sx/design/comptime-compiler-api.md

Comptime Compiler API — #library "compiler" + extern(.zig)

Status: design-of-record (not yet an active stream). Captures a unified mechanism for sx↔compiler binding that subsumes the metatype declare/define primitives AND the #compiler struct attribute, and exposes the compiler's own type-table API to comptime sx. Supersedes the bespoke meta.sx TypeInfo projection (the "weld it" decision). Co-designed in conversation 2026-06-17.

Motivation

Today the compiler↔sx boundary is two ad-hoc mechanisms:

• #compiler structs (BuildOptions) — sx struct whose methods are compiler hooks (registered in compiler_hooks.zig). A handle to compiler state, method-bound.
• The metatype declare/define/type_info #builtins — comptime sx reaching into the type table through a narrow, fixed keyhole, with a separate, translated TypeInfo data model in meta.sx (marshalled by hand in interp.zig).

Both are the SAME idea — comptime sx interacting with the compiler — implemented twice, differently. And the metatype path carries real costs: a projected data model that drifts from types.zig, hand-written marshaling, and the staging fragility of issue 0141 (constructor bodies lowered at scanDecls in a half-built world → wrong IR).

This unifies them. One mechanism: a named compiler library that exposes a curated set of the compiler's real types (welded by layout) and functions (host-call bridged), reachable from comptime sx. declare/define/type_info become sx library code over the real API; #compiler is deleted; BuildOptions migrates onto it.

The mechanism

#library "compiler"

compiler :: #library "compiler";

A named binding target that resolves NOT to a .dylib but to the compiler's own internal surface (Zig types + functions). Two defining properties:

• It IS the safety boundary. The compiler library exports exactly the curated set of types + functions the compiler chooses to expose. Anything not on that export list is unreachable from user comptime code — the boundary is the lib's symbol table, not a convention.
• It is comptime-only. The compiler isn't present at runtime, so every function from compiler resolves only under the comptime interpreter; calling one at runtime is a clean "comptime-only symbol" error, falling out of the existing is_comptime boundary. (Welded types are still usable as plain runtime data; only the functions are comptime-gated.)

extern(.zig) <lib> — postfix attribute

Slots where #builtin / #compiler go (postfix, after the return type for fns, after struct for types), with the library handle following:

// functions:
text_of       :: (id: StringId)     -> string    extern(.zig) compiler;
intern        :: (s: string)        -> StringId   extern(.zig) compiler;
register_type :: (info: StructInfo) -> Type       extern(.zig) compiler;
find_type     :: (name: StringId)   -> ?Type      extern(.zig) compiler;

// types (layout-welded to the lib's real Zig type):
Field      :: struct extern(.zig) compiler { name: StringId; ty: Type; };
StructInfo :: struct extern(.zig) compiler {
    name: StringId; fields: []Field; is_protocol: bool; nominal_id: u32;
};

extern(.zig) = "Zig ABI / Zig layout"; <lib> = the binding source.

Layout welding — why it's exact, not brittle

The sx compiler is itself a Zig program; types.zig is part of it. So at compiler-build time the real record's layout is available via @offsetOf / @sizeOf / @alignOf. An extern(.zig) compiler struct is laid out to the bound Zig type's EXACT offsets (queried, not guessed), and the compiler ASSERTS the sx declaration matches the Zig type byte-for-byte (a mismatch is a build error — the sx side is a header checked against the implementation). Because the same compiler builds both, they're guaranteed identical, and a types.zig change re-bakes the offsets on the next build — both sides move together.

This is what C-ABI extern can't do: it copies Zig's REAL layout, so Zig slices ({ptr,len}), field reordering, and union(enum) tag placement all "just work" — no slice→ptr+len surgery on types.zig, no version fragility.

Host-call bridge (functions)

compiler functions dispatch, under the comptime interp, to the registered internal Zig function — the generalization of the path that already exists (host_ffi.zig resolves comptime extern "c" via dlsym; compiler_hooks.zig registers #compiler method hooks). The compiler lib's registry maps each exported sx name → its Zig function + welded signature.

The exposed surface (curated)

Types (welded): StringId (u32 handle), Type (≡ TypeId, u32), Field, StructInfo, EnumInfo, TaggedUnionInfo, TupleInfo, and a kind-tagged TypeInfo view (see Risks — the union(enum) is the one harder shape).

Functions (comptime-only): intern(string)->StringId, text_of(StringId)->string, find_type(StringId)->?Type, guarded mutators register_struct/register_enum/register_tuple(info)->Type, and the reflection readers (type_of, field/variant iteration) over the welded records.

declare/define/type_info collapse into thin sx over register_*/find_type — or disappear. The bespoke interp arms (.declare/.define/.type_info, defineEnum/defineStruct/defineTuple/reflectTypeInfo) are deleted.

