@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ On 2026-10-30, @iko decided that Jibb drops `$?`, so a `+$` takes a union's case
22−The repository spec records the subsequent type-system and prelude decisions; those changes also need synchronization to the Claude document. An initial inference fragment and a standalone Hoon type reader are being tested. The fragment explicitly reports that it does not check a module; partial bridges pass selected Hoon atoms, term singletons, nested faced or unfaced cells, supported disjoint unions and opaque standard collections from `/sur` molds and marks into inference. Collections retain their names and supported arguments for printing and unification; nested supported union arguments are retained too. The bridge trusts unchanged results from the source-aware reader; a materialized type graph alone cannot reveal cases Hoon already collapsed. The source-validated standard prelude `list` mold shares this representation with imported lists; other Jibb-written collection molds and most prelude collection operations remain unsupported; malformed names and arities fail closed. Selected self-recursive `/sur` molds cross as opaque module-and-name identities; aliases, foreign references, recursive marks, unfolding and construction remain unsupported. The reader handles mark samples, recursive molds whose origins can be verified through Ford imports, nested collections, direct ordered maps, certain ordered-map fields, direct `$^` unions whose cases can be proved disjoint, and one verified explicit union argument in a list, set, map or unit. Ambiguous recursive origins fail closed; recognizable explicit unions are checked from source before Hoon can collapse their cases, as @iko confirmed for imported `$%`, `$?` and `$^`, while other nested unions, nested ordered maps, general union disjointness and complete import integration remain unfinished. Opt-in structured reader APIs preserve successful graphs and distinguish definite unsupported-aura and core evidence from failures the reader cannot prove; unverified union disjointness and name-only vase recognition remain unsupported. They revalidate and re-walk failed types. An opt-in partial checker entry point consumes unchanged reader results and reports definite aura or core errors at imported mold use sites when their inputs are unique. Ordered replay covers nested cell samples, record and function casts, and non-generic same-module aliases; unsupported prefixes, cycles and shadowing stop it. Union molds, generic applications, transitive modules and unsupported reader outcomes remain generic. Replay repeats inference and may add work. The partial checker resolves a subset of ordinary library imports in dependency order using supplied Jibb sources and a source-derived partial prelude interface, caches completed interfaces per run, and detects missing sources and cycles. It does not yet check API or kind semantics, and the prelude inventory is incomplete. The inference fragment supports unrestricted `@`, selected one-way widenings including aura-family ancestors, generalized atom constraints arising from explicit capitals or bare sample binders, acyclic local value definitions with captures, selected single self-recursive top-level and local gates, simple and nonrecursive generic mold aliases, selected faced record casts and field reads, and contextual tags, `~` and constructors for closed disjoint unions, including direct nonrecursive generic unions and propagation through complete loobean and unit-shaped branches in casts and known union-sample calls, including nested branches. Multi-argument calls form a right-nested sample, retain known faces and shared type variables, and can use known sample positions to contextualize list and union arguments. A definite mismatch points to the failing argument when the fragment can establish it, otherwise to the combined sample; unsupported contextual forms still fail closed. For a supported recursive gate, the checker infers the sample first and uses its exact type, including field faces, for one monomorphic self reference. It generalizes after the body is checked; subsequent uses instantiate it independently. Incompatible recursive arguments can report the gate and argument sites. For a complete loobean branch with one direct self-call arm, a separately inferred closed base type can seed the recursive result before the whole body is checked. Open or pending base types do not seed it; other branch shapes remain subject to the fragment’s existing limits. A supported single local recursive gate also uses a monomorphic self reference and generalizes variables free of the enclosing environment after checking its body; captured variables remain shared. The checker collects written capitals per `++` before inference, excluding nested definitions: a capital used in an enclosing definition is shared with its locals even when written later, while a capital introduced only in a local definition is generalized there. Sibling locals can introduce independent capitals with the same spelling; generic mold parameters keep their own scope. Top-level groups of syntactic gates are inferred together with monomorphic placeholders and shared substitutions, then generalized only after the whole group checks; downstream uses and library interfaces instantiate those schemes independently. A dependency graph identifies groups with two iterative depth-first passes; its conservative local-reference edges can reject otherwise valid programs. Local mutual groups, polymorphic recursion, value cycles, unresolved literal constraints and unresolved branch joins remain unsupported. Reporting repeats inference for a single recursive gate outside a group; grouped reports use the stored schemes. Its performance cost remains unmeasured. String interpolation accepts known atom auras, unrestricted `@`, tapes and isolated decimal literals; a known cell asks for a printer, and an explicitly generic atom asks for an aura. Loobeans, term singletons, non-tape collections, open types and a type fixed only later remain unsupported. A known closed union with two or more arms supports patterns that provably cover or exclude each remaining case, including payload binders, imported and generic cases, and binder-free catch-alls. Partial boolean patterns can split known `?