STTP Typed IR Language Specification

Node             := ProvenanceLayer EnvelopeLayer ContentLayer MetricsLayer

ProvenanceLayer  := PROVENANCE_START NodeObject LAYER_END
EnvelopeLayer    := ENVELOPE_START   NodeObject LAYER_END
ContentLayer     := CONTENT_START    NodeObject LAYER_END
MetricsLayer     := METRICS_START    NodeObject LAYER_END

NodeObject       := OptionalNodeMarker Object
OptionalNodeMarker := NODE_MARKER [NodeOrdinal]
NodeOrdinal      := Integer

Object           := '{' Members? '}'
Members          := Pair (',' Pair)*
Pair             := Key ':' Value
Key              := Identifier | String
Value            := Object | Array | String | Number | Boolean | Null
Array            := '[' (Value (',' Value)*)? ']'

Note:

legacy compact separators are non-canonical and profile-scoped to tolerant mode.

7. Layer Schema Contract

7.1 Provenance Layer

Required keys:

trigger
response_format
origin_session
compression_depth
parent_node
prime

trigger enum:

scheduled
threshold
resonance
seed
manual

response_format enum:

temporal_node
natural_language
hybrid

prime required keys:

attractor_config
context_summary
relevant_tier
retrieval_budget

attractor_config required keys:

stability
friction
logic
autonomy

7.2 Envelope Layer

Required keys:

timestamp
tier
session_id
user_avec
model_avec

Optional keys:

schema_version

tier enum:

raw
daily
weekly
monthly
quarterly
yearly

AVEC required keys:

stability
friction
logic
autonomy
psi

7.3 Content Layer

Required shape:

typed object containing one or more semantic fields.

Canonical field signature:

field_name(.confidence): value

confidence rules:

confidence MUST parse as float.
strict range is [0.0, 1.0].

depth rule:

strict maximum nesting depth is 5.

7.4 Metrics Layer

Required keys:

rho
kappa
psi
compression_avec

compression_avec required keys:

stability
friction
logic
autonomy
psi

8. Semantic Invariants

Strict conformance requires all invariants below.

S1 Layer order invariant:

provenance precedes envelope.
envelope precedes content.
content precedes metrics.

S2 Completeness invariant:

all required keys exist in all required layers.

S3 Type invariant:

enum values are members of defined enum sets.
required numeric fields parse as numeric values.

S4 Confidence invariant:

every canonical content field includes confidence annotation.
every confidence annotation is range-valid in strict mode.

S5 Structural depth invariant:

content object nesting depth is less than or equal to 5.

A node that violates any invariant MUST be marked strict-invalid.

9. Compliance Profiles

9.1 Strict Profile

Strict profile MUST:

enforce all syntax and invariants,
fail closed on unresolved structure,
reject non-canonical legacy forms.

9.2 Tolerant Profile

Tolerant profile MAY accept legacy forms including:

compact pipe-delimited key-value payloads,
omitted internal node wrappers,
unquoted enum-like values where unambiguous,
mixed formatting and spacing variants.

Tolerant profile MUST:

preserve raw source,
emit diagnostics for every deviation,
produce canonical AST when recoverable,
never claim strict-valid unless strict invariants pass.

10. Diagnostics Specification

Recommended severities:

Fatal
Error
Warning
Info

Diagnostic payload SHOULD include:

code,
message,
source span,
recovery action,
strict impact.

11. Canonicalization Rules

When tolerant recovery is used, implementation SHOULD canonicalize:

layer ordering in AST output,
known aliases into canonical keys,
parent_node into normalized representation,
unambiguous numeric strings into numeric values.

Canonicalization MUST NOT:

modify original raw text,
alter identity-sensitive semantics,
fabricate missing semantic values.

12. Adversarial and Security Considerations

Threat classes:

marker spoofing and layer confusion,
malformed confidence signatures,
delimiter smuggling in compact forms,
layer bleed-through via unbalanced containers.

Required response:

strict profile fails closed,
tolerant profile fails informative with bounded recovery,
diagnostics remain deterministic for equal input.

13. Backward Compatibility Contract

Language evolution policy is additive.

Rules:

optional fields MAY be introduced without invalidating old nodes.
old nodes MAY be ingested via tolerant profile.
strict profile remains the canonical generation target.

14. Conformance Testing Requirements

A conformance suite SHOULD include:

strict canonical fixtures,
tolerant legacy fixtures,
negative fixtures by invariant class,
adversarial fixtures by threat class,
canonical AST snapshot expectations.

15. Canonical Example

⊕⟨ ⏣0{ trigger: manual, response_format: temporal_node, origin_session: "session-abc", compression_depth: 1, parent_node: null, prime: { attractor_config: { stability: 0.90, friction: 0.20, logic: 0.98, autonomy: 0.85 }, context_summary: "parser hardening session", relevant_tier: raw, retrieval_budget: 8 } } ⟩
⦿⟨ ⏣0{ timestamp: "2026-04-25T00:00:00Z", tier: raw, session_id: "session-abc", schema_version: "sttp-1.0", user_avec: { stability: 0.90, friction: 0.20, logic: 0.98, autonomy: 0.85, psi: 2.93 }, model_avec: { stability: 0.90, friction: 0.20, logic: 0.98, autonomy: 0.85, psi: 2.93 } } ⟩
◈⟨ ⏣0{ focus(.99): "grammar update", decision(.96): { parser_mode(.95): "strict_and_tolerant" } } ⟩
⍉⟨ ⏣0{ rho: 0.95, kappa: 0.94, psi: 2.93, compression_avec: { stability: 0.90, friction: 0.20, logic: 0.98, autonomy: 0.85, psi: 2.93 } } ⟩

16. Change Control

When schema or grammar rules change, maintainers SHOULD update:

this language specification,
sttp_grammar_blueprint.md,
parser conformance fixtures,
parser implementation notes.

17. Language Promise

STTP as typed IR is complete only when it can do all three simultaneously:

represent cognition state faithfully,
validate structure deterministically,
survive historical reality without semantic drift.

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