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mk: phase 5A — conda, soft-cut without onceo
conda-try mirrors condu-try but on the chosen clause it (mk-bind
(head-goal s) (rest-conj)) — all head answers flow through. condu by
contrast applies rest-conj to (first peek), keeping only one head
answer.

7 new tests covering: first-non-failing-wins, skip-failing-head, all-fail,
no-clauses, the conda-vs-condu divergence (`(1 2)` vs `(1)`), rest-goals
running on every head answer, and the soft-cut no-fallthrough property.

169/169 cumulative.
2026-05-07 21:51:52 +00:00

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# miniKanren-on-SX: relational programming on the CEK/VM
miniKanren is not a language to parse — it is an **embedded DSL** implemented as a library
of SX functions. No tokenizer, no transpiler. The entire system is a set of `define` forms
in `lib/minikanren/`. Programs are SX expressions using the miniKanren API.
The unique angle: SX's delimited continuation machinery (`perform`/`cek-resume`, call/cc)
maps almost perfectly to the search monad miniKanren needs. Backtracking is cooperative
suspension, not a separate trail machine. This is the cleanest possible host for miniKanren.
End-state goal: **full core miniKanren** (`run`, `fresh`, `==`, `conde`, `condu`, `onceo`,
`project`, `matche`) + **core.logic-style relations** (`appendo`, `membero`, `listo`,
`numbero`, etc.) + **arithmetic constraints** (`fd` domain, `CLP(FD)` subset).
## Ground rules
- **Scope:** only touch `lib/minikanren/**` and `plans/minikanren-on-sx.md`. Do **not**
edit `spec/`, `hosts/`, `shared/`, or other `lib/<lang>/`.
- **Shared-file issues** go under "Blockers" below with a minimal repro; do not fix here.
- **SX files:** use `sx-tree` MCP tools only.
- **Architecture:** pure library — no source parser. Programs are written in SX using the API.
- **Reference:** *The Reasoned Schemer* (Friedman/Byrd/Kiselyov) + Byrd's dissertation.
- **Commits:** one feature per commit. Keep `## Progress log` updated and tick boxes.
## Architecture sketch
```
SX program using miniKanren API
├── lib/minikanren/unify.sx — terms, variables, walk, unification, occurs check
├── lib/minikanren/substitution.sx — substitution as association list / hash table
├── lib/minikanren/stream.sx — lazy streams of substitutions (via delay/force)
├── lib/minikanren/goals.sx — == / fresh / conde / condu / onceo / project / matche
├── lib/minikanren/run.sx — run* / run n — drive the search, extract answers
├── lib/minikanren/relations.sx — standard relations: appendo, membero, listo, etc.
└── lib/minikanren/clpfd.sx — arithmetic constraints (CLP(FD) subset)
```
Key semantic mappings:
- **Logic variable** → SX vector of length 1 (mutable box); `make-var` creates fresh one;
`walk` follows the substitution chain
- **Substitution** → SX association list (or hash table for performance) mapping var → term
- **Stream of substitutions** → lazy list using `delay`/`force` (Phase 9 of primitives)
- **Goal** → SX function `substitution → stream-of-substitutions`
- **`==`** → unifies two terms, extending substitution or failing (empty stream)
- **`fresh`** → introduces new logic variables; `(fresh (x y) goal)` → goal with x, y bound
- **`conde`** → interleave streams from multiple goal clauses (depth-first with interleaving)
- **`run n`** → drive the stream, collect first n substitutions, reify answers
## Roadmap
### Phase 1 — variables + unification
- [x] `make-var` → fresh logic variable (unique mutable box)
- [x] `var?` `v` → bool — is this a logic variable?
- [x] `walk` `term` `subst` → follow substitution chain to ground term or unbound var
- [x] `walk*` `term` `subst` → deep walk (recurse into lists/dicts)
- [x] `unify` `u` `v` `subst` → extended substitution or `#f` (failure)
Handles: var/var, var/term, term/var, list unification, number/string/symbol equality.
No occurs check by default; `unify-check` with occurs check as opt-in.
- [x] Empty substitution `empty-s` (dict-based via kit's `empty-subst` — assoc list was a sketch; kit ships dict, kept it)
- [x] Tests in `lib/minikanren/tests/unify.sx`: ground terms, vars, lists, failure, occurs
### Phase 2 — streams + goals
- [x] Stream type: `mzero` (empty), `unit s` (singleton), `mk-mplus` (interleave),
`mk-bind` (apply goal to stream). Names mk-prefixed because SX has a host
`bind` primitive that silently shadows user defines.
- [x] Lazy streams via thunks: a paused stream is a zero-arg fn; mk-mplus suspends
and swaps when its left operand is paused, giving fair interleaving.