` positions into their two noun values, up to 64 alternatives across the union; binders retain their original case type. Missing alternatives and covered arms are reported. Other partial patterns, expansions above the limit, binders spanning distinct cases, differing arm result types, some complex two-arm subjects and contextual union-pattern branches remain unsupported. The Grammar’s `step` block infers in this fragment, but its module is not yet checked. Known faced records support uniquely named field changes, including nested wings, with field context passed to replacements and the original record type retained. Missing fields, empty changes and definite mismatches report sites; the expected-type site is the edit because the original field declaration location is not retained. Unknown or partly unfaced spines, ambiguous fields and repeated edits remain unsupported. A known record cast supplies field context to its tuple or record initializer, including nested list and union fields; mismatch diagnostics use the cast mold because the original field declaration location is not retained. The cart-store example’s `init` and `update` now infer, while its kind, declarations and full module remain unchecked. Backtick unit construction uses the validated standard prelude unit template, infers its payload without losing pending constraints, and makes the prelude’s `some` available. Context-dependent payload matching and missing or altered prelude unit templates remain unsupported. Contextual null-headed cells fit their cases, but do not supply a `|=%$` constructor; unresolved nulls remain pending and are reported separately from tags. A known union of `~` and a null-headed cell supports a complete `~` / `[~ value]` branch in either order, including shadow checks; unknown subjects, missing or duplicate arms, and unresolved branch results remain unsupported. This fragment infers the prelude’s `fall` and `need` signatures. With the validated prelude list and a known cast or gate sample, empty, nonempty and nested list literals infer their element types, including contextual union tags; a mismatched element names both sites. In that context `~` and zero-valued terms fit an empty list, and two-item unfaced cells form cons lists, including nested cons and imported-list contexts; invalid heads or tails name both sites. A known gate sample also supplies context to matching positions in a single tuple or record argument, including nested cells; zero literals can fit list positions. A bound zero constant remains unsupported rather than a definite mismatch, and an unknown callee does not supply context. Faced or longer cells and a missing or altered prelude list fail closed. A known list result also supplies context through complete loobean, unit-shaped and list-shaped branches, including recursive and nested branches. For a known standard list with a supported element type, a complete `~` / `[item rest]` branch infers the element and tail types in either arm order and checks binders for shadowing. Uncontextualized list construction, unknown subjects, unsupported element types and other or incomplete list patterns remain unsupported. A value with type variable `A` can fit a field whose type is that same `A`, including in generic union payloads and nested or repeated record fields. Other variable-dependent face merges remain unsupported. Forced equality of distinct written capitals now reports both source sites, following @iko’s decision; forcing one to a concrete type remains unsupported. Imported record spines with repeated faces fail closed where used, but only with a generic unsupported diagnostic. Hoon may erase unfaced nested-cell boundaries, so the check can conservatively reject valid names in distinct erased scopes. Supported closed unions print using an in-scope name or imported alias; an unnamed nongeneric union prints its cases, parenthesized when nested. The latter is print-only. Generic union types retain all arguments in their printed name; if that name is unavailable, the partial printer reports the limitation. Different import faces for the same origin remain compatible; compatibility across distinct union origins and some generic-argument comparisons remain unsupported. Nonrecursive generic aliases can reorder, repeat or omit parameters while retaining a union’s origin, including through local scopes and library interfaces. A generic union declared directly inside a body remains unsupported, as do differing-variable face constraints in a union payload. A transitive generic union whose name is unavailable is reported as unsupported instead of hiding its arguments. Unfixed decimal literals default to `@ud` in gate-free inferred types; mutually recursive local groups and recursive molds, general branch tag context, other constraint cases and defaulting inside gate types still need work. Collection recognition checks the originating core and fails closed on shadows or unsupported Ford subject shapes; a wrapper regression also rejects forged subjects, samples and tails. Its golden fixtures include three real Tlon files. A Clay test passes a Ford-built nested union through the reader into partial inference. The partial prelude includes `murn`, `join`, `snip`, `rear` and the newly agreed shared-type `clap`, parsed but still awaiting checker and backend validation, and [prelude-inventory.md](prelude-inventory.md) is a source audit, not the complete inventory or signatures. The milestone remains unfinished.
