# 0176 — calling a method through a protocol-typed struct field aborts (exit 133, no diagnostic) ## Symptom A struct field whose type is a PROTOCOL holds an erased value fine, but calling a method THROUGH that field aborts the process (exit 133, SIGABRT) with no diagnostic. Reading a non-protocol sibling field is fine; constructing the struct is fine. The crash needs the method call-through. Reproduces with BOTH struct-literal init and field assignment, so it is not a struct-literal bug — the protocol field's method dispatch / vtable through a struct slot is the suspect. Pre-existing (reproduces on clean master). ## Reproduction ```sx #import "modules/std.sx"; Speaker :: protocol { speak :: (self: *Self) -> i64; } Dog :: struct { n: i64 = 0; } speak :: (self: *Dog) -> i64 { return self.n; } Holder :: struct { s: Speaker; b: i64 = 0; } main :: () { d := Dog.{ n = 42 }; h : Holder = .{ s = d, b = 5 }; // or: h.s = d (field assign) — same crash print("{}\n", h.s.speak()); // <-- aborts here, exit 133, no output } ``` Expected: `42`. Observed: silent abort, exit 133. Reading `h.b` (the non-protocol field) prints `5` fine; the crash is specifically the call through `h.s`. ## Investigation prompt The erased protocol value stored in a struct field appears to lose its method-table / self pointer, so dispatch through `h.s.speak()` reads a null/garbage vtable. Compare against a protocol value in a LOCAL variable (`s : Speaker = d; s.speak()` — does THAT work?) to isolate whether the bug is in storing the erased value into a struct field, or in dispatching through a field access. Suspect the protocol fat-value `{vtable/typeinfo, data-ptr}` layout when embedded as a struct field: the field store (`emitStructInit` / field assign) may truncate or mis-place the fat value, or the method-dispatch lowering for `field.method()` may not load the full protocol header. Look at how a protocol local dispatches vs how a protocol struct-field dispatches (`src/ir/lower/expr.zig` method-call / field-access lowering + `src/backend/llvm` protocol dispatch). Follow the no-silent-fallback rule. Verify: the repro prints `42`; both struct-literal and field-assign init; a protocol field reassigned to a different concrete type dispatches correctly. Add a `examples/protocols/04xx-protocol-struct-field-dispatch.sx` regression.