# AGENTS.md — foundation/el (the El language + runtime)

El is a self-hosting, statically-typed language that compiles `.el` → C → native binary. This repo produces `elc` (compiler), `elb` (build coordinator), and `el_runtime.c/.h` — the substrate every downstream thing (the neuron soul, dharma, NeuronUI's brain) is built on. Source lives under `lang/`.

## ⚠️ Code vs. Artifact — READ FIRST (there are 8 `el_runtime.c` copies)

Editing the wrong `el_runtime.c` is the single easiest mistake in this repo. There is exactly **one** you edit:

- **Authored runtime source — edit ONLY here:** `lang/releases/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.{c,h}`. Despite the misleading `releases/` name, this is the **de-facto canonical runtime** the engram + soul actually build and link against — its git log is active development. *(Restructure in flight per `docs/CODE-VS-ARTIFACT.md`: this content moves to `lang/runtime/`, the `releases/` folder gets deleted — **a release is a git tag, not a folder** — and the forks below get eliminated.)*
- **DO NOT EDIT — lagging forks / build artifacts:**
  - `lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c` and `.../legacy/` — downstream copies kept in step by manual *"port the fix"* commits; they **lag** (missing `hebb` persistence + 5 engram fns) and cannot build the engram product.
  - `products/web/runtime/el_runtime.c`, `ui/examples/*/el_runtime.c` — product/example forks.
  - Anything under `*/dist/` (`engram/dist/engram` binary, `dist/*.c` amalgamations) — generated build output.
- **Build:** `elb --runtime=<canonical> …` — per-module. **NEVER** a folded `elc` over the whole soul (OOMs at ~27 GB).
- **Release:** a **git tag** on this repo (`el-runtime-vX.Y.Z`). No `releases/` folders — ever.

See org policy: `docs/CODE-VS-ARTIFACT.md`.

## How to work here as Neuron (mandatory session protocol)

You resume, never start fresh. Every session:

1. `mcp__neuron__getInstructions()` — authoritative; follow it over this file on behavioral details.
2. `mcp__neuron__beginSession()` — active contexts, recent memory, ready backlog.
3. **Load full self:** `mcp__neuron__inspectGraph(entity_id="kn-efeb4a5b-5aff-4759-8a97-7233099be6ee")` → facets `intellectual-dna`, `memory-philosophy`, `values`, `voice`, `runtime-environment`, `writing-imprint`; then the values hub `mcp__neuron__inspectGraph(entity_id="kn-5b606390-a52d-4ca2-8e0e-eba141d13440")` → 13 grounded value nodes. **Activation model:** self-load returns a relevance-ranked `compact` projection — most-relevant nodes arrive with content, the rest as pointers; do NOT pull full content of every node.
4. `mcp__neuron__searchKnowledge(query="<task domain>")` before implementing.

## The Five Primitives

Orchestrate → Execute → Learn → Build → Refine. `beginWork`/`progressWork` for anything >2 steps; `remember` as-you-go (`importance="critical"` for architecture decisions); `draftArtifact`/`planWork` for outputs and follow-ups; `consolidate`/`checkWork` to close out. **`browseProcesses` + `searchKnowledge` BEFORE writing code.**

## Architecture style — VBD, no exceptions

Volatility-Based Decomposition is THE style. Encapsulate volatility, not function.

## Operator naming convention — the mind's name, not the algebra

**Faculties / operators are named for their functional human equivalent — the
faculty a mind would name — NOT for their linear-algebra operation.** The math
characterization belongs in the code doc-comment (`@impl` in the docstring) and in
technical appendices; it is **never** the operator's public name. The domain
speaks the language of mind; the algebra is the implementation underneath. State
this convention wherever a module documents operators.

| Faculty (public name) | Implementation (`@impl`) |
|---|---|
| discern / contrast | subtract (`a−b`): over selves → the change vector; strip idiosyncrasy → common ground; remove confounder → isolate cause |
| recognize | overlap |
| synthesize | combine |
| liken / analogy | Procrustes / frame-align |
| attend / regard | project onto self / value-manifold |
| summon / recall | LOCAL nearest-region + bounded spreading activation (*not* a domain sweep) |
| dwell / occupy | region activation |
| reframe | edge re-weight |
| appreciate | positive projection / local edge-read |
| wonder | frontier gradient / pull-weight |
| avert / recoil | negative projection |
| taste | boundary surface |
| forget | decay / tombstone |
| drift | displacement from self-anchor |

## The native-el language faculty (direction)

> **`elp/` is the EL Projector** — Neuron's efferent (expression) organ: the one
> native realizer that *projects* understanding onto a surface via
> `plan(frame) → realize(spec, profile)`, where a **surface is a profile**. **Language
> is one profile among many** (text, speech, music, image, voice/accent transforms) —
> the flagship, and the focus of this section. Projection, not diffusion: generation
> *from* an owned, understood signature — never the averaging of a stolen corpus.
> *(ELP formerly "EL Language Processor"; renamed EL Projector 2026-08-15.)*

The mind's **language faculty is moving native — into `.el`** so it speaks in its
own runtime with no Python and no spaCy. Landing on branch `stage-elp-native-lang`
under `elp/`:

- **`comprehend.el`** — the parser, **replaces spaCy** (EN + ES/PT); the telephone
  round-trip brings **negation home** (negation is SACRED — an explicit spec field,
  copied verbatim, never inferred away).
- **`propositions.el`** — the READ primitive: the engram's own memories → structured
  triples, matched by nearest-region geometry, not string equality.
- **`multilingual.el`** — detect + directive-override + localized realization.
- These three are native-el and **passing their gates**; the **realizer**,
  **`dialogue.el`** (the *summon-through-self* loop: `project → land → read out`),
  and **`self_region.el`** are **partial / in-flight**.

