liminate

# Liminate The sentence is the program. *Part of the Prosecode family — a set of tools for writing, verifying, and transferring structured reasoning.* Liminate is a prose-as-syntax language whose syntax is plain English. A small, bounded vocabulary of 61 reserved words combines into sentences that a real interpreter lexes, parses, type-checks, and runs. Not a prompt. Not a code generator. The prose IS the program. ## What it does You write what you want in readable English, one statement per line, and the interpreter executes it directly. If the prose doesn't say it, it doesn't happen — no silent inference, no fuzzy parsing. If you write programs you'd rather other people could read, this is for you. ## Example ``` gather the numbers from 1 to 10 filter the numbers where each is above 5 sum the numbers ``` Run it: ```bash liminate demo.limn ``` You get back `1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10` and then `40` — the sum of what's left after filtering. The interpreter also echoes each statement in canonical form so you can see exactly how it was understood before it ran. ## Built by Liminate Liminate is a prose-as-syntax language where plain English sentences execute directly. These five repos form a system for writing, verifying, and transferring structured reasoning. | | Repo | What it does | |---|---|---| | **← this repo** | [**liminate**](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/liminate) | **The language and interpreter. Bounded vocabulary, deterministic execution, domain packs.** | | | [liminate-session-contracts](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/liminate-session-contracts) | Tracks verified sources, inferred claims, locked decisions, and user corrections as executable `.limn` contracts. | | | [prosecode-prompt-compiler](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/prosecode-prompt-compiler) | Compiles user prompts into structured intent before the agent responds. Seven verbs, twenty-four slots. | | | [prosecode-context-pager](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/prosecode-context-pager) | Scores conversation history against current intent. Decides what to keep, summarize, or drop. | | | [prosecode-handoff-packet](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/prosecode-handoff-packet) | Packages a working session for another agent to continue — preserving what was verified and what wasn't. | → [liminate.dev](https://liminate.dev) The two-tier naming is intentional: `liminate-*` is the substrate (the language and its native formats), `prosecode-*` is the processing layer (tools that operate on context). Liminate also powers a separate product cluster built around [Seshat](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/seshat-app), a local environmental agent harness that governs what AI agents do on your machine — see the [seshat-app](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/seshat-app) repo or [liminate.dev/seshat](https://liminate.dev/seshat). ## Install Requires Python 3.10+. ```bash pipx install liminate # or: pip install liminate liminate --version liminate demo.limn ``` The interpreter runs entirely on your machine. No network calls, no telemetry, no server dependency. Standalone binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are on the [Releases page](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/liminate/releases) — no Python needed. For contributors: ```bash git clone https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/liminate.git cd liminate python -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate pip install -e ".[dev]" pytest tests/ ``` ## How it works The current build is **v0.16.0**: 21 verbs, 22 connectives, 10 operators, 2 declarations, 61 base reserved words, **1654 tests passing**. ### The pipeline Five processing stages — lexer, reorderer, parser, semantic analyzer, interpreter — with canonical rendering and structured-result handling. No `print` calls outside the CLI wrapper; every module returns a structured `LiminateResult`. Two phases of execution: - **Phase 1 — sequential.** Each statement runs in order. Stepwise commit: if a later op fails, earlier side effects remain and the error names what was completed. - **Phase 2 — reactive listener.** `when`/`unless` register handlers driven by an external event source (a domain pack adapter). Edge-triggered, depth-first cascading, conservative same-handler-twice cycle detection. `finish` exits immediately and totally. ### The vocabulary (61 words) **Verbs (21):** `remember`, `show`, `filter`, `keep`, `count`, `gather`, `sum`, `each`, `choose`, `finish`, `add`, `remove`, `weakens`, `require`, `forbid`, `permit`, `assign`, `expect`, `sort`, `compare`, `transform`. The Deontic Era completes the obligation/prohibition/permission triangle: `require` halts when its condition is false, `forbid` halts when its condition is true (`PROHIBITION_VIOLATED`), and `permit` emits an informational line when its condition is true but never halts. `sum` was renamed from `combine` in v0.15.0 — `combine` is tombstoned and now errors with a rename-specific message. All four condition-bearing verbs in this family — `require`, `forbid`, `permit`, `expect` — additionally accept an `unless <exception>` clause after the main condition (v0.16.0): `forbid total is above 10000 unless approved is equal to yes`. Zero new words — `unless` in a new grammatical position. **Connectives (22):** `where`, `and`, `or`, `from`, `with`, `called`, `to`, `how`, `as`, `of`, `if`, `otherwise`, `when`, `unless`, `includes`, `within`, `over`, `then`, `by`, `because`, `starting`, `until`. `because` attaches a quoted rationale to any verb statement as inert metadata — visible in canonical rendering, `inspect`, and Receipts, but never executed. Statement-terminal and per-statement: `require amount is above 