22+The repository spec records the subsequent type-system and prelude decisions; those changes also need synchronization to the Claude document. An initial inference fragment and a standalone Hoon type reader are being tested. The fragment explicitly reports that it does not check a module; partial bridges pass selected Hoon atoms, term singletons, nested faced or unfaced cells, supported disjoint unions and opaque standard collections from `/sur` molds and marks into inference. Collections retain their names and supported arguments for printing and unification; nested supported union arguments are retained too. The bridge trusts unchanged results from the source-aware reader; a materialized type graph alone cannot reveal cases Hoon already collapsed. The source-validated standard prelude `list` mold shares this representation with imported lists; other Jibb-written collection molds and most prelude collection operations remain unsupported; malformed names and arities fail closed. Selected self-recursive `/sur` molds cross as opaque module-and-name identities; aliases, foreign references, recursive marks, unfolding and construction remain unsupported. The reader handles mark samples, recursive molds whose origins can be verified through Ford imports, nested collections, direct ordered maps, certain ordered-map fields, direct `$^` unions whose cases can be proved disjoint, and one verified explicit union argument in a list, set, map or unit. Ambiguous recursive origins fail closed; recognizable explicit unions are checked from source before Hoon can collapse their cases, as @iko confirmed for imported `$%`, `$?` and `$^`, while other nested unions, nested ordered maps, general union disjointness and complete import integration remain unfinished. Opt-in structured reader APIs preserve successful graphs and distinguish definite unsupported-aura and core evidence from failures the reader cannot prove; unverified union disjointness and name-only vase recognition remain unsupported. They revalidate and re-walk failed types. An opt-in partial checker entry point consumes unchanged reader results and reports definite aura or core errors at imported mold use sites when their inputs are unique. Ordered replay covers nested cell samples, record and function casts, and non-generic same-module aliases; unsupported prefixes, cycles and shadowing stop it. Union molds, generic applications, transitive modules and unsupported reader outcomes remain generic. Replay repeats inference and may add work. The partial checker resolves a subset of ordinary library imports in dependency order using supplied Jibb sources and a source-derived partial prelude interface, caches completed interfaces per run, and detects missing sources and cycles. It does not yet check API or kind semantics, and the prelude inventory is incomplete. The inference fragment supports unrestricted `@`, selected one-way widenings including aura-family ancestors, generalized atom constraints arising from explicit capitals or bare sample binders, acyclic local value definitions with captures, selected single self-recursive top-level and local gates, simple and nonrecursive generic mold aliases, selected faced record casts and field reads, and contextual tags, `~` and constructors for closed disjoint unions, including direct nonrecursive generic unions and propagation through complete loobean and unit-shaped branches in casts and known union-sample calls, including nested branches. Multi-argument calls form a right-nested sample, retain known faces and shared type variables, and can use known sample positions to contextualize list and union arguments. A definite mismatch points to the failing argument when the fragment can establish it, otherwise to the combined sample; unsupported contextual forms still fail closed. For a supported recursive gate, the checker infers the sample first and uses its exact type, including field faces, for one monomorphic self reference. It generalizes after the body is checked; subsequent uses instantiate it independently. Incompatible recursive arguments can report the gate and argument sites. For a complete loobean branch with one direct self-call arm, a separately inferred closed base type can seed the recursive result before the whole body is checked. Open or pending base types do not seed it; other branch shapes remain subject to the fragment’s existing limits. A supported single local recursive gate also uses a monomorphic self reference and generalizes variables free of the enclosing environment after checking its body; captured variables remain shared. The checker collects written capitals per `++` before inference, excluding nested definitions: a capital used in an enclosing definition is shared with its locals even when written later, while a capital introduced only in a local definition is generalized there. Sibling locals can introduce independent capitals with the same spelling; generic mold parameters keep their own scope. Top-level groups of syntactic gates are inferred together with monomorphic placeholders and shared substitutions, then generalized only after the whole group checks; downstream uses and library interfaces instantiate those schemes independently. A dependency graph identifies groups with two iterative depth-first passes; its conservative local-reference edges can reject otherwise valid programs. Local mutual groups, polymorphic recursion, value cycles, unresolved literal constraints and unresolved branch joins remain unsupported. Reporting repeats inference for a single recursive gate outside a group; grouped reports use the stored schemes. Its performance cost remains unmeasured. String interpolation accepts known atom auras, unrestricted `@`, tapes and isolated decimal literals; a known cell asks for a printer, and an explicitly generic atom asks for an aura. Loobeans, term singletons, non-tape collections, open types and a type fixed only later remain unsupported. A known closed union with two or more arms supports patterns that provably cover or exclude each remaining case, including payload binders, imported and generic cases, and binder-free catch-alls. Partial boolean patterns can split known `?