**FIXED** via the `xx ` bridge (the preferred fix below), not by changing the `..args` spread. `xx args` with a slice target now materializes the pack into a runtime `[]Any`/`[]P` — see [examples/204-pack-xx-to-slice.sx](../examples/204-pack-xx-to-slice.sx). `lowerXX`/the unary-op arm intercepts `xx ` before the pack-as-value check and calls the new `lowerPackToSlice` ([src/ir/lower.zig](../src/ir/lower.zig)). The bare `..args` spread into a non-variadic `[]Any` param is still unsupported (use `xx args`); left as-is. # Symptom Spreading a comptime pack `..$args` into a `[]Any` parameter — `f(..args)` where `f` takes `items: []Any` — fails LLVM verification: ``` LLVM verification failed: Incorrect number of arguments passed to called function! %call = call i64 @log_count(ptr %0, { ptr, i64 }, { ptr, i64 }, double ...) ``` The spread passes the pack's N elements as N separate positional args instead of materialising a single `[]Any` slice for the one `items` parameter. # Reproduction ```sx #import "modules/std.sx"; log_count :: (items: []Any) -> s64 { return items.len; } forward :: (..$args) -> s64 { return log_count(..args); } main :: () -> s32 { print("{}\n", forward(1, "hi", 2.5)); return 0; } ``` Expected: `3` (the pack spreads into the `[]Any` slice, like calling `log_count(1, "hi", 2.5)` against a `[]Any` variadic would). # Preferred fix — `xx args` (pack → slice materialization) Rather than make the splat-y `..args` spread collapse into a single slice arg, the cleaner spelling is an **`xx` cast**, which already means "erase/convert to the expected type": ```sx forward :: (..$args) -> s64 { return log_count(xx args); } // target: []Any ``` `xx args` (target-typed) should materialize the pack into the expected slice: - target `[]Any` → box each pack element to `Any`, build `[N]Any` → `[]Any`; - target `[]P` → `xx`-erase each element to the protocol `P`, build `[N]P` → `[]P` (reuse the slice-of-protocol erasure landed in `packVariadicCallArgs`, issue 0052). This reuses the existing `xx`/protocol machinery, reads naturally, and keeps `..xs` reserved for true spreads into pack/variadic callees. **Currently `xx args` errors** ("pack 'args' has no runtime value") because the Step 2.7 pack-as-value check fires on the bare `args` operand before `xx` is considered. The fix: in `xx` (unary_op `.xx`) lowering, intercept a pack operand *before* the pack-as-value diagnostic and, when the target type is a slice, materialize as above. # Workaround today Declare the forwarder as the **slice** variadic instead of a pack — then it's already a runtime `[]Any` and forwards directly: ```sx forward :: (..args: []Any) -> s64 { return log_count(args); } // works -> 3 ``` This is what `examples/162-pack-bare-args.sx` demonstrates. # Verification After the fix, `log_count(xx args)` (and the original `..args` form, if also fixed) should print `3` and pass `sx ir` LLVM verification.