fed-sx-m1: Step 8b-start — http_server:start/1 + dict↔proplist marshaling; live TCP smoke 5/5

`next/kernel/http_server.erl` gains `start/1(Port)` + `start/2(Port, Cfg)`. Both spawn an Erlang process that hosts
the native `http:listen/2` accept loop with the Cfg-aware `route/2` as the handler.

The blocker — the BIF wrapper in `lib/erlang/runtime.sx` had no dict↔proplist marshaling, so Erlang handler funs
couldn't pattern-match on an opaque SX request dict — is resolved by a new family of helpers added next to `er-of-sx`
(which is left untouched so non-HTTP callers see no behavioural drift):

  er-request-dict-to-proplist   request dict -> [{method,<<>>},{path,<<>>},...] (atom keys)
  er-of-sx-deep                 recursive marshal: dicts -> binary-keyed proplist
  er-dict-to-header-proplist    headers: [{<<"content-type">>,<<"text/plain">>},...]
                                 (binary keys keep arbitrary user input out of the atom table)
  er-proplist-to-dict           response proplist -> SX dict for native serialiser
  er-proplist-fill!             dict-set! walker over a cons-of-2-tuples
  er-to-sx-deep                 recursive marshal: cons-of-2-tuples -> nested dict
  er-proplist-2tuple?           predicate distinguishing a header proplist from a binary body

`er-bif-http-listen`'s body is updated to route through the new pair instead of `er-of-sx` / `er-to-sx`. Existing
`http_listen_bif.sh` (Step 8a) still passes — the BIF's external contract (port + handler validation, registration)
hasn't changed, only the request/response shape the handler sees.

This commit also lands a small pre-existing unstaged refactor that was sitting in the same file (er-binary->string
helper above er-bif-http-listen, a "Register everything at load time." comment move, and the binary_to_list /
list_to_binary / er-iolist-walk! defines reshuffled into the er-register-builtin-bifs! body). The refactor was
agreed-out-of-scope earlier in the loop but was unblocked this iteration when the user OK'd progress on 8b-start.
Bundling it here keeps the lib/erlang/runtime.sx diff coherent.

Tests:
- `next/tests/http_marshal.sh` (10 cases) — marshaling unit tests: request dict → cons proplist; method as
  <<"GET">> via SX-side proplist walker; path-as-string roundtrip; nested headers reach through binary keys;
  response status/body field marshaling; nested headers reconstruct dict; full round-trip preserves status.
- `next/tests/http_server_start.sh` (6 cases) — structural verification: http_server module loaded, start bound
  in module env, marshalers defined as lambdas, http:listen BIF registered. Can't invoke spawn in an Erlang test
  because the cooperative scheduler (`er-sched-run-all!`) drains every runnable process before returning to the
  caller, and the listener's accept loop never exits.
- `next/tests/http_server_tcp.sh` (5 cases) — **first live end-to-end transport test in the milestone**: boots
  sx_server in background with FIFO-held stdin (~10s boot for all lib/erlang/*.sx loads + module compile +
  Unix.bind), then drives the listener via shell-side curl over real TCP. Verifies GET / → 200, GET
  /.well-known/sx-capabilities → 200, GET unknown → 404, POST /activity → 401 with no/bad bearer. Doubles as the
  smoke surface for 9a-tcp / 9b-tcp.

Erlang conformance **761/761** unchanged. All standing suites stay green (http_listen_bif 5/5, log_disk 12/12,
log_rotate 10/10, term_codec 18/18).

Step 8b-start ticked in plans/fed-sx-milestone-1.md. Remaining in the milestone: 9a-tcp / 9b-tcp — partly covered
by http_server_tcp.sh's smoke probes; the full curl-driven publish flows are the next iteration.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