- [x] `==` goal: `(fn (s) (let ((s2 (mk-unify u v s))) (if s2 (unit s2) mzero)))`
- [x] `==-check` — opt-in occurs-checked equality goal
- [x] `succeed` / `fail` — trivial goals
- [x] `conj2` / `mk-conj` (variadic) — sequential conjunction
- [x] `disj2` / `mk-disj` (variadic) — interleaved disjunction (raw — `conde`
adds the implicit-conj-per-clause sugar later)
- [x] `fresh` — introduces logic variables inside a goal body. Implemented as a
defmacro: `(fresh (x y) g1 g2 ...)``(let ((x (make-var)) (y (make-var)))
(mk-conj g1 g2 ...))`. Also `call-fresh` for programmatic goal building.
- [x] `conde` — sugar over disj+conj, one row per clause; defmacro that
wraps each clause body in `mk-conj` and folds via `mk-disj`. Notes:
with eager streams ordering is left-clause-first DFS; true interleaving
requires paused thunks (Phase 4 recursive relations).
- [x] `condu` — committed choice. defmacro folding clauses into a runtime
`condu-try` walker; first clause whose head goal yields a non-empty
stream commits its first answer, rest-goals run on that single subst.
- [x] `onceo``(stream-take 1 (g s))`; trims a goal's stream to ≤1 answer.
- [x] Tests: basic goal composition, backtracking, interleaving (110 cumulative)
### Phase 3 — run + reification
- [x] `run*` `goal` → list of all answers (reified). defmacro: bind q-name as
fresh var, conj goals, take all from stream, reify each.
- [x] `run n` `goal` → list of first n answers (defmacro; n = -1 means all)
- [x] `reify` `term` `subst` → walk* + build reification subst + walk* again
- [x] `reify-s` → maps each unbound var (in left-to-right walk order) to a
`_.N` symbol via `(make-symbol (str "_." n))`
- [x] `fresh` with multiple variables — already shipped Phase 2B.
- [x] Query variable conventions: `q` as canonical query variable (matches TRS)
- [x] Tests: classic miniKanren programs — `(run* q (== q 1))``(1)`,
`(run* q (conde ((== q 1)) ((== q 2))))``(1 2)`,
`(run* q (fresh (x y) (== q (list x y))))``((_.0 _.1))`. Peano +
`appendo` deferred to Phase 4.
### Phase 4 — standard relations
- [x] `appendo` `l` `s` `ls` — list append, runs forwards AND backwards.
Canary green: `(run* q (appendo (1 2) (3 4) q))``((1 2 3 4))`;
`(run* q (fresh (l s) (appendo l s (1 2 3)) (== q (list l s))))`
all four splits.
- [x] `membero` `x` `l` — enumerates: `(run* q (membero q (a b c)))``(a b c)`
- [x] `listo` `l` — l is a proper list; enumerates list shapes with laziness
- [x] `nullo` `l` — l is empty
- [x] `pairo` `p` — p is a (non-empty) cons-cell / list
- [x] `caro` / `cdro` / `conso` / `firsto` / `resto`
- [x] `reverseo` `l` `r` — reverse of list. Forward is fast; backward is `run 1`-clean,
`run*` diverges due to interleaved unbounded list search (canonical TRS issue).
- [ ] `flatteno` `l` `f` — flatten nested lists (deferred — needs atom predicate)
- [ ] `permuteo` `l` `p` — permutation of list (deferred to Phase 5 with `matche`)
- [x] `lengtho` `l` `n` — length as a relation, Peano-encoded:
`:z` / `(:s :z)` / `(:s (:s :z))` ... matches TRS. Forward is direct;
backward enumerates lists of a given length.
- [x] Tests: run each relation forwards and backwards (so far 25 in
`tests/relations.sx`; reverseo/flatteno/permuteo/lengtho deferred)
### Phase 5 — `project` + `matche` + negation
- [ ] `project` `(x ...) body` — access reified values of logic vars inside a goal;
escapes to ground values for arithmetic or string ops
- [ ] `matche` — pattern matching over logic terms (extension from core.logic)
`(matche l ((head . tail) goal) (() goal))`
- [x] `conda` — soft-cut: first non-failing head wins; ALL of head's answers
flow through rest-goals; later clauses not tried (`Phase 5 piece A`)
- [x] `condu` — committed choice (Phase 2)
- [ ] `nafc` — negation as finite failure with constraint
- [ ] Tests: Zebra puzzle, N-queens, Sudoku via `project`, family relations via `matche`
### Phase 6 — arithmetic constraints CLP(FD)
- [ ] Finite domain variables: `fd-var` with domain `[lo..hi]`
- [ ] `in` `x` `domain` — constrain x to domain
- [ ] `fd-eq` `x` `y` — x = y (constraint propagation)
- [ ] `fd-neq` `x` `y` — x ≠ y
- [ ] `fd-lt` `fd-lte` `fd-gt` `fd-gte` — ordering constraints
- [ ] `fd-plus` `x` `y` `z` — x + y = z (constraint)
- [ ] `fd-times` `x` `y` `z` — x * y = z
- [ ] Arc consistency propagation — when domain narrows, propagate to constrained vars
- [ ] Labelling: `fd-run` drives search by splitting domains when propagation stalls
- [ ] Tests: send-more-money, N-queens with CLP(FD), map coloring, cryptarithmetic
### Phase 7 — tabling (memoization of relations)
- [ ] `tabled` annotation: memoize calls to a relation using a hash table
- [ ] Prevents infinite loops in recursive relations like `patho` on cyclic graphs
- [ ] Producer/consumer scheduling for tabled relations (variant of SLG resolution)
- [ ] Tests: cyclic graph reachability, mutual recursion, Fibonacci via tabling
## Blockers
_(none yet)_
## Progress log
_Newest first._
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 5 piece A — conda**: soft-cut. Mirrors `condu` minus
the `onceo` on the head: all head answers are conjuncted through the rest of
the chosen clause. 7 new tests including the conda-vs-condu divergence test.
