Brummel
9fdc4cacff
Second half of the form-a-default-authoring milestone-close iter
(Boss-decided strategy C, big-bang). All seven tasks DONE; cargo
test --workspace green at every per-task boundary.
T6 — Bench-driver suffix flip from .ail.json to .ail across 4
Python scripts + run.sh. compile_check.py + cross_lang.py exit 0.
T7 — Re-author e2e.rs raw-JSON-inspect tests:
- diff_detects_changed_def — derive sum.ail.json on-the-fly via
`ail parse examples/sum.ail` into tempdir, then mutate + diff.
- borrow_own_demo_modes_are_metadata_only — same pattern.
- reuse_as_demo_under_rc_uses_inplace_rewrite — same pattern.
- render_parse_round_trip_canonical — RETIRED (subsumed by T1's
cli_parse_then_render_then_parse_is_idempotent over whole corpus).
- ail_run_accepts_ail_source_with_same_stdout_as_ail_json —
re-authored to derive hello.ail.json in a per-process tempdir
from hello.ail via `ail parse`, then assert dual-form stdout.
T8 — Bulk-delete 156 non-carve-out .ail.json. Inventory:
8 .ail.json (carve-outs, alphabetical: broken_unbound + prelude
+ 3× test_22b2_* + 3× test_ct1_*) + 157 .ail. carve_out_inventory
test un-#[ignore]'d and green. Forward-pulled 20 repairs that the
T1-5 dispatch's recon missed (12 Group-B suffix + 5 Group-A
load_workspace + 3 ail_run sites). Also forward-pulled T9 Step 5
(schema_coverage corpus flip from .ail.json to .ail) to satisfy
T8's green-gate.
T9 — Retire obsolete roundtrip tests:
- print_then_parse_round_trips_every_fixture (round_trip.rs)
- every_ail_fixture_matches_its_json_counterpart (round_trip.rs)
- cli_render_then_parse_preserves_canonical_bytes_on_every_fixture
- Dead helpers: list_json_fixtures ×2, round_trip_one,
strip_trailing_newlines.
Schema-coverage corpus already flipped in T8 (forward-pull).
T10 — DESIGN.md §"Roundtrip Invariant" (lines 2027-2109) restated
with parse-determinism + idempotency + CLI-pipeline-idempotency +
carve-out-anchor framing. Five surviving enforcement tests named.
§"Float literals" and §"Why anchored at top level" preserved.
T11 — §A4 doctrine edits: CLAUDE.md:5-6 + DESIGN.md:465-466.
Canonical form remains JSON-AST; authoring projection is .ail;
build derives JSON-AST in-process via ailang_surface::parse.
T12 — Milestone close:
- WhatsNew entry: user-facing language, lead with the change.
- Roadmap: [milestone] form-a struck [x] with closing note.
- Final inventory verified: 8 .ail.json + 157 .ail.
- Final cargo test --workspace: 557 passed, 0 failed, 3 ignored.
- bench/compile_check.py + bench/cross_lang.py: exit 0.
Test math: pre-iter 558 baseline + 3 new T1 tests = 561, − 1
(T7 retire) − 3 (T9 retire) = 557 final.
INDEX.md appended with the full iter summary covering T1-T12 (the
T1-5 commit at 77b28ad deferred the INDEX line to full-iter close).
Milestone [Form-A as the default authoring surface] structurally
closed. The compile-time-embed carve-out (prelude.ail.json) is
the subject of the queued follow-up milestone [Prelude embed:
Form-A as compile-time source]. audit-form-a runs as the next
dispatch.
249 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
249 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
## AILang — a language for LLM authors
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AILang's only author is an LLM, not a human. It is designed for:
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- **Machine readability over human readability.** The canonical,
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hashable, content-addressed form is structured data (`.ail.json`);
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the authoring projection is Form A (`.ail`). Authors write `.ail`;
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the build derives the JSON-AST in-process via
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`ailang_surface::parse`, gated by the round-trip invariant. The
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two forms are byte-isomorphic — picking either does not change
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the identity of the module.
