Maintenance

Authority

spec/ is the sole source for public language, platform, CLI, diagnostic, and editor behavior. Standard-library declarations and declaration documentation belong to module index.nct files; development/std/README.md assigns each longer observable subject to one behavior guide, which must not repeat signatures. Development design documents describe implementation boundaries and work order without restating either public authority. Historical compiler source, superseded implementation documents, tests, binaries, and observed behavior are not inputs for current language or compiler decisions.

Resolving Specification Gaps

Escalate a language decision only when at least two materially different observable behaviors remain consistent after auditing the owning normative section, every cross-reference, and the design principles. Accepted source, observable execution, ABI, CLI behavior, or editor contracts must differ between the alternatives. Internal representation, implementation order, diagnostic wording not fixed by the specification, and consequences mechanically implied by an adopted rule do not require user confirmation.

Before escalating, derive everything the current specification determines and continue the audit without asking. Do not ask the user merely to confirm a recommendation. Closely coupled consequences of one semantic choice belong to that one decision rather than a series of follow-up questions.

When two observable behaviors still remain consistent with the current text:

1. 1. stop implementation in the affected area
2. cite the incomplete or conflicting specification sections
3. write a minimal source example that distinguishes the alternatives
4. compare concrete consequences and recommend one choice
5. ask the user to decide
6. update the owning specification chapter in English
7. derive conformance cases from the adopted rule

Do not preserve unresolved alternatives as compiler modes or fallback behavior.

Commits

• Commit specification decisions separately from their implementation when practical.
• Keep one authority replacement coherent; do not commit a new authority while retaining an undocumented old path.
• Do not use passing tests as the only phase-completion evidence.
• Run an adversarial audit for duplicate producers, reverse lookup, order dependence, and hidden compatibility before marking a phase complete.

Verification

node development/site/build-docs.js
git diff --check

Active compiler commands belong in development/compiler/README.md. Specification-only changes still run the documentation and repository checks above; implementation changes also run the narrowest authoritative compiler test and the complete workspace gate before a phase closes.

Documentation

Public-facing documentation is written in English. Edit source Markdown and regenerate generated HTML with node development/site/build-docs.js. Root documentation remains user-facing; compiler-development material remains under development/.