169/169 cumulative.
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 4 piece B — reverseo + lengtho**: reverseo runs forward
cleanly and `run 1`-cleanly backward; lengtho uses Peano-encoded lengths so it
works as a true relation in both directions (tests use the encoding directly).
10 new tests, 162/162 cumulative.
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 4 piece A — appendo canary green**: cons-cell support
in `unify.sx` + `(:s head tail)` lazy stream refactor in `stream.sx` + hygienic
`Zzz` (gensym'd subst-name) wrapping each `conde` clause + `lib/minikanren/
relations.sx` with `nullo` / `pairo` / `caro` / `cdro` / `conso` / `firsto` /
`resto` / `listo` / `appendo` / `membero`. 25 new tests in `tests/relations.sx`,
152/152 cumulative.
- **Three deep fixes shipped together**, all required to make `appendo`
terminate in both directions:
1. SX has no improper pairs, so a stream cell of mature subst + thunk
tail can't use `cons` — moved to a `(:s head tail)` tagged shape.
2. `(Zzz g)` wrapped its inner fn in a parameter named `s`, capturing
the user goal's own `s` binding (the `(appendo l s ls)` convention).
Replaced with `(gensym "zzz-s-")` for hygiene.
3. SX cons cells `(:cons h t)` for relational decomposition (so
`(conso a d l)` can split a list by head/tail without proper
improper pairs); `mk-walk*` re-flattens cons cells back to native
lists for clean reification output.
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 3 done** (run + reification): `lib/minikanren/run.sx` (~28 lines).
`reify`/`reify-s`/`reify-name` for canonical `_.N` rendering of unbound vars in
left-to-right occurrence order; `run*` / `run` / `run-n` defmacros. 18 new tests
in `tests/run.sx`, including the **first classic miniKanren tests green**:
`(run* q (== q 1))``(1)`; `(run* q (fresh (x y) (== q (list x y))))`
`((_.0 _.1))`. 128/128 cumulative.
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 2 piece D + done** (`condu` / `onceo`): `lib/minikanren/condu.sx`.
Both are commitment forms: `onceo` is `(stream-take 1 ...)`; `condu` walks clauses
and commits the first one whose head produces an answer. 10 tests in `tests/condu.sx`,
110/110 cumulative. Phase 2 complete — ready for Phase 3 (run + reification).
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 2 piece C** (`conde`): `lib/minikanren/conde.sx` — single
defmacro folding clauses through `mk-disj` with internal `mk-conj`. 9 tests in
`tests/conde.sx`, 100/100 cumulative. Confirmed eager DFS ordering for ==-only
streams; true interleaving is a Phase 4 concern (paused thunks under recursion).
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 2 piece B** (`fresh`): `lib/minikanren/fresh.sx` (~10 lines).
defmacro form for nice user-facing syntax + `call-fresh` for programmatic use.
9 new tests in `tests/fresh.sx`, 91/91 cumulative.
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 2 piece A** (streams + ==/conj/disj): `lib/minikanren/stream.sx`
(mzero/unit/mk-mplus/mk-bind/stream-take, ~25 lines of code) + `lib/minikanren/goals.sx`
(succeed/fail/==/==-check/conj2/disj2/mk-conj/mk-disj, ~30 lines). Found and noted
a host-primitive name clash: `bind` is built in and silently shadows user defines —
must use `mk-bind`/`mk-mplus` etc. throughout. 34 tests in `tests/goals.sx`,
82/82 cumulative all green. fresh/conde/condu/onceo still pending.
- **2026-05-07** — **Phase 1 done**: `lib/minikanren/unify.sx` (53 lines, ~22 lines of actual code) +
`lib/minikanren/tests/unify.sx` (48 tests, all green). Kit consumption: `walk-with`,
`unify-with`, `occurs-with`, `extend`, `empty-subst`, `mk-var`, `is-var?`, `var-name`
all supplied by `lib/guest/match.sx`. Local additions: a miniKanren-flavoured cfg
(treats native SX lists as cons-pairs via `:ctor-head = :pair`, occurs-check off),
`make-var` fresh-counter, deep `mk-walk*` (kit's `walk*` only recurses into `:ctor`
form, not native lists), and `mk-unify` / `mk-unify-check` thin wrappers. The kit
earns its keep ~3× over by line count — confirms lib-guest match kit is reusable
for logic-language hosts as designed.