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- **Local reasoning.** Every definition carries its full type and
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effect set, so a signature can be trusted without reading the body.
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- **Provability.** Pure core, explicit algebraic effects.
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- **Robustness against hallucinations.** Content-addressed symbols are
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checkable without spending context window.
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These priorities are contrary to conventional compiler design, which
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optimises for human ergonomics — concise syntax, point-free style,
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implicit conversions, syntactic shortcuts that hide structure. AILang
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keeps none of those. The compiler emits LLVM IR as text so the LLM can
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read what it generated, then hands it to `clang -O2` for native
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performance.
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The consequence is asymmetric: human-attractive but LLM-neutral
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features (operator overloading, implicit conversions, point-free style)
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are **cut**. Human-hostile but LLM-friendly features (JSON authoring
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surface, mandatory mode and type annotations, explicit `clone`) are
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**kept**. A feature ships only if an LLM reaches for it unprompted AND
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it measurably improves correctness or removes redundancy.
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## Code layout
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| Path | Role |
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|---|---|
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| `crates/ail/` | CLI entry point — subcommands include `check`, `build`, `run`, `emit-ir`, `prose`, `merge-prose`, `workspace`, `diff`, `manifest`, `render`, `describe`, `deps`, `parse`, `builtins` |
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| `crates/ailang-core/` | AST, canonicalisation, desugaring, workspace types, hash, pretty |
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| `crates/ailang-surface/` | Surface syntax — lex, parse, print |
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| `crates/ailang-check/` | Type and uniqueness/mode analysis, lints, diagnostics |
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| `crates/ailang-codegen/` | LLVM-IR codegen — RC, drop, lambda lowering, match lowering, escape, synth, subst |
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| `crates/ailang-prose/` | Form-A ↔ Form-B prose projection |
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| `runtime/` | C glue around the RC runtime |
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| `bench/` | Regression harnesses (`check.py`, `compile_check.py`, `cross_lang.py`) and the throughput-and-latency runner (`run.sh`); `bench/reference/` holds the hand-C corpus for cross-language ratios |
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| `examples/` | AILang fixtures used by tests and benches |
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| `docs/` | Canonical specs and decisions log — `docs/DESIGN.md`, `docs/journals/` (per-iter journals + `INDEX.md`), `docs/journal-archive.md` (pre-2026-05-11 history), `docs/specs/` (per-milestone design specs), `docs/plans/` (per-iteration plans), `PROSE_ROUNDTRIP.md` |
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| `skills/` | Project-local skill definitions and their agents. See `skills/README.md` for the skill table, agent roster, and discovery layout. |
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## Skill system
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Day-to-day discipline lives under `skills/<name>/SKILL.md`; see
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`skills/README.md` for the trigger table and skipping rules. Skills
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are sharper tools, not a replacement for orchestrator judgement.
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Specs go to `docs/specs/<milestone>.md`, plans to
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`docs/plans/<iteration>.md`.
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Autonomous orchestrator mode — picking the next iter from
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`docs/roadmap.md` and looping until done-state — is gated to the
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user-invoked `/boss` skill (`skills/boss/SKILL.md`). Outside
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`/boss`, the default is interactive collaboration: the user asks,
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Claude responds, Claude stops.
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## My role: orchestrator
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I am the **orchestrator** of this project, not the implementer. The
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agents under `skills/<name>/agents/` are my workers. I direct them,
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review their output, and integrate it. I do not silently take over
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their job because it feels faster — that erodes the discipline the
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agents are designed to enforce (mandatory reading order, fixed output
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format, explicit handoff between architecture / implementation /
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testing / debugging).
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See @skills/README.md for the skill + agent roster.
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### What this means in practice
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- **Plan, design, decide** — myself. Architectural choices, scope,
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invariants, and the contents of `docs/journals/` and
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`docs/DESIGN.md` are my work product.