What it buys (and the one honest limit)

Dissolves: the bespoke declare/define surface, the projected TypeInfo model, the hand-marshaling, the #compiler duplication, and the 0141 class of bugs — registration becomes a direct, guarded API call, not "evaluate an sx stdlib body (List/append) at scanDecls," so there's no body to mis-lower at a half-built stage.

Does NOT repeal: the ordering law — a type's layout must exist before code that uses it is lowered. That's inherent to the compiler, not machinery. The win is that it stops leaking as "weird exposed stages" and becomes an encapsulated contract inside the compiler API (the API decides how a registration slots in), instead of the user threading declare→forward-slot→define→eval-timing by hand.

Safety boundary

• Only the compiler export list is reachable — no raw *TypeTable.
• Mutators are guarded (register_* validate: dup field/variant names, kind changes, well-formedness) — the same checks define does today, now at the API.
• Comptime-only enforcement on functions; runtime use is a clean error.
• Mirrors Zig's own discipline: comptime builds types through sanctioned doors (@Type), it doesn't let user code scribble on the compiler's tables.

BuildOptions migration

BuildOptions :: struct #compiler { ... } + build_options() #compiler → extern(.zig) compiler: the setter/getter hook-methods become extern(.zig) compiler functions (or methods on a welded/handle BuildOptions), backed by the same BuildConfig state. The compiler_hooks.zig registry becomes the compiler lib's function/type registry. Net: the build DSL and the metatype API ride one mechanism.

#compiler removal

After both consumers are migrated, delete the #compiler attribute and its special paths: lexer/parser token + sema handling (src/lexer.zig, src/parser.zig, src/sema.zig, src/token.zig, src/ast.zig), and the #compiler-specific registration in compiler_hooks.zig (the registry stays, re-homed under compiler). sx footprint is tiny (2 lines in library/modules/build.sx).

Code anchors (confirmed 2026-06-17)

Foundation that ALREADY exists:

• #library "name" lexes (hash_library, src/lexer.zig:91) and parses into a library_decl { lib_name, name } AST node (src/parser.zig:210). So compiler :: #library "compiler"; works today (used for FFI libs like raylib).
• extern / export are keywords (src/token.zig:46, kw_extern/kw_export).

New work for Phase 1:

• Lexer/parser: the (.zig) ABI qualifier on extern, and the trailing <lib> identifier — … extern(.zig) <lib> postfix on FN decls (after the return type, beside #builtin/#compiler at src/parser.zig:233/:315) and STRUCT decls (beside struct #compiler, src/parser.zig:953).
• AST: an abi/layout-binding field on FnDecl and the struct decl (abi: .c | .zig, lib: ?name).
• Binding registry: re-home / generalize src/ir/compiler_hooks.zig (today's #compiler registry) into the compiler lib's type+function registry, keyed by exported sx name → Zig type (@offsetOf layout) / Zig fn (host-call).
• Layout + emit: sx struct layout (src/ir/types.zig / lowering) honors the bound type's offsets; LLVM emission (src/backend/llvm/types.zig) hits them.
• Host-call bridge: extend the comptime path (src/ir/host_ffi.zig + interp.zig) to dispatch compiler functions to their registered Zig fns, comptime-only.

Build order (each phase keeps zig build test green)

1. extern(.zig) + #library foundation — parse the postfix attribute (the #library decl already exists); a binding registry (sx name → Zig type/fn); the layout engine honoring the bound type's @offsetOf offsets + LLVM emission that hits them; build-time layout-equality assertion. Prove with Field (two u32s). First testable sub-step: extern(.zig) <lib> PARSES on a fn decl (parser unit test), AST carries the binding — no semantics yet.
2. Weld StructInfo + StringId accessors (intern/text_of) over the host-call bridge.
3. Re-express type_info/define (struct) as sx over register_struct/ find_type; migrate examples/0622; delete the struct interp arms; suite green.
4. Widen to enum/tuple — weld EnumInfo/TaggedUnionInfo/TupleInfo (optional fields → sentinels: backing_type .unresolved, explicit_values len-0); migrate examples/0619/0623; delete the enum/tuple interp arms.
5. Migrate BuildOptions to extern(.zig) compiler.
6. Delete #compiler; suite green.

Risks / open questions

• union(enum) welding. TypeInfo is a Zig tagged union; mirroring its tag placement is the one shape harder than plain structs. Start with a kind-tagged view (weld the payload structs, drive the discriminant via a kind accessor), defer full-union welding. type_info/define mostly traffic in the payload records anyway.
• Optional fields in welded records (?[]const i64, ?TypeId) — represent via sentinels on the sx side, or expose through accessor functions rather than raw fields.
• LLVM layout emission for arbitrary external offsets (padding / byte-offset GEPs) is the meatiest part of phase 1.
• Mutation safety — the guarded-mutator surface must cover every invariant the type table relies on (interning, nominal ids, forward slots).
• @offsetOf binding for nested/parameterized types — the registry must map each exported sx type to a concrete Zig type; generic Zig types need a concrete instantiation to bind.