Files

T

Brummel 832375f2ac convention: counter-prefix file naming across docs/specs/, docs/plans/, design/contracts/, design/models/

All 176 files in the four accumulating directories now use a
zero-padded 4-digit counter prefix that reflects creation order
(`NNNN-slug.md`). The counter is assigned per directory in strict
git-log creation order; ties broken alphabetically by original name.
The old `YYYY-MM-DD-` prefix on docs/specs/ and docs/plans/ files is
dropped — the date is recoverable from git log and the counter
carries the ordering.

A file's counter is stable for the life of the file: never reassigned,
never reused, never compacted. Deleted files retire their counter;
subsequent files do not fill the gap. This is the property that lets
cross-references stay literal — refs use the full filename including
the counter (`design/contracts/0007-honesty-rule.md`) so they grep
cleanly and resolve directly without a glob step.

313 cross-references updated across .md/.rs/.toml/.c/.json files
(test pins, include_str! paths, design-INDEX entries, baseline notes,
runtime C comments, inter-contract markdown links incl. bare basename
and `../models/foo.md` forms).

CLAUDE.md gets a new "File-naming convention" section spelling out
the rule and rationale. skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md and
skills/planner/SKILL.md updated so new spec/plan creation produces
counter-prefixed names from the start.

The full test suite (cargo test --workspace) passes.

2026-05-28 13:31:31 +02:00

7.4 KiB

Raw Blame History

AILang Design — Index

The sole addressable entry point. Every contract and model is reached from here. A contract is a prescriptive, test-linked invariant; a model is a whitepaper narrative. ratifying-test names the green test that proves a contract still holds. link is polymorphic: a design/ file, or the authoritative source //! header when the code is the single source of truth.

Project framing

Goal

AILang is a programming language for LLM authors. It compiles to LLVM IR. Performance: native, no GC for the MVP.

Optimised for:

Machine readability over human ergonomics. The source is structured.
Local reasoning. Every definition carries its full type and effects.
Provability. Pure core language, explicit effects, optional refinements.
Robustness against hallucinations. Symbols are hashable; tools can verify existence without spending context window.

Project ecosystem

AILang is not just a language but an ecosystem. The language on its own is only valuable when its surroundings make it usable, checkable, and extensible for its target user (LLM authors). The repo therefore contains several equally important components — none of them optional, all of them evolving in lockstep with the language:

Language core (crates/ailang-core, crates/ailang-check, crates/ailang-codegen): AST, type system, codegen.
Surface forms (crates/ailang-surface, crates/ailang-prose): the LLM-facing renderings of a module. ailang-surface is the lossless Form-A printer/parser — the canonical authoring surface, with a round-trip property parse ∘ print = id gating every release. ailang-prose is the lossy Form-B projection — human-readable prose for review and edit, with no parser; re-integration goes through the LLM-mediator round-trip documented in docs/PROSE_ROUNDTRIP.md.
CLI (crates/ail): toolchain for tooling consumers — manifest, describe, deps, check, build, parse, render, prose, merge-prose, etc., preferably with --json for machine consumption.
Examples (examples/): canonical .ail.json programs. They are specification anchors, not demos — the E2E suite hangs off them.
Skills (skills/): specialised disciplines (brainstorm, planner, implement, audit, debug, fieldtest) plus the agent rosters they dispatch (skills/<name>/agents/). They form the project's own development methodology and are versioned with the codebase. See skills/README.md.
Design ledger (design/): design/INDEX.md (this file — the sole addressable spine for canonical state), design/contracts/ (test-linked invariants), design/models/ (onboarding whitepapers).
Docs (docs/): specs/ (per-milestone design specs), plans/ (per-iteration implementation plans). Project history lives in git log; the forward queue lives in the Gitea issue backlog (http://192.168.178.103:3000/Brummel/AILang/issues).
Tests: unit tests per crate plus E2E in crates/ail/tests/e2e.rs. Every new compiler path needs a test, otherwise the feature does not count as done.

Project language: English

All in-tree content is written in English: source code (identifiers, comments, string literals, CLI help), design documents, agent prompts, READMEs, commit messages, examples, and CLAUDE.md. The live conversation between user and me stays German for ergonomic reasons; everything that lands in git is English. This keeps diffs and tooling output uniform and matches the audience for AILang (LLM authors), for whom English is the default.

Contracts

id	consumer / lifetime	ratifying-test	link
feature-acceptance	brainstorm-gate / stable	skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md	design/contracts/0004-feature-acceptance.md
authoring-surface	LLM author / stable	crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs	design/contracts/0001-authoring-surface.md
roundtrip-invariant	every release / stable	crates/ailang-surface/tests/round_trip.rs	design/contracts/0009-roundtrip-invariant.md
language-constraints	LLM author / stable	crates/ailang-check/src/uniqueness.rs (in-source mod tests)	design/contracts/0015-language-constraints.md
memory-model	LLM author / stable	crates/ailang-check/src/uniqueness.rs (in-source mod tests)	design/contracts/0008-memory-model.md
data-model	LLM author / stable	crates/ailang-core/tests/design_schema_drift.rs	design/contracts/0002-data-model.md
mangling	codegen / stable	crates/ail/tests/eq_ord_e2e.rs	crates/ailang-codegen/src/lib.rs //!
env-construction	codegen / stable	crates/ailang-check/tests/duplicate_ctor_pin.rs	crates/ailang-codegen/src/lib.rs //!
qualified-xref	codegen / stable	crates/ail/tests/codegen_import_map_fallback_pin.rs	crates/ail/src/main.rs //!
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
float-semantics	LLM author / stable	crates/ail/tests/eq_float_noinstance.rs	design/contracts/0005-float-semantics.md
typeclasses	LLM author / stable	crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs	design/contracts/0013-typeclasses.md
method-dispatch	LLM author / stable	crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs	design/contracts/0016-method-dispatch.md
prelude-classes	LLM author / stable	crates/ail/tests/show_no_instance_e2e.rs	design/contracts/0017-prelude-classes.md
str-abi	runtime ABI / stable	crates/ail/tests/e2e.rs (Str path)	design/contracts/0011-str-abi.md + runtime/str.c §heap-Str
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
honesty-rule	architect+grounding / stable	crates/ailang-core/tests/docs_honesty_pin.rs	design/contracts/0007-honesty-rule.md
embedding-abi	embedding host / stable	crates/ailang-codegen/tests/embed_record_layout_pin.rs	design/contracts/0003-embedding-abi.md
scope-boundaries	architect+author / stable	crates/ailang-core/tests/effect_doc_honesty_pin.rs	design/contracts/0010-scope-boundaries.md
verification	architect / stable	bench/architect_sweeps.sh	design/contracts/0014-verification.md

Models

id	consumer / lifetime	link
rc-uniqueness	onboarding / evolves	design/models/0004-rc-uniqueness.md
typeclasses	onboarding / evolves	design/models/0005-typeclasses.md
effects	onboarding / evolves	design/models/0002-effects.md
authoring-surface	onboarding / evolves	design/models/0001-authoring-surface.md
prose-projection	onboarding / evolves	design/models/0006-prose-projection.md
pipeline	onboarding / evolves	design/models/0003-pipeline.md
kernel-extensions	onboarding / evolves (design accepted 2026-05-28; impl in progress)	design/models/0007-kernel-extensions.md

7.4 KiB Raw Blame History