AILang/docs/journals/2026-05-14-audit-pd.md

audit-pd — milestone close (prelude-decouple)

Date: 2026-05-14 Scope: commits e6298f5..9a8d385 (spec → pd.1 plan → pd.1 → housekeeping → pd.2 plan → pd.2 → pd.3 plan → pd.3) Status: DONE — drift fixed inline as audit-pd-tidy; bench ratified pristine

Architect drift review

ailang-architect returned drift_found with one Important + one Minor + one Nit:

• [Important] docs/DESIGN.md lines 2095-2099 + 2140-2143 — §"Roundtrip Invariant" point 4 ("Carve-out anchor") still asserted "Eight .ail.json-only fixtures (seven subject-matter rejection tests + one compile-time-embed for the prelude)" and §Enforcement still said "exactly the eight named carve-out files exist", but post-pd.3 the count is seven and the compile-time-embed clause is empty. The form-a spec was retired in place during pd.3 (§C4 (b) RETIRED status marker); DESIGN.md was missed.
• [Minor] crates/ail/src/main.rs lines 2438-2448 — local_types.get("prelude") fallback in rewrite_type (the migrate-canonical-types subcommand's helper) was dead-by-construction after pd.3 retired the synthetic prelude load in the same subcommand. A literal "prelude" string in CLI scope that survived a milestone whose explicit purpose was to delete exactly that pattern in core; the same drift category one crate over.
• [Nit] crates/ailang-core/src/lib.rs — three pre-existing cargo doc warnings on dangling [load_workspace] references carried from pd.1 (already recorded as known debt in pd.1 + pd.2 journals). Pre-existing baseline; not in this audit's scope. The roadmap's P2 "Rustdoc warning sweep" todo covers it.

Both Important and Minor were fixed inline as audit-pd-tidy per CLAUDE.md "trivial mechanical edit" carve-out (≤30 LOC, no judgement). The Nit was deferred to its existing roadmap todo.

Inline fixes applied

• docs/DESIGN.md:2095-2099 rewritten: "Seven .ail.json-only fixtures (subject-matter rejection tests) ... The prelude's compile-time-embed carve-out, originally listed here as the eighth fixture, was retired 2026-05-14 by milestone prelude-decouple; the prelude is now embedded as examples/prelude.ail in ailang-surface and parsed at compile time via ailang_surface::parse_prelude."
• docs/DESIGN.md:2141 rewritten: "exactly the seven named carve-out files exist".
• crates/ail/src/main.rs:2427-2448 — the or_else arm scanning local_types["prelude"] was deleted (5 LOC body); replaced with a multi-line comment explaining why (with a forward pointer for any future migrate variant that needs prelude awareness: repopulate local_types["prelude"] explicitly via parse_prelude). The owner-search now scans import_names only. No behavioural change against the current corpus (the or_else arm could never fire post-pd.3).

cargo test -p ailang-core --test carve_out_inventory PASS post-fix. cargo build -p ail clean.

Bench-regression check

Script	Exit	Result
bench/check.py	1	63 metrics; 1 regressed (latency.implicit_at_rc.p99_us +14.42%, p99_9 +16.17%, max +27.61%, p99_over_median +9.79% — same implicit_at_rc cluster), 4 improved (latency.explicit_at_rc.* cluster), 58 stable. Established 14-audit envelope-noise.
bench/compile_check.py	1	24 metrics; 11 regressed, 0 improved, 13 stable. The build-time-O0 noise cluster (audit-form-a, clippy-sweep). All within the 20% tolerance, ratifying as noise.
bench/cross_lang.py	0	25 metrics; 0 regressed, 0 improved, 25 stable. Clean.

prelude-decouple is a workspace-loader refactor + spec text + file-system + test code only. Zero codegen / runtime / typecheck path edited. The bench numbers cannot be causally affected by this milestone; the implicit_at_rc.p99_* oscillation and the build-time noise are the same long-running envelope every audit since audit-cma has flagged. Baseline left pristine (15th consecutive audit decision to do so on this envelope; the right resolution is a methodology fix — already queued as P3 "Latency methodology rework" — not per-audit baseline-juggling).

Resolution

• [Important] DESIGN.md drift — FIXED inline (audit-pd-tidy).
• [Minor] main.rs dead prelude fallback — FIXED inline (audit-pd-tidy).
• [Nit] pre-existing cargo doc warnings — DEFERRED to P2 "Rustdoc warning sweep" (existing roadmap todo).
• Bench check.py + compile_check.py exit 1 — RATIFIED as noise envelope, baseline pristine, 15th consecutive observation.

Files touched

• docs/DESIGN.md (two paragraphs in §"Roundtrip Invariant")
• crates/ail/src/main.rs (5 LOC body deletion + 8 LOC replacement comment in rewrite_type)
• docs/journals/2026-05-14-audit-pd.md (this file)

No bench baseline files modified.

Milestone status

prelude-decouple milestone: CLOSED. The roadmap entry at P0 moves to [x] and is removed from the active queue (the milestone trace stays in the journal index for chronological context). The post-milestone state of the working tree:

• examples/prelude.ail.json deleted; the prelude exists on disk only as examples/prelude.ail.
• crates/ailang-core/src/ contains zero literal-"prelude" strings.
• crates/ail/src/main.rs contains zero literal-"prelude" strings in production code (the migrate-subcommand fallback is gone post- audit-tidy).
• The two-phase workspace-loading composition (load_modules_with → caller-side prelude inject → build_workspace) is the canonical shape, exposed as public API in ailang-core and composed by ailang-surface::load_workspace.
• ailang_surface::parse_prelude + PRELUDE_AIL are the canonical embed surface, re-exported from ailang-surface/src/lib.rs.
• The CLAUDE.md "authors write .ail; the build derives the JSON-AST in-process via ailang_surface::parse" doctrine holds without exception; the prelude was the last carve-out and is now inside the doctrine.
• 573 tests green workspace-wide.