Context

Context

"The context IS the world as seen from inside the closure." — Dave Ungar, on lexical scope

What Is It?

The world object is passed to every compiled closure. It provides:

1. Standard keys — Always present (adventure, player, room, turn)
2. Extended keys — Contextual (object, target, npc)
3. Skill namespaces — Skills register state under world.skills.skill_name
4. Utility functions — API for interacting with the world

Why "world" not "ctx"?

• More evocative — closures see the WORLD
• Self-documenting — world.player, world.room
• Matches the mental model

Standard Keys

Always present in every world:

world.turn           // Current simulation turn
world.timestamp      // ISO timestamp

world.adventure      // Root adventure state
  .name
  .flags             // Global boolean flags
  .world_state       // Global key/value state

world.player         // Current player
  .id
  .name
  .location          // Path to current room
  .inventory         // Array of item ids
  .buffs             // Active buffs

world.room           // Current room
  .id
  .name
  .path
  .exits
  .objects
  .is_dark
  .is_dangerous

world.party          // Party state
  .members
  .leader

Extended Keys

Present when relevant:

// When running object simulate/methods:
world.object         // The object being simulated
  .id
  .state             // Object's mutable state
  // Methods are bound: world.consume_fuel(1)

// When action targets something:
world.target         // The target
  .id
  .type              // "object", "character", "room"

// When NPC is simulating:
world.npc            // The NPC
  .id
  .goals
  .state

Skill State Namespaces

Skills register state under world.skills.<skill_name> using underscores:

// Skill "economy" → world.skills.economy
world.skills.economy.gold        // 100

// Skill "pie-menu" → world.skills.pie_menu (underscore!)
world.skills.pie_menu.last_selection  // "north"

// Skill "time" → world.skills.time
world.skills.time.hour           // 14
world.skills.time.phase          // "afternoon"

Why underscores? Dashes aren't valid JS/Python identifiers. foo-bar skill → foo_bar namespace.

This keeps skill state organized and avoids collisions.

Utility Functions

Methods bound to world for interaction:

Narrative

world.emit("The lamp dies!")              // Show message
world.narrate("Darkness falls.", "dramatic")

Events

world.trigger_event("GRUE_APPROACHES", { room: world.room.path })

Inventory

world.has("brass-key")                    // true/false
world.give("gold-coins")                  // Add to inventory
world.take("used-potion")                 // Remove from inventory

Flags

world.flag("dragon_slain")                // Get flag
world.set_flag("treasure_found", true)    // Set flag

State

world.get("object.state.fuel")            // Get by path
world.set("object.state.lit", true)       // Set by path

Navigation

world.go("../maze/room-a/")               // Move player
world.can_go("north")                     // Check exit

Buffs

world.add_buff({ name: "Caffeinated", effect: { energy: +2 }, duration: 5 })
world.remove_buff("caffeinated")
world.has_buff("grue_immunity")

Logging

world.log("Debug: fuel = " + world.object.state.fuel)

Example: Lamp Simulate

simulate_js: (world) => {
  if (world.object.state.lit) {
    world.consume_fuel(1);                  // Call object method
    
    if (world.object.state.fuel <= 0) {
      world.extinguish();                   // Call object method
      world.emit("The lamp sputters and dies!");
      
      if (world.room.is_dark && world.room.is_dangerous) {
        world.trigger_event("GRUE_APPROACHES");
      }
    }
  }
}

Example: Guard Expression

guard: "player has the key AND room is not dark"
guard_js: (world) => world.has("brass-key") && !world.room.is_dark

Example: Score Calculation

score_if: "player is tired OR room is dark"
score_if_js: (world) => world.has_buff("tired") || world.room.is_dark

Example: Skill State

# Skill "economy" needs to check gold
guard: "player has at least 10 gold"
guard_js: (world) => world.skills.economy.gold >= 10

# Skill "pie-menu" checks last selection
score_if: "last pie menu selection was north"
score_if_js: (world) => world.skills.pie_menu.last_selection === "north"

Design Principles

Structured, Not Arbitrary

world is NOT just a bag of key/values. It has defined structure:

• Standard keys are always present
• Extended keys appear in context
• Skills namespace their state (with underscores!)
• Functions are bound methods

Skill Namespaces (Underscores!)

Skills don't pollute root world. They register under world.skills.skill_name:

// Skill "economy" → world.skills.economy
world.skills.economy.gold
world.skills.economy.currency

// Skill "pie-menu" → world.skills.pie_menu (underscore!)
world.skills.pie_menu.last_selection
world.skills.pie_menu.hover_direction

// Skill "foo-bar" → world.skills.foo_bar
world.skills.foo_bar.some_state

Rule: skill-name with dashes → skill_name with underscores in namespace.

Methods Are Bound

Object methods appear as functions on world:

// Object defines:
methods:
  consume_fuel: "reduce fuel by amount"

// At runtime, method is bound:
world.consume_fuel(1)  // Works!

Related Skills

• object — Provides ctx.object
• room — Provides ctx.room
• adventure — Provides ctx.adventure
• buff — Used by ctx.add_buff/has_buff

Dual Runtime: Python + JavaScript

CRITICAL: We always generate BOTH _js AND _py versions of compiled expressions.

# Natural language
guard: "player has the key AND room is not dark"

# BOTH generated:
guard_js: (world) => world.has("brass-key") && !world.room.is_dark
guard_py: lambda world: world.has("brass-key") and not world.room.is_dark

Why Dual Runtimes?

Keeping Them In Sync

1. Same semantics — Both should produce identical results
2. Same world structure — world.player, world.room, etc.
3. Same utility functions — world.has(), world.emit(), etc.
4. Generated together — LLM produces both in one pass

The Compilation Event

- event: COMPILE_EXPRESSION
  field: guard
  source: "player has the key"
  targets:
    - field: guard_js
      language: javascript
    - field: guard_py
      language: python
  expected_type: boolean

Python Runtime Class

class World:
    """Python runtime context — mirrors JavaScript World class."""
    
    def __init__(self, adventure_data):
        self.turn = 0
        self.adventure = adventure_data
        self.player = adventure_data['player']
        self.room = None  # Set on navigation
        self.party = adventure_data['party']
        self.object = None  # Set during object simulation
        self.skills = {}  # Skill state namespaces
        
    def has(self, item_id: str) -> bool:
        return item_id in self.player.get('inventory', [])
        
    def flag(self, name: str) -> bool:
        return self.adventure.get('flags', {}).get(name, False)
        
    def emit(self, message: str):
        print(message)  # Or queue for output
        
    def trigger_event(self, name: str, data=None):
        # Event system handles this
        pass

JavaScript Runtime Class

class World {
  /** JavaScript runtime context — mirrors Python World class. */
  
  constructor(adventureData) {
    this.turn = 0;
    this.adventure = adventureData;
    this.player = adventureData.player;
    this.room = null;  // Set on navigation
    this.party = adventureData.party;
    this.object = null;  // Set during object simulation
    this.skills = {};  // Skill state namespaces
  }
  
  has(itemId) {
    return (this.player.inventory || []).includes(itemId);
  }
  
  flag(name) {
    return (this.adventure.flags || {})[name] || false;
  }
  
  emit(message) {
    console.log(message);  // Or queue for UI
  }
  
  triggerEvent(name, data) {
    // Event system handles this
  }
}

Protocol Symbol

RUNTIME-CONTEXT — The world passed to closures (Python + JavaScript)