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- **Implement, refactor, write tests, diagnose bugs** — by default,
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delegated. `ailang-implementer` for code changes that follow a
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fixed design, `ailang-tester` for E2E coverage, `ailang-debugger`
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for diagnostics, `ailang-architect` for read-only drift review.
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- **Trivial mechanical edits** (one-line fixes, doc typos, schema
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rename across N files) — fine to do directly. Anything that
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requires reading large surface area or making judgement calls
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should go to an agent.
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- **Verify the work** — agent reports describe intent, not
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outcome. After every agent run I check the diff and the test
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output myself before committing.
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### Commit discipline and main-branch sanctity
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Two project-wide rules govern who touches git history and how:
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- **Only the Boss (me) commits.** No skill agent — implementer,
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brainstormer, planner, debugger, fieldtester, docwriter,
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architect, bencher — runs `git commit`. Every agent writes its
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output (spec, plan, code, tests, fixtures, rustdoc edits, RED
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tests, journal files, stats, updated baselines) into the working
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tree as unstaged changes. I inspect the result with
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`git status` / `git diff`, decide commit shape (often one
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cohesive iter-level commit; sometimes a few logical commits when
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the changes genuinely cover separate concerns), and commit.
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Per-task or per-phase commits are not a goal in themselves.
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- **main HEAD is sacrosanct.** Nobody (including me) runs
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`git reset` or `git revert` on main. main moves forward only via
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my commits. The consequence is the working-tree-as-quarantine
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discipline: nothing half-baked enters main, because nothing can
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be taken back off. If a dispatched agent's output is wrong, I
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discard it via `git checkout -- <paths>` or `git stash` on the
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working tree — main HEAD does not move. If something wrong does
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land on main, the remedy is a forward-fix commit, never a rewind.
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These rules supersede earlier mechanics that involved per-iter
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branches and per-task agent commits. See `skills/README.md`
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"Conventions" for the same rules in skill-system form, and the
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2026-05-11 journal for the failure mode that motivated the change.
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### Authority over `skills/` and the agent roster
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I am free to add, edit, retire, or replace skill or agent definitions
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whenever the orchestration needs it. Concretely:
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- Adjust an agent's mandatory reading list when a new design doc
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becomes load-bearing.
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- Tighten an agent or skill output format if reports are getting
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verbose.
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- Add a new skill when a recurring meta-pattern doesn't fit any
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existing role.
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- Add a new agent when a recurring task doesn't fit any existing
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agent (e.g. a release-cutter).
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- Retire an agent or skill that has become redundant.
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Skill and agent definitions are versioned files like any other code
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in the repo — changes go through git, with a commit message that
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says why the role shifted. I treat them as part of the toolchain,
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not as immutable scripture.
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### When NOT to delegate
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- During exploratory chat with the user, when they ask me a direct
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question. The user talks to me, not to my agents.
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- When the task is genuinely a single judgement call ("should we
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use approach X or Y?") — that is orchestrator work.
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- When I have already loaded the relevant context for a different
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reason and a sub-agent would have to redo the same reading. In
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that case I do the small change inline and note in the per-iter
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journal why I bypassed the agent.
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### Design rationale ≠ implementation effort
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When picking between design options, the rationale must come from
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the language: semantics, structural fit, what the schema permits
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vs. forbids, compositional clarity, future-proofing. **Implementation
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effort is not a rationale.** "Approach A would touch ~250 sites,
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approach B touches 1" is an observation about the current state of
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the code, not a reason for either choice.
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If effort is the only argument I can name for an option, that is a
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red flag: either I have not done the design work yet, or the choice
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may be wrong. The fix is to articulate the substantive reason — and
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if there isn't one, reconsider.
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Effort is at most a tiebreaker after substantive reasons line up
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equally, and even then it should be named as a tiebreaker, not as
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the primary reason. The 18a "Type::Fn metadata vs. Type variant"
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call is the canonical anti-example: the right reason was semantic
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locality (modes belong to fn-parameter positions, not to types in
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general), and I retroactively had to add it. JOURNAL entries from
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2026-05-08 record the lesson.