` positions into their two noun values, up to 64 alternatives across the union; binders retain their original case type. Missing alternatives and covered arms are reported. Other partial patterns, expansions above the limit, binders spanning distinct cases, differing arm result types, some complex two-arm subjects and contextual union-pattern branches remain unsupported. The Grammar’s `step` block infers in this fragment, but its module is not yet checked. Known faced records support uniquely named field changes, including nested wings, with field context passed to replacements and the original record type retained. Missing fields, empty changes and definite mismatches report sites; the expected-type site is the edit because the original field declaration location is not retained. Unknown or partly unfaced spines, ambiguous fields and repeated edits remain unsupported. A known record cast supplies field context to its tuple or record initializer, including nested list and union fields; mismatch diagnostics use the cast mold because the original field declaration location is not retained. The cart-store example’s `init` and `update` now infer, while its kind, declarations and full module remain unchecked. Backtick unit construction uses the validated standard prelude unit template, infers its payload without losing pending constraints, and makes the prelude’s `some` available. A known unit in a cast, call, list item or record field supplies context to its payload, including nested units and lists; mismatches identify the payload and context. Unrelated union identities, some variable-dependent fits, and missing or altered prelude unit templates remain unsupported. Contextual null-headed cells fit their cases, but do not supply a `|=%$` constructor; unresolved nulls remain pending and are reported separately from tags. A known union of `~` and a null-headed cell supports a complete `~` / `[~ value]` branch in either order, including shadow checks; unknown subjects, missing or duplicate arms, and unresolved branch results remain unsupported. This fragment infers the prelude’s `fall` and `need` signatures. With the validated prelude list and a known cast or gate sample, empty, nonempty and nested list literals infer their element types, including contextual union tags; a mismatched element names both sites. In that context `~` and zero-valued terms fit an empty list, and two-item unfaced cells form cons lists, including nested cons and imported-list contexts; invalid heads or tails name both sites. A known gate sample also supplies context to matching positions in a single tuple or record argument, including nested cells; zero literals can fit list positions. A bound zero constant remains unsupported rather than a definite mismatch, and an unknown callee does not supply context. Faced or longer cells and a missing or altered prelude list fail closed. A known list result also supplies context through complete loobean, unit-shaped and list-shaped branches, including recursive and nested branches. For a known standard list with a supported element type, a complete `~` / `[item rest]` branch infers the element and tail types in either arm order and checks binders for shadowing. Uncontextualized list construction, unknown subjects, unsupported element types and other or incomplete list patterns remain unsupported. A value with type variable `A` can fit a field whose type is that same `A`, including in generic union payloads and nested or repeated record fields. Other variable-dependent face merges remain unsupported. Forced equality of distinct written capitals now reports both source sites, following @iko’s decision; forcing one to a concrete type remains unsupported. Imported record spines with repeated faces fail closed where used, but only with a generic unsupported diagnostic. Hoon may erase unfaced nested-cell boundaries, so the check can conservatively reject valid names in distinct erased scopes. Supported closed unions print using an in-scope name or imported alias; an unnamed nongeneric union prints its cases, parenthesized when nested. The latter is print-only. Generic union types retain all arguments in their printed name; if that name is unavailable, the partial printer reports the limitation. Different import faces for the same origin remain compatible; compatibility across distinct union origins and some generic-argument comparisons remain unsupported. Nonrecursive generic aliases can reorder, repeat or omit parameters while retaining a union’s origin, including through local scopes and library interfaces. A generic union declared directly inside a body remains unsupported, as do differing-variable face constraints in a union payload. A transitive generic union whose name is unavailable is reported as unsupported instead of hiding its arguments. Unfixed decimal literals default to `@ud` in gate-free inferred types; mutually recursive local groups and recursive molds, general branch tag context, other constraint cases and defaulting inside gate types still need work. Collection recognition checks the originating core and fails closed on shadows or unsupported Ford subject shapes; a wrapper regression also rejects forged subjects, samples and tails. Its golden fixtures include three real Tlon files. A Clay test passes a Ford-built nested union through the reader into partial inference. The partial prelude includes `murn`, `join`, `snip`, `rear` and the newly agreed shared-type `clap`, parsed but still awaiting checker and backend validation, and [prelude-inventory.md](prelude-inventory.md) is a source audit, not the complete inventory or signatures. The milestone remains unfinished.