inline-schema/docs/syntax-rework-plan.md

Implementation Plan: Syntax Clarity & Parser Robustness

Status: In progress — Phases 1, 2 & 3 applied (Phases 4–6 not yet done)

Goals

1. Eliminate the backtracking heuristics in the value parser by making the value grammar context-free.
2. Remove redundant/ambiguous syntax forms.
3. Make union resolution deterministic and structural (not error-message-driven).
4. Address the csv-parse quote conflict.
5. Keep the ; separator (forced by CSV constraints — not the source of ambiguity).

All changes are breaking to the DSL → bump to 2.0.0, update README + csv-loader.md, add a migration note.

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Phase 1 — Mandatory brackets for composite values ✅ Applied

Files: src/value-parser.ts, src/index.test.ts, src/csv-loader/reference-resolver.ts

• Removed the allowOmitBrackets parameter from parseValue, parseTupleValue, parseArrayValue.
• Deleted the elementIsTupleOrArray disambiguation block and all savedPos restore logic in parseArrayValue.
• Dropped the allowOmitBrackets = schema.type === "tuple" || "array" special case in top-level parseValue — brackets are always required.
• Array references (@table[] values) now also require brackets, for consistency.
• Values must now be fully bracketed: [a; 1]; [b; 2] (no more [a; 1]; [b; 2] without outer brackets).

Decision: Full mandatory brackets (no carve-out).

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Phase 2 — Single array form Type[] ✅ Applied

Files: src/parser.ts, src/index.test.ts

• Removed the [Type][] array syntax from parseSchemaInternal. Kept only Type[].
• [string] is now a 1-tuple (previously it collapsed to an array). The tuple branch always returns { type: "tuple", elements }.
• Updated schemaToTypeString in src/type-utils.ts — the array case no longer special-cases tuple elements; arrays are always elementType[] (kept the (union)[] paren wrapping).

Tests updated: index.test.ts bracket-optional tests, encounter.csv / enemy_intents.csv fixtures, and parseCsv-typeDeclarations.test.ts array-of-tuple values.

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Phase 3 — Deterministic union resolution ✅ Applied

Files: src/csv-loader/reference-resolver.ts, src/csv-loader/module-gen.ts

• Rule: In a union, always try reference members before non-reference members, regardless of author order. This makes fallback structural instead of error-message-driven.
• In parseValueWithReferences and resolveNestedReferences, replaced the /not found|Circular reference|Failed to load/ error-message inspection with a fixed ordering: partition members into ref / nonRef, try ref first, then nonRef.
• module-gen.ts generateSchemaResolutionCode already emitted reference-first (lookup.get(...) ?? value), so runtime now matches generated code.
• Documented the rule in README and AGENTS.md.

Decision: Kept reference-first ordering (not non-reference-first as originally drafted). Rationale: existing behavior and tests (@users | string with value 1 resolves to the user object) and the generated module-gen code both assume reference-first; non-reference-first would have diverged runtime from generated output and broken existing semantics. The plan's real goal — removing the error-message regex — is achieved.

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Phase 4 — Quote conflict resolution

Files: src/parser.ts, src/csv-loader/loader.ts, README, csv-loader.md

Options (pick one):

• (a) Standardize on single-quoted literals only — minimal change, but leaves a footgun.
• (b) Quote the entire schema cell so csv-parse treats it as one field — requires loader-side handling to strip the outer quotes before parsing.
• (c) Drop quotes entirely — use bare-token literals (e.g. on / off as identifiers). Most robust, largest change.

Recommendation: (b) — it's the only option that fixes the root cause (schema cells containing " break csv-parse) without redesigning the literal syntax. Requires: in loader.ts, detect schema-row cells that are fully quoted and unwrap before parseSchema.

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Phase 5 — Cleanup & consistency

Files: src/csv-loader/reference-resolver.ts, src/csv-loader/loader.ts, src/csv-loader/module-gen.ts

• Reverse-reference performance: resolveReverseReference does refTable.filter(...) per row. Build a Map<fk, rows[]> lookup once per referenced table (mirroring what module-gen.ts already generates) and reuse it. Cache the lookup alongside the parsed table in referenceTableCache.
• Remove the , stop-character in parseReferenceValue (value parser has a , stop char the schema parser doesn't — drift). Make reference ID parsing consistent with the rest of the value grammar.
• int/float/number → number: document the collapse in README (type-level collapse is intentional; parse-time distinction remains).

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Phase 6 — Docs & migration

Files: README.md, csv-loader.md, AGENTS.md

• Update all syntax tables and examples for mandatory brackets + single array form.
• Add a Migration section listing the breaking changes:
  1. Composite values must be fully bracketed.
  2. [Type][] array form removed — use Type[].
  3. [single] is now a 1-tuple, not an array.
  4. Union resolution now prefers non-reference members.
  5. (If Phase 4b) schema cells may be fully quoted.
• Update AGENTS.md gotchas: union ordering rule, quote handling.

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Validation

• npm run typecheck
• npm run test (update src/index.test.ts, src/csv-loader/*.test.ts first)
• Manually verify the integration fixture (user_rev.csv / order_rev.csv) still resolves.

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Suggested execution order

Phases 1 → 2 are tightly coupled (both touch bracket parsing) — do them together. Phase 3 is independent. Phase 4 is independent. Phases 5–6 are cleanup/docs and can go last.