50000 because "SOX compliance"`. The last two, `starting` and `until`, are statement-initial temporal modifiers that attach quoted ISO 8601 dates as inert metadata — an effective date and a sunset clause: `starting "2025-07-01" until "2025-12-31" require amount is above 50000`. Temporal evaluation is a product-layer concern, not interpreter runtime. **Operators (10):** `is`, `above`, `below`, `not`, `plus`, `minus`, `reverse`, `inherited`, `highest`, `lowest`. Multi-word: `equal to`, `multiplied by`, `divided by`. `inherited` is a statement-initial modifier marking a verb statement as carried forward from a prior context (session, agent, contract) — inert provenance metadata, overridable, never executed. It reuses the `from` connective for statement-final agent attribution: `inherited require amount is above 50000 because "SOX compliance" from agent-compliance`. `highest`/`lowest` (v0.15.0) are list-extrema value selectors — `highest of nums` or `highest total of orders` — numeric-only, value-returning, and an error on an empty list. **Articles (3):** `the`, `a`, `an` — decorative; the parser ignores them. **Declarations (2):** `about` and `define`. `about` declares the program's topic as inert metadata — single, first-line-only; visible to tooling (`inspect`, the build manifest) but never stored or executed: `about "expense authorization"` or `about expense-authorization`. `define <name>: <condition>` (v0.16.0's Definitional Era) names a reusable domain predicate — `define overdue: due-date is below cutoff` — referenced elsewhere as `is overdue` / `is not overdue`. Predicates compose, are redefinable, and work everywhere the condition grammar works (`where`, `require`, `forbid`, `when`, etc.) with no per-verb changes. **Delimiter (1):** `:` — separates a composition name from its body, and a `choose` branch's condition from its action. `"..."` brackets a multi-word string value or one that would collide with a reserved word. Quotes are value-position only; names use hyphens. Quoted content is preserved verbatim, case included. Arithmetic expressions use PEMDAS precedence (multiply/divide before add/subtract, left-to-right within the same tier) and work in any value position. Values include numbers, strings, dates, lists, and records. Dates (v0.16.0's Calendar Era) are bare ISO 8601 literals (`2025-07-01`, no quotes needed) with whole-day arithmetic (`2025-07-01 plus 30`), all comparison operators, day-based `within` tolerance, and `highest`/`lowest`/`sort` support. ### Domain packs A pack is a small JSON file that adds nouns and verbs while it's loaded. The base 61 words are permanent; pack-contributed words are reserved only when the pack is active. A pack verb declares a slot signature, a type constraint, and one of six execution dispatches: | Execution | What it does | |---|---| | `set_value` | Write a value into a named live-value or record field. | | `substring_check` | Case-sensitive containment check against a target string; error if missing. | | `append_to_list` | Deep-copy append to a list with the v1-add safety checks. | | `set_field` | Set or create a field on a record (updates the schema). | | `compare_values` | Equality or structural comparison; emit status + diff to two targets. | | `numeric_extract_compare` | Extract a number from text, compare within tolerance, emit match/delta. | Bundled packs: `timer`, `stdin`, `file-watcher`, `research`, plus a UI reference pack (`screen`, `button`, etc. + `navigate to <screen>`). ### Build a standalone binary ```bash liminate build demo.limn --output demo ./demo ./demo --inspect # source, canonical rendering, packs, vocabulary in use ``` Bundle packs the same way you'd register them at runtime — file path or inline JSON, repeatable. ### Run examples ```bash liminate examples/program1_basics.limn liminate --quiet examples/dogfood_v2a_14_realistic.limn # Event-driven listener liminate --pack examples/dogfood_v3a_pack.json --test --quiet \ examples/dogfood_v3a_event_driven.limn # UI pack liminate --pack examples/pack_ui.json --quiet \ examples/dogfood_navigate_test.limn ``` ### Project layout ``` liminate/ ├── src/liminate/ Pipeline (lexer, reorderer, parser, renderer, │ analyzer, interpreter, listener, adapter, run, packs/) ├── tests/ 1456 tests ├── examples/ Runnable .limn programs + reference packs ├── docs/spec/ Locked specification documents └── docs/ Quickstart, syntax tour, pipeline walkthrough ``` ### Test discipline The locked test sentences are simultaneously test cases and grammar artifacts — the sentences ARE the discovered grammar. Design questions surface while writing them, get resolved in the specification, and only then does Python get written. ### Design principles - **The prose IS the program.** No inference, no guessing. If the prose doesn't say it, it doesn't happen. - **The vocabulary is the boundary.** 61 base reserved words. Expressiveness scales through composition and domain packs, not through adding keywords. - **The reorderer does not guess.** Ambiguous arrangements produce an amber clarification prompt rather than a silent pick. - **Authorize, don't author.** The on-ramp is modification of a working program, not authorship from a blank file. - **The AST is the source of truth.** The parser reconstructs a canonical English sentence so you see what was understood before it runs. ## Security and data flow See [TRUST-BOUNDARY.md](https://github.com/rmichaelthomas/liminate-session-contracts/blob/main/docs/TRUST-BOUNDARY.md) for a complete description of what data moves where across the three usage modes: local-only, Receipts save, and fragment-encoded inspection. ## License Apache 2.0. See [LICENSE](LICENSE). --- *A language is a tool for naming. The question was never whether non-programmers could think computationally — the question was why we kept handing them someone else's language to do it in.*