rs (in-source mod tests) | design/contracts/memory-model.md |
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| data-model | LLM author / stable | crates/ailang-core/tests/design_schema_drift.rs | design/contracts/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 | codegen / stable | crates/ail/tests/codegen_import_map_fallback_pin.rs | crates/ail/src/main.rs //! |
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| frozen-value-layout | embedding ABI / one-way-frozen| crates/ailang-codegen/tests/embed_record_layout_pin.rs | design/contracts/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/float-semantics.md |
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| typeclasses | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs | design/contracts/typeclasses.md |
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| method-dispatch | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs | design/contracts/method-dispatch.md |
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| prelude-classes | LLM author / stable | crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs | design/contracts/prelude-classes.md |
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| str-abi | runtime ABI / stable | crates/ail/tests/e2e.rs (Str path) | design/contracts/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/tail-calls.md |
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| honesty-rule | architect+grounding / stable | crates/ailang-core/tests/docs_honesty_pin.rs | design/contracts/honesty-rule.md |
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| embedding-abi | embedding host / stable | crates/ailang-codegen/tests/embed_record_layout_pin.rs | design/contracts/embedding-abi.md |
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| scope-boundaries | architect+author / stable | crates/ailang-core/tests/effect_doc_honesty_pin.rs | design/contracts/scope-boundaries.md |
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| verification | architect / stable | bench/architect_sweeps.sh | design/contracts/verification.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/rc-uniqueness.md |
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| typeclasses | onboarding / evolves | design/models/typeclasses.md |
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| effects | onboarding / evolves | design/models/effects.md |
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| authoring-surface | onboarding / evolves | design/models/authoring-surface.md |
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| prose-projection | onboarding / evolves | design/models/prose-projection.md |
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| pipeline | onboarding / evolves | design/models/pipeline.md |
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| kernel-extensions | onboarding / evolves (design accepted 2026-05-28; impl in progress) | design/models/kernel-extensions.md |
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