Yon Read

/yon-read

YON Reading & Interpretation Mode — read, analyze, or explain YON (YounndAI Object Notation) content. YON is a line-oriented, stream-first Cognitive Architecture for AI systems — every line is independently parseable.

Quick Orientation

YON looks like this — each line is a self-contained record:

@TAG field1=value1 | field2="quoted value" | key:type=typed_value

• Tags start with @ at column 1 (uppercase): @DOC, @RULE, @STEP, etc.
• Fields are separated by | (space, pipe, space)
• Comments are lines starting with #
• Indented lines continue the previous record
• Values are bare when simple (kind=workflow) or quoted when they contain spaces (title="My Document")
• Types are declared inline: n:int=3, active:bool=true, ts:ts=2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Interpretation Protocol

1. Start with @DOC

The first non-comment line tells you what the document is:

• ver — spec version (should be 2.0)
• id / title — identity and human-readable name
• kind — document type: doc, rule, workflow, skill, sidecar, spec, context, memory, note, prompt
• profile — which tag families are active: core, decl, exec, audit, cognitive, agent, full
• fmt — density: canon (readable), min (compact), ultra (maximum density)
• domain — industry domain if applicable (e.g., yon.health, yon.fintech)

2. Walk @SEC Sections

Sections are flat — no nesting. Each @SEC name="..." marks a boundary; everything after it belongs to that section until the next @SEC or end of document.

3. Interpret by Tag

Structure: @NOTE (annotation), @META (metadata), @DEF (alias), @REF (external reference), @STAMP (provenance — who, when)

Intent & Logic: @INTENT (purpose/goal), @SCOPE (boundaries), @RULE (constraint with lvl=MUST|SHOULD|MAY), @SCHEMA (validation), @CFG (configuration), @MAP (key-value routing), @CHECK (assertion)

Workflow: @STEP (operation with order n, op code, inputs/outputs), @INPUT/@OUTPUT (declarations), @YIELD (partial results), @CATCH/@RETRY/@ERROR (error handling)

Change Control: @PATCH (modify prior record), @VOID (revoke prior record)

Blocks: @BEGIN/@END — verbatim embedded content (code, JSON, logs). Content inside is raw payload, not YON.

Privacy: @REDACTION (masking), @CONSENT (consent events)

Cross-Domain: @IDENTITY (actors), @LOCATION (spatial references)

4. Follow Reference Tokens

Records connect through prefixed tokens:

• block:config → @BEGIN block with id=config
• rid:step:1 → record with rid=step:1
• cfg:, file:, url:, ref: → configs, files, URLs, generic references
• agent:, group:, role:, stream: → Layer 4 agent references
• id:, loc: → cross-domain identity/location

5. Recognize Layers

• Layer 1-2 (Core): Structure, logic, workflows — most documents live here
• Layer 3 (Cognition): @THOUGHT, @HYPOTHESIS, @DECISION, @MEMORY, @PULSE, @SHARD — reasoning traces
• Layer 4 (Agents): @AGENT, @STREAM, @SIGNAL, @TENET, @ESCALATE — multi-agent orchestration. Reading these records is always supported; executing @AGENT-routed dispatch depends on the host runtime's subagent capabilities (Claude Code supports it via the Agent tool; other runtimes vary). When Layer 4 records appear, interpret and explain them, but flag execution as runtime-dependent.

Worked Example

Given this YON:

@DOC ver=2.0 | id=api-rules | title="API Safety Rules" | kind=rule | profile=decl
@INTENT goal="Protect public API endpoints"
@SEC name="Authentication"
@RULE rid=rule:auth | lvl=MUST | when="accessing any endpoint" | then="include valid Bearer token"
@RULE rid=rule:expired | lvl=MUST_NOT | when="token is expired" | then="allow access"
@SEC name="Rate Limits"
@MAP name=TierLimits | pairs=["standard"->"100/min","premium"->"500/min"]
@RULE rid=rule:backoff | lvl=SHOULD | when="rate limit exceeded" | then="retry with exponential backoff"

Explain it as:

This is a rules document for API safety (kind=rule, profile=decl). Its goal is to protect public API endpoints.

Authentication section has two mandatory rules: every API call must include a valid Bearer token, and expired tokens must never be allowed through.

Rate Limits section defines two tiers — standard users get 100 requests/minute, premium get 500. If the limit is hit, clients are recommended (but not required) to use exponential backoff.

Reading Sidecar Manifests

When a .yon file is colocated with source code, focus on: the Identity section (what the file is/exports), Agent Router section (decision trees — these are instructions to follow), Banned Combos section (anti-patterns to avoid), Dependencies, and Consumers.

Voice When Explaining YON

When explaining YON content to users:

• Translate records to plain English, grouped by section
• State @RULE constraints with severity level prominently
• For workflows, describe execution order and data dependencies
• For @MAP records, explain the routing/decision logic
• Call out @INTENT and @SCOPE first — they frame the whole document
• Use YON's preferred terminology: "structural baseline" (not "overhead"), "operational characteristic" (not "trade-off"), "recoverability budget" (not "cost"). Avoid: "revolutionary", "game-changing", "best-in-class", "leverage", "synergy"

Detailed References

For edge cases, Layer 3/4 tags, and field-level details — read these only when needed:

• references/read-card.txt — Complete syntax card with all 72 tags across all layers
• references/tag-registry.md — Tag tables organized by layer and category
• references/type-system.md — Value types, reference token prefixes, list constraints
• references/common-fields.md — Universal fields, content fields, workflow fields, governance fields