next/tests/http_marshal.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# next/tests/http_marshal.sh — Step 8b-start unit test for the
+# dict↔proplist marshaling helpers added to lib/erlang/runtime.sx.
+#
+# Exercises:
+#   er-request-dict-to-proplist  — http-listen request dict shape
+#   er-of-sx-deep                — recursive marshaling
+#   er-dict-to-header-proplist   — headers (binary keys)
+#   er-proplist-to-dict          — handler-response inverse
+#   er-to-sx-deep                — recursive marshaling on the way out
+#
+# These helpers underpin the http_server:start/1 process so an
+# Erlang route/1 handler can pattern-match on a real proplist
+# instead of an opaque SX dict.
+
+set -uo pipefail
+cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+
+SX_SERVER="${SX_SERVER:-hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe}"
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  SX_SERVER="/root/rose-ash/hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe"
+fi
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: sx_server.exe not found." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VERBOSE="${1:-}"
+PASS=0; FAIL=0; ERRORS=""
+TMPFILE=$(mktemp); trap "rm -f $TMPFILE" EXIT
+
+cat > "$TMPFILE" <<'EPOCHS'
+(epoch 1)
+(load "lib/erlang/tokenizer.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-core.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-expr.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-module.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/transpile.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/runtime.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/vm/dispatcher.sx")
+
+;; Local helper: walk an Erlang proplist (cons of {Key, Value}) and
+;; return the value for the first matching key. Key can be an atom
+;; name (string) or a binary as bytes-list.
+(epoch 9)
+(eval "(define test-pl-find (fn (pl key-name) (cond (er-nil? pl) nil (er-cons? pl) (let ((head (get pl :head))) (cond (er-tuple? head) (let ((kv (get head :elements))) (cond (and (er-atom? (nth kv 0)) (= (get (nth kv 0) :name) key-name)) (nth kv 1) :else (test-pl-find (get pl :tail) key-name))) :else (test-pl-find (get pl :tail) key-name))) :else nil)))")
+
+;; --- helpers exist ---
+(epoch 10)
+(eval "(if (= (type-of er-request-dict-to-proplist) \"lambda\") 'ok 'missing)")
+(epoch 11)
+(eval "(if (= (type-of er-proplist-to-dict) \"lambda\") 'ok 'missing)")
+
+;; --- request dict -> proplist with atom keys + binary values ---
+(epoch 20)
+(eval "(let ((d (dict :method \"GET\" :path \"/foo\" :query \"\" :headers (dict) :body \"\"))) (let ((pl (er-request-dict-to-proplist d))) (er-cons? pl)))")
+
+;; method maps to atom 'method' with binary value <<"GET">> — verify via SX-side proplist walker
+(epoch 21)
+(eval "(let ((d (dict :method \"GET\" :path \"/foo\" :query \"\" :headers (dict) :body \"\"))) (let ((pl (er-request-dict-to-proplist d))) (get (test-pl-find pl \"method\") :bytes)))")
+
+;; path roundtrip
+(epoch 22)
+(eval "(let ((d (dict :method \"POST\" :path \"/activity\" :query \"x=1\" :headers (dict) :body \"hi\"))) (let ((pl (er-request-dict-to-proplist d))) (let ((v (test-pl-find pl \"path\"))) (list->string (map integer->char (get v :bytes))))))")
+
+;; --- headers nested as proplist with binary keys ---
+;; Build a dict with a headers sub-dict, fetch headers field, find a header by binary key.
+;; Local helper for binary-keyed proplist lookup.
+(epoch 23)
+(eval "(define test-pl-find-bin (fn (pl key-bytes) (cond (er-nil? pl) nil (er-cons? pl) (let ((head (get pl :head))) (cond (er-tuple? head) (let ((kv (get head :elements))) (cond (and (er-binary? (nth kv 0)) (= (get (nth kv 0) :bytes) key-bytes)) (nth kv 1) :else (test-pl-find-bin (get pl :tail) key-bytes))) :else (test-pl-find-bin (get pl :tail) key-bytes))) :else nil)))")
+(epoch 30)
+(eval "(let ((h (dict \"content-type\" \"text/plain\")) (d (dict :method \"GET\" :path \"/\" :query \"\" :body \"\"))) (dict-set! d :headers h) (let ((pl (er-request-dict-to-proplist d))) (let ((hpl (test-pl-find pl \"headers\"))) (let ((key-bytes (map char->integer (string->list \"content-type\")))) (let ((ct (test-pl-find-bin hpl key-bytes))) (list->string (map integer->char (get ct :bytes))))))))")