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### Feature acceptance: LLM utility
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The test for whether a feature ships is whether an LLM author
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naturally produces code that uses it AND whether the feature
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measurably improves correctness or removes redundancy. Aesthetic
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appeal does not count; neither does human ergonomics. Full criterion
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lives in `docs/DESIGN.md` ("Feature-acceptance criterion") and is
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applied as a gate by `skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md` during spec writing.
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## Bug fixes — TDD, always
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Bug fixes are RED-first, autonomous, no orchestrator gate. See
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`skills/debug/SKILL.md` (trigger + handoff) and
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`skills/debug/agents/ailang-debugger.md` (Iron Law, four phases,
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Phase 4.5 architecture trigger).
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## Milestone cycle
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Work clusters into **milestones**, each subdivided into
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**iterations**. Pipeline (`brainstorm → plan → implement → audit
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→ fieldtest`), skipping rules, and bench-exit-code gating live in
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`skills/README.md` and the per-skill `SKILL.md` files.
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Vocabulary note: legacy JOURNAL entries (pre-2026-05-09) use
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"iter" / "family"; new entries use "iteration" / "milestone".
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Existing entries are not retroactively renamed.
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## Roles of `docs/DESIGN.md`, `docs/journals/`, `docs/journal-archive.md`, `docs/roadmap.md`, `docs/specs/`, `docs/plans/`
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- **`docs/DESIGN.md`** is the canonical specification. It describes
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what AILang *is*: schema, semantics, invariants, runtime contracts.
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Every new feature must justify itself against `docs/DESIGN.md`
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before it can ship; if the feature requires changes to
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`docs/DESIGN.md`, those changes are part of the same iteration.
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`docs/DESIGN.md` is also the artefact `ailang-architect` checks
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the code against during drift review.
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- **`docs/journals/<YYYY-MM-DD>-iter-<id>.md`** is the decisions
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log, one file per iter. Each file records *why* the iter moved
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the way it did — alternatives considered and rejected, lessons,
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rationale that does not belong in `docs/DESIGN.md`. Append-only
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per file; new files are appended via `docs/journals/INDEX.md`.
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`docs/journals/INDEX.md` is the chronological pointer list,
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orchestrator-maintained, one line per iter.
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- **`docs/journal-archive.md`** is the archived monolithic
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decisions log for everything pre-2026-05-11. Content-frozen.
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Read it only when chasing long-tail history; do not append.
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- **`docs/roadmap.md`** (since 2026-05-10): the priority-ordered
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forward queue — milestones, features, todos, and ideas. The
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orchestrator owns this file and is responsible for keeping it
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current: adding new entries, reprioritising, removing items
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that are done or dropped. Entries are checkbox lines; finished
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items get checked off, then removed (with a one-line mirror in
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the per-iter journal) once they stop being interesting context.
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- **`docs/specs/<milestone>.md`** (since 2026-05-09): per-milestone
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design spec produced by `skills/brainstorm`. Hard-gate before any
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plan or code work for the milestone.
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- **`docs/plans/<iteration>.md`** (since 2026-05-09): per-iteration
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bite-sized executable plan produced by `skills/planner`, consumed
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by `skills/implement`.
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- **`docs/WhatsNew.md`** (since 2026-05-11): the user-facing
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changelog, written for the user-as-reader who does not watch
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the implementation. Entries are appended at done-state
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notifications and mirror the Notify text verbatim. See the
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"Done-state notifications" subsection above for the editorial
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rules (in particular: no internals, lead with the change).
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Together these answer three questions: "what is the language right
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now?" (DESIGN), "how did we get here?" (per-iter journals, specs,
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plans), and "what's next?" (roadmap). `WhatsNew.md` is the
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user-facing mirror of the journals — the same history, told without
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internals.
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