Diagnostics
Stable E-codes, phase/category, source excerpts, exact spans and one renderer for check/run/build.
CONTRACT →I13 COMPILER OBSERVATORY · KNOWN-GOOD EXECUTABLE SLICE
Source to execution.
A visual record of the compiler that turns .i13 source into validated IVM-13, executes it on the explicit-frame reference VM, lowers the same execution authority into real WebAssembly, and now uses I13 itself for executable compiler-law probes wherever the language can honestly express them.
VM = WASM · KNOWN-GOOD SURFACE
I13 BOOTSTRAP v0.1 · PASS
TAGGED VALUES FROZEN
DEBUGGER v0.1 FROZEN
8M STEPS = RUNTIME POLICY
AUTHORITY CHAIN
The compiler spine.
Static introspection can reveal every major layer, but authority remains fixed: SPEC defines the language, HIR defines meaning, and IVM defines execution.
SOURCE.i13 + spans
TOKENSlexer
ASTwhat was written
VALIDATEsemantic + IVM gates
REFERENCE VMexplicit I13 frames · tagged values
WEBASSEMBLYvalidated IVM → real .wasm
VM(program) == WASM(program)
COMPILER TOOLING
Known-good components.
Each component is deliberately downstream of compiler authority. They make the machine inspectable and testable without quietly becoming new semantics.
Conformance
Executable contract for accepted results, compile errors, runtime traps and canonical resource behavior.
MANIFEST LAW →Introspection
Deterministic read-only dumps of tokens, AST, HIR and validated IVM with symbolic operands.
DUMP LAW →Trace
Streaming pre-instruction observation of the real VM loop: PC, frames, stack effects, bindings and spans.
TRACE LAW →Debugger
Step, next, continue, source breakpoints and immutable binding/frame/stack inspection on the same VM.
DEBUG LAW →I13 Bootstrap
The compiler's executable law mirror is written in I13: opcode effects, frame admission, tagged operation gates and Answer modes.
SELF-USE LAW →I13-BOOTSTRAP-0.1
Use I13 wherever I13 is enough.
This phase deliberately moves executable compiler-law logic into examples/compiler_bootstrap.i13 without pretending the language can already parse its own source. The host orchestrates; I13 computes and self-tests.
Host boundary
RUST / HOSTread source · lex · parse · lower · VM · Wasm encoder
→
COMPILEcurrent authority chain
Text, collections, filesystem access and compiler construction still require the host because those capabilities do not exist in frozen I13 v0.1.
I13 boundary
.i13 LAW KERNELeffects · kinds · frame gate · Answer modes
⇄
VM / WASMsame proof outputs
I13 now computes its bootstrap witness itself. The host only checks the exported results; it does not implement those bootstrap decisions for the test.
Opcode effects mirrored
Every frozen IVM opcode has its stack need/net law represented in I13, including variable Call(argc).
Law checksum
A recursive I13 witness covers all fifteen effect signatures at fixed bootstrap arity 3.
Legal call admission
With 4095 active frames, one more I13 frame is admitted to reach the canonical ceiling.
Frame veto
At the ceiling, another Call is rejected by the I13 bootstrap mirror.
Call(16) effect
The I13 law kernel computes need 17 and net -16 instead of relying on one hard-coded arity.
Wasm proof globals
Generated Wasm matched every exported bootstrap proof global and repeated deterministically.
REPRESENTATION LAW
Value identity survives lowering.
The first Wasm torture break came from flattening function handles into numeric payloads. The frozen repair carries kind, payload and binding state as separate facts.
Stored I13 value
kindpayloadbound
NUMBER uses kind 0 with an f64 payload. FUNCTION uses kind 1 with a function/table identity payload. Binding state remains independent.
Operation gates
Bin / Cmp / Ifrequire NUMBER
⇄Callrequires FUNCTION
Ask, Answer, arguments, returns, globals and locals preserve the tagged pair. A backend may change representation; it may not erase value identity.
RESOURCE BOUNDARIES
Language law vs runtime policy.
The compiler deliberately distinguishes a canonical I13 execution limit from an implementation safety fuse.
4096
Active I13 frames
Canonical language execution law. Root/main counts as frame 1. Reference VM and generated Wasm must enforce the same ceiling.
I13-EXEC-LIMIT-001 · CONFORMANCE INCLUDED
8,000,000
Reference VM steps
Deterministic runtime safety fuse. One executed IVM instruction equals one VM step, but the 8M default is not language validity and Wasm need not copy it.
I13-RUNTIME-POLICY-001 · CONFORMANCE EXCLUDED
HARDENING EVIDENCE
Attack → understand → lock.
Torture discovers, policy tests characterize, conformance freezes accepted behavior, and bootstrap proves how much of the law can be exercised by I13 itself.
Differential attacks
Arithmetic, control, tagged function flow, arity, binding edges and recursion through the canonical frame fence.
Last legal recursive count
VM and Wasm both complete. 4095 and 4096 produce matched canonical frame rejection/trap.
Conformance v0.1
Whole CLI paths, stable diagnostics, execution results, runtime traps and the I13 frame law remain gated.
Tagged-value regression
Function identity survives globals, arguments, returns and comparisons without falling back into numeric payloads.
Trace + debugger
Run, trace and debug share the same execution loop. Observers cannot write execution state.
I13 bootstrap
The I13-coded law kernel passes reference VM and generated Wasm parity, including deterministic rerun.
explode(19) policy probe
Reference VM hits the 8M safety fuse while Wasm completes. Classified as runtime-policy divergence, not semantic defect.
DEBUGGER v0.1
Introspection over time.
The terminal below is a visual guide to the frozen debugger vocabulary. It is not a browser execution engine and does not redefine compiler authority.
i13 check file.i13
i13 run file.i13
i13 build file.i13 -o file.wasm
i13 dump file.i13 --tokens|--ast|--hir|--ivm
i13 trace file.i13
i13 debug file.i13
debugger proof gate · PASS
Debugger commands: step · next · continue · break · delete · bindings · print · stack · frames · where · quit
CANONICAL RECORD
Compiler documents.
These records separate construction history, accepted law and measured evidence.