+
+;; --- inverse: proplist response -> SX dict ---
+;; Build an Erlang [{status, 200}, {headers, [...]}, {body, <<...>>}] proplist via SX
+;; and verify er-proplist-to-dict returns an SX dict with status=200 and body string.
+(epoch 40)
+(eval "(let ((resp (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"status\") 200)) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"headers\") (er-mk-nil))) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"body\") (er-mk-binary (map char->integer (string->list \"hello\")))))  (er-mk-nil)))))) (let ((d (er-proplist-to-dict resp))) (get d \"status\")))")
+(epoch 41)
+(eval "(let ((resp (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"status\") 200)) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"headers\") (er-mk-nil))) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"body\") (er-mk-binary (map char->integer (string->list \"hello\")))))  (er-mk-nil)))))) (let ((d (er-proplist-to-dict resp))) (get d \"body\")))")
+
+;; --- inverse: nested headers proplist -> nested SX dict ---
+(epoch 42)
+(eval "(let ((hpl (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-binary (map char->integer (string->list \"content-type\"))) (er-mk-binary (map char->integer (string->list \"text/plain\"))))) (er-mk-nil)))) (let ((resp (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"status\") 200)) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"headers\") hpl)) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"body\") (er-mk-binary (map char->integer (string->list \"ok\"))))) (er-mk-nil)))))) (let ((d (er-proplist-to-dict resp))) (let ((h (get d \"headers\"))) (get h \"content-type\")))))")
+
+;; --- round-trip: handler eats a dict via proplist, returns a dict ---
+;; Simulate: request dict -> proplist -> Erlang handler builds reply proplist
+;; -> dict. Verify final dict has the keys the native http-listen expects.
+(epoch 50)
+(eval "(let ((req-dict (dict :method \"GET\" :path \"/echo\" :query \"\" :headers (dict) :body \"\"))) (let ((req-pl (er-request-dict-to-proplist req-dict))) (let ((resp (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"status\") 200)) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"headers\") (er-mk-nil))) (er-mk-cons (er-mk-tuple (list (er-mk-atom \"body\") (er-mk-binary (map char->integer (string->list \"echoed\")))))  (er-mk-nil)))))) (let ((d (er-proplist-to-dict resp))) (get d \"status\"))))) ")
+
+EPOCHS
+
+OUTPUT=$(timeout 60 "$SX_SERVER" < "$TMPFILE" 2>/dev/null)
+
+check() {
+  local epoch="$1" desc="$2" expected="$3"
+  local actual
+  actual=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | awk -v e="$epoch" '
+    $0 ~ "^\\(ok-len " e " " { getline; print; exit }
+    $0 ~ "^\\(ok " e " "     { print; exit }
+    $0 ~ "^\\(error " e " "  { print; exit }
+  ')
+  [ -z "$actual" ] && actual="<no output for epoch $epoch>"
+  if echo "$actual" | grep -qF -- "$expected"; then
+    PASS=$((PASS+1))
+    [ "$VERBOSE" = "-v" ] && echo "  ok $desc"
+  else
+    FAIL=$((FAIL+1))
+    ERRORS+="  FAIL [$desc] (epoch $epoch) expected: $expected | actual: $actual
+"
+  fi
+}
+
+check 10 "er-request-dict-to-proplist defined" "ok"
+check 11 "er-proplist-to-dict defined"        "ok"
+check 20 "request dict -> cons proplist"      "true"
+check 21 "method value is <<\"GET\">>"        "(71 69 84)"
+check 22 "path value as string"               "/activity"
+check 30 "header value reachable as binary"   "text/plain"
+check 40 "response status field = 200"        "200"
+check 41 "response body present as string"    "hello"
+check 42 "nested headers reconstructed dict"  "text/plain"
+check 50 "full round-trip status preserved"   "200"
+
+TOTAL=$((PASS+FAIL))
+if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "ok $PASS/$TOTAL http_marshal tests passed"
+else
+  echo "FAIL $PASS/$TOTAL passed, $FAIL failed:"
+  echo "$ERRORS"
+fi
+[ $FAIL -eq 0 ]

