fix: strip app block before compilation to avoid parse errors

The El compiler cannot parse app { config { KEY: Type = value } } syntax —
it's a declaration, not an expression. parse_app_block() already extracts
config/secrets/flags correctly; the remaining source just needs the block
removed before Compiler::compile() runs.

strip_app_block() replaces the block with blank lines (preserving line numbers)
and correctly skips occurrences inside // comments.

Fixes daemon startup: 'compile error: parse error: invalid expression starting with : at 632:23'

bin/el/src/main.rs

@@ -340,6 +340,62 @@ fn redact_secrets(s: &str) -> String {
     })
 }
 
+/// Strip the first `app "..." { ... }` block from El source so the compiler
+/// doesn't see the declaration syntax (which it cannot parse as an expression).
+/// The block is replaced with an equal number of blank lines to preserve line numbers.
+/// Only matches `app "` at the start of a line (optional leading whitespace), to
+/// avoid matching the keyword inside comments.
+fn strip_app_block(source: &str) -> String {
+    // Find `app "` that appears at the start of a line (not inside a // comment).
+    let app_start = {
+        let mut found: Option<usize> = None;
+        for (i, _) in source.match_indices("app \"") {
+            // Walk backwards to start of line — if we hit '//' first, this is a comment.
+            let line_start = source[..i].rfind('\n').map(|p| p + 1).unwrap_or(0);
+            let prefix = &source[line_start..i];
+            if prefix.contains("//") {
+                continue; // inside a comment
+            }
+            // Only accept if prefix is whitespace-only (app block declaration)
+            if prefix.chars().all(|c| c.is_whitespace()) {
+                found = Some(i);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        match found {
+            Some(pos) => pos,
+            None => return source.to_string(),
+        }
+    };
+
+    // Walk from app_start to find the opening brace (skip name token)
+    let after_app = &source[app_start..];
+    let brace_pos = if let Some(p) = after_app.find('{') { p } else { return source.to_string() };
+
+    let mut depth = 0usize;
+    let mut end = app_start + brace_pos;
+    let chars: Vec<char> = source[app_start + brace_pos..].chars().collect();
+    for (i, &ch) in chars.iter().enumerate() {
+        match ch {
+            '{' => depth += 1,
+            '}' => {
+                depth -= 1;
+                if depth == 0 {
+                    end = app_start + brace_pos + i + 1;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Replace the block span with blank lines (preserve line count for error messages).
+    let removed = &source[app_start..end];
+    let newlines = removed.chars().filter(|&c| c == '\n').count();
+    let replacement = "\n".repeat(newlines);
+    format!("{}{}{}", &source[..app_start], replacement, &source[end..])
+}
+
 /// Try to parse and apply app block from source. If parsing succeeds, apply context.
 /// Prints error and exits on secret resolution failure.
 fn maybe_apply_app_block(source: &str) {
@@ -805,12 +861,16 @@ async fn run(cli: Cli) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
             // Parse and apply `app` block before running.
             maybe_apply_app_block(&entry_source);
 
+            // Strip `app { ... }` before compilation — the compiler cannot parse
+            // the declaration syntax; config/secrets are already extracted above.
+            let compile_source = strip_app_block(&entry_source);
+
             // Compile via Rust compiler.
             let opts = CompilerOptions {
                 target: Target::Debug,
                 ..Default::default()
             };
-            let compiled = Compiler::compile(&entry_source, opts)
+            let compiled = Compiler::compile(&compile_source, opts)
                 .map_err(|e| format!("compile error: {e}"))?;
             let instructions = el_compiler::Bytecode::deserialize_all(&compiled.artifact)
                 .unwrap_or_default();
@@ -8986,10 +9046,10 @@ thread_local! {
                 "http://localhost:11434/api/chat".to_string(),
                 String::new(),
             ));
-            // Neuron (the platform itself)
+            // Neuron inference — lives at neuron.neurontechnologies.ai, Anthropic Messages format
             m.insert("neuron".to_string(), (
                 std::env::var("NEURON_ENDPOINT")
-                    .unwrap_or_else(|_| "https://api.neurontechnologies.ai/v1/chat/completions".to_string()),
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|_| "https://neuron.neurontechnologies.ai/v1/messages".to_string()),
                 std::env::var("NEURON_API_KEY").unwrap_or_default(),
             ));
             m
@@ -9064,8 +9124,8 @@ fn call_llm_blocking(model: &str, system: Option<&str>, prompt: &str) -> String
         Err(e) => return format!("llm_call error: {}", e),
     };
 
-    if endpoint.contains("anthropic.com") {
-        // Anthropic Messages API
+    if endpoint.contains("anthropic.com") || endpoint.contains("neuron.neurontechnologies.ai") {
+        // Anthropic Messages API — also used by neuron.neurontechnologies.ai
         let body = if let Some(sys) = system {
             serde_json::json!({
                 "model": get_anthropic_model(model),