From eb52be4ade0653674ce113b0d9d68cadef4af450 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Will Anderson <will@neuralplatform.ai>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 19:15:49 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] runtime: add EL_TRUE/EL_FALSE macros and scoped arena for CLI
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Adds EL_TRUE/EL_FALSE convenience macros to el_runtime.h alongside the
existing EL_NULL, making boolean-returning builtins readable without
raw (el_val_t) casts. Documents all value macros in the header comment.

Also lands el_arena_push/el_arena_pop — a scoped string arena for CLI
programs that never call el_request_start/end. The compiler can push a
mark before a compilation unit and pop it after to free intermediate
strings, reducing peak RSS during long compile runs.
---
 lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.h |  9 +++++++
 2 files changed, 48 insertions(+)

diff --git a/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c b/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c
index 767bb6b..63c9f82 100644
--- a/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c
+++ b/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c
@@ -102,6 +102,45 @@ void el_request_end(void) {
     _tl_arena.count = 0;
 }
 
+/* ── Scoped arena for CLI use ─────────────────────────────────────────────── *
+ * CLI programs never call el_request_start/end, so all strdup allocations are
+ * permanent. el_arena_push/pop let the compiler free intermediate strings
+ * after each compilation unit.
+ *
+ * el_arena_push() — activates the arena if not already active, saves the
+ *   current arena count as a mark, and returns it as an el_val_t Int.
+ * el_arena_pop(mark) — frees all strings allocated since the push mark and
+ *   resets the count. If count reaches 0, deactivates the arena.
+ */
+#define EL_ARENA_SCOPE_DEPTH 32
+static _Thread_local size_t  _tl_arena_scope[EL_ARENA_SCOPE_DEPTH];
+static _Thread_local int     _tl_arena_scope_depth = 0;
+
+el_val_t el_arena_push(void) {
+    if (!_tl_arena_active) {
+        _tl_arena_active = 1;
+    }
+    if (_tl_arena_scope_depth < EL_ARENA_SCOPE_DEPTH) {
+        _tl_arena_scope[_tl_arena_scope_depth++] = _tl_arena.count;
+    }
+    return (el_val_t)(int64_t)_tl_arena.count;
+}
+
+el_val_t el_arena_pop(el_val_t mark) {
+    size_t save = (size_t)(int64_t)mark;
+    if (save > _tl_arena.count) save = 0;
+    for (size_t i = save; i < _tl_arena.count; i++) {
+        if (_tl_arena.ptrs[i]) {
+            free(_tl_arena.ptrs[i]);
+            _tl_arena.ptrs[i] = NULL;
+        }
+    }
+    _tl_arena.count = save;
+    if (_tl_arena_scope_depth > 0) _tl_arena_scope_depth--;
+    if (save == 0) _tl_arena_active = 0;
+    return 0;
+}
+
 /* Persistent allocation — bypasses the arena (state_set, engram internals). */
 static char* el_strdup_persist(const char* s) {
     if (!s) return strdup("");
diff --git a/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.h b/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.h
index a82a089..99cd89d 100644
--- a/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.h
+++ b/lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.h
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
  *   EL_STR(s)    cast string literal to el_val_t
  *   EL_CSTR(v)   cast el_val_t back to const char*
  *   EL_INT(v)    identity — el_val_t is already int64_t
+ *   EL_NULL      null / zero value
+ *   EL_FALSE     boolean false (0)
+ *   EL_TRUE      boolean true (1)
  *
  * Link requirements:
  *   -lcurl     — required for the HTTP client (http_get, http_post, llm_*).
@@ -53,6 +56,8 @@ typedef int64_t el_val_t;
 #define EL_CSTR(v) ((const char*)(uintptr_t)(v))
 #define EL_INT(v)  (v)
 #define EL_NULL    ((el_val_t)0)
+#define EL_FALSE   ((el_val_t)0)
+#define EL_TRUE    ((el_val_t)1)
 
 /* Float values share the el_val_t (int64) slot via a bit-cast.
  * The codegen emits Float literals as `el_from_float(<dbl>)` so the
@@ -117,6 +122,10 @@ el_val_t  el_min(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
 void      el_retain(el_val_t v);
 void      el_release(el_val_t v);
 
+/* ── Scoped arena (CLI use) ───────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+el_val_t  el_arena_push(void);
+el_val_t  el_arena_pop(el_val_t mark);
+
 /* ── List ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 
 el_val_t  el_list_new(el_val_t count, ...);