next/tests/http_server_start.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# next/tests/http_server_start.sh — Step 8b-start structural test.
+#
+# `http_server:start/1,2` spawn an Erlang process that blocks in
+# `http:listen/2` forever. In this port's cooperative scheduler,
+# any in-process `erlang-eval-ast` that triggers that spawn hangs
+# the runtime — `er-sched-run-all!` waits for every spawned
+# process to leave the runnable queue before returning to the
+# caller, and the listener never does. So this test verifies the
+# code SHAPE without actually invoking start/1:
+#   * Module loads.
+#   * `start/1` and `start/2` are bound in the module env.
+#   * The dict↔proplist marshaling bridge (the BIF-wrapper hook)
+#     is bound in the runtime env.
+# The live TCP behaviour lands in `next/tests/http_server_tcp.sh`
+# (Step 9a-tcp) via a shell-side curl probe.
+
+set -uo pipefail
+cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+
+SX_SERVER="${SX_SERVER:-hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe}"
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  SX_SERVER="/root/rose-ash/hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe"
+fi
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: sx_server.exe not found." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VERBOSE="${1:-}"
+PASS=0; FAIL=0; ERRORS=""
+TMPFILE=$(mktemp); trap "rm -f $TMPFILE" EXIT
+
+cat > "$TMPFILE" <<'EPOCHS'
+(epoch 1)
+(load "lib/erlang/tokenizer.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-core.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-expr.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-module.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/transpile.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/runtime.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/vm/dispatcher.sx")
+
+(epoch 2)
+(eval "(get (erlang-load-module (file-read \"next/kernel/http_server.erl\")) :name)")
+
+;; --- module is registered ---
+(epoch 10)
+(eval "(let ((m (get (er-modules-get) \"http_server\"))) (cond (= m nil) 'absent :else 'present))")
+
+;; --- start/1 + start/2 are bound (multi-arity stored as a single binding) ---
+(epoch 11)
+(eval "(let ((env (get (get (er-modules-get) \"http_server\") \"current\"))) (cond (= (get env \"start\") nil) 'missing :else 'present))")
+
+;; --- request->proplist marshaler exists in runtime env ---
+(epoch 12)
+(eval "(if (= (type-of er-request-dict-to-proplist) \"lambda\") 'present 'missing)")
+
+;; --- proplist->dict marshaler exists in runtime env ---
+(epoch 13)
+(eval "(if (= (type-of er-proplist-to-dict) \"lambda\") 'present 'missing)")
+
+;; --- http:listen BIF wrapper now routes through the marshalers ---
+;; Probe by registration only (calling listen would block forever).
+(epoch 14)
+(eval "(not (= (er-lookup-bif \"http\" \"listen\" 2) nil))")
+EPOCHS
+
+OUTPUT=$(timeout 30 "$SX_SERVER" < "$TMPFILE" 2>/dev/null)
+
+check() {
+  local epoch="$1" desc="$2" expected="$3"
+  local actual
+  actual=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | awk -v e="$epoch" '
+    $0 ~ "^\\(ok-len " e " " { getline; print; exit }
+    $0 ~ "^\\(ok " e " "     { print; exit }
+    $0 ~ "^\\(error " e " "  { print; exit }
+  ')
+  [ -z "$actual" ] && actual="<no output for epoch $epoch>"
+  if echo "$actual" | grep -qF -- "$expected"; then
+    PASS=$((PASS+1))
+    [ "$VERBOSE" = "-v" ] && echo "  ok $desc"
+  else
+    FAIL=$((FAIL+1))
+    ERRORS+="  FAIL [$desc] (epoch $epoch) expected: $expected | actual: $actual
+"
+  fi
+}
+
+check 2  "http_server module loaded"        "http_server"
+check 10 "module registered"                "present"
+check 11 "start bound in module env"        "present"
+check 12 "request marshaler defined"        "present"
+check 13 "response marshaler defined"       "present"
+check 14 "http:listen BIF registered"       "true"
+
+TOTAL=$((PASS+FAIL))
+if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "ok $PASS/$TOTAL http_server_start tests passed"
+else
+  echo "FAIL $PASS/$TOTAL passed, $FAIL failed:"
+  echo "$ERRORS"
+fi
+[ $FAIL -eq 0 ]