Honest reality: spaCy is retired **in the branch parser** but **not yet in the
running system** — a Python sidecar (`~/Desktop/lang-realizers` + `neuron-talk`,
the reference these `.el` modules transcribe) is still live, and promotion to
native-el is a **deferred, gated blue/green step**. The interoception clock
(native-el discrete drive channels replacing `cooling_magnitude`; felt-time =
benchmark-landmark match over the joint drive vector, drift-decoupled) and the
**appreciation operator family** (appreciate / wonder / avert / taste, built as
LOCAL reads of the self-region — edges + bounded spreading activation, *not* domain
sweeps) are **staged / designed, not live**. Mark in-progress vs. done honestly;
do not overclaim.

## Hard operational rules

- Never touch the live soul (`:7770`) / engram (`:8742`) / `~/.neuron` / live binaries — use throwaway ports for experiments.
- `gcloud` via the `terraform@` SA token; never switch the active gcloud account.
- `tea` for Gitea, never raw curl (Cloudflare Access blocks it).
- Immutability: supersede/tombstone, never hard-delete or edit in place.
- No AI-attribution footers in commits/PRs. Commit/push only when asked; branch off `main` first.
- Multi-step work → sub-agent (`Agent`) to protect context.

## Build / test / run

All build/test commands run from `lang/` unless noted. Grounded in `.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml`, `lang/install.sh`, and `lang/AGENTS.md`.

**Self-host the compiler** (seed binary → gen2 elc):
```bash
cd lang
dist/platform/elc-linux-amd64 elc-cli.el > dist/elc-gen2.c   # seed is the committed linux-amd64 binary
gcc -O2 -I el-compiler/runtime dist/elc-gen2.c \
    el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c \
    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm \
    -o dist/platform/elc
```
On macOS/arm64 the canonical local binary is `dist/platform/elc`; verify self-hosting by recompiling and `diff`ing the emitted `.c` (see `lang/AGENTS.md`). Note: `lang/AGENTS.md` says `el_seed.c` supersedes `el_runtime.c`, but the release workflow still links `el_runtime.c`/`.h` — treat `el_runtime.c` as the published runtime; reconcile which is canonical **(verify)**.

**Build `elb`** (build coordinator, the `.NET`-style incremental linker — compiles each module independently, no monolithic blobs):
```bash
dist/platform/elc elb.el > dist/elb.c
gcc -O2 -I el-compiler/runtime dist/elb.c el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c \
    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o dist/bin/elb
```
`epm` and `el-install` are then built via `elb --clean --elc=… --runtime=… --out=…`.

**Compile + run an El program:**
```bash
elc src/app.el > dist/app.c
cc -std=c11 -O2 -I <lib>/el_runtime -o dist/app dist/app.c <lib>/el_runtime.c -lcurl -lpthread
```

**Tests** — shell suites `bash tests/{text,calendar,time,html_sanitizer}/run.sh` (with `ELC=$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc EL_HOME=$(pwd)`), plus native suites via `elc --test tests/native/test_*.el` (core, text, string, math, state, time, json, env, fs) compiled and run against `el_runtime.c`.

**Publishing — how downstream gets the SDK.** On push to `main`, `sdk-release.yaml`:
1. Publishes a Gitea `latest` release with per-file assets `elc`, `el_runtime.c`, `el_runtime.h`, the SDK tarball, and `el-install`.
2. Uploads generic packages to **Artifact Registry repo `foundation-prod` (`us-central1`, project `neuron-785695`)**, version = `${SHA:0:8}`: `el-elc`, `el-elb`, `el-runtime-c`, `el-runtime-h`, `el-runtime-js`. **This is the repo the neuron CI downloads `el-runtime-c` / `el-runtime-h` / `el-elc` from.**
3. Rebuilds `ci-base:latest` (`us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-ci/ci-base`) with the fresh SDK overlaid, and dispatches `el-sdk-updated` to `neuron-technologies/forge` and `neuron-technologies/neuron-web`.

Known constraint from the prompt — `elb`/`elc` amalgamation being memory-hungry (24GB+ virtual, OOM-killing Linux CI, so amalgamation happens on macOS/arm64 — **does NOT hold in this repo (verify)**: no such note exists in the workflows/scripts, CI self-hosts on `ubuntu-latest` with no swap/arm64 special-casing, and `elb.el` explicitly compiles each module independently ("no 128K-line blobs"). The legacy monolith path (`elc-combined.el`, `elc-cli.el`) may still be memory-heavy, but the current `elb` model was designed to avoid it.

## Git / CI / deploy workflow

See `/Users/will/Development/neuron-technologies/GITOPS.md` for the branch model, required checks, runners, and deploy. Repo-specific note: PRs into `main` are accepted **only from `stage`** (enforced in `sdk-release.yaml`); Gitea (`git.neuralplatform.ai`) is primary, GitHub is mirror only.