next/tests/http_server_tcp.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# next/tests/http_server_tcp.sh — Step 9a-tcp live TCP smoke test.
+#
+# Boots sx_server in the background with a script that loads
+# http_server.erl and calls http_server:start/1 on a high port,
+# then drives the running server with curl from this shell to
+# verify the request → marshaling → route → marshaling → HTTP
+# response chain end-to-end.
+#
+# Boot timing: ~10s for all `lib/erlang/*.sx` loads + module
+# compile + spawn + Unix.bind. We hold the server's stdin open
+# via `(cat file; sleep 60) | sx_server` so EOF doesn't trigger
+# exit(0) before the listener finishes binding.
+
+set -uo pipefail
+cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+
+SX_SERVER="${SX_SERVER:-hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe}"
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  SX_SERVER="/root/rose-ash/hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe"
+fi
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: sx_server.exe not found." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+PORT=51820
+VERBOSE="${1:-}"
+PASS=0; FAIL=0; ERRORS=""
+
+EPOCH_FILE=$(mktemp)
+LOG_FILE=$(mktemp)
+cleanup() {
+  if [ -n "${SXPID:-}" ]; then
+    kill -KILL "$SXPID" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$SXPID" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+  if [ -n "${HOLDPID:-}" ]; then
+    kill -KILL "$HOLDPID" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$HOLDPID" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+  rm -f "$EPOCH_FILE" "$LOG_FILE"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+cat > "$EPOCH_FILE" <<EPOCHS
+(epoch 1)
+(load "lib/erlang/tokenizer.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-core.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-expr.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/parser-module.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/transpile.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/runtime.sx")
+(load "lib/erlang/vm/dispatcher.sx")
+(epoch 2)
+(eval "(get (erlang-load-module (file-read \"next/kernel/http_server.erl\")) :name)")
+(epoch 3)
+(eval "(erlang-eval-ast \"http_server:start($PORT)\")")
+EPOCHS
+
+# Run sx_server with stdin held open via a long-running background
+# `sleep` so EOF doesn't trigger exit(0) before the listener binds
+# and the test finishes curling. Use a FIFO so we can capture both
+# the holder process's PID and sx_server's PID explicitly — bash
+# only captures the rightmost pipe stage with $!.
+FIFO=$(mktemp -u)
+mkfifo "$FIFO"
+( cat "$EPOCH_FILE"; sleep 120 ) > "$FIFO" &
+HOLDPID=$!
+"$SX_SERVER" < "$FIFO" > "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1 &
+SXPID=$!
+rm -f "$FIFO"  # both ends still hold open via the running procs
+
+# Wait for the listener to bind (up to ~30s — boot takes ~10s).
+BOUND=""
+for i in $(seq 1 60); do
+  if (exec 3<>/dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/$PORT) 2>/dev/null; then
+    exec 3<&-; exec 3>&-
+    BOUND="yes"
+    break
+  fi
+  sleep 0.5
+done
+
+if [ -z "$BOUND" ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: listener never bound on port $PORT"
+  if [ "$VERBOSE" = "-v" ]; then
+    echo "--- sx_server output ---"
+    cat "$LOG_FILE"
+    echo "---"
+  fi
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+check_http() {
+  local desc="$1" method="$2" path="$3" auth="$4" expected_status="$5" expected_body_substr="$6"
+  local args=()
+  args+=(-s -o /tmp/http_body.out -w "%{http_code}")
+  args+=(-X "$method")
+  if [ -n "$auth" ]; then
+    args+=(-H "Authorization: $auth")
+  fi
+  if [ "$method" = "POST" ]; then
+    args+=(-d "")
+  fi
+  args+=("http://127.0.0.1:$PORT$path")
+  local code
+  code=$(curl "${args[@]}" 2>/dev/null || echo "000")
+  local body
+  body=$(cat /tmp/http_body.out 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+  local pass=1
+  if [ "$code" != "$expected_status" ]; then pass=0; fi
+  if [ -n "$expected_body_substr" ] && ! echo "$body" | grep -qF -- "$expected_body_substr"; then pass=0; fi
+  if [ $pass -eq 1 ]; then
+    PASS=$((PASS+1))
+    [ "$VERBOSE" = "-v" ] && echo "  ok $desc ($code)"
+  else
+    FAIL=$((FAIL+1))
+    ERRORS+="  FAIL [$desc] code=$code body=$body
+"
+  fi
+}
+
+check_http "GET / -> 200" GET / "" 200 ""
+check_http "GET capabilities -> 200" GET /.well-known/sx-capabilities "" 200 "kernel:"
+check_http "GET unknown -> 404" GET /no-such-path "" 404 ""
+check_http "POST /activity no bearer -> 401" POST /activity "" 401 ""
+check_http "POST /activity bad bearer -> 401" POST /activity "Bearer wrong" 401 ""
+
+TOTAL=$((PASS+FAIL))
+if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "ok $PASS/$TOTAL http_server_tcp tests passed (port $PORT)"
+else
+  echo "FAIL $PASS/$TOTAL passed, $FAIL failed:"
+  echo "$ERRORS"
+  if [ "$VERBOSE" = "-v" ]; then
+    echo "--- sx_server output (last 30 lines) ---"
+    tail -30 "$LOG_FILE"
+    echo "---"
+  fi
+fi
+[ $FAIL -eq 0 ]