WalkLang Standard Platform

Status: CLI standard-platform slice implemented for walktop; future platform areas remain planned.

WalkLang is intended to become a general use language and personal foundation language for the owner's projects. The product shape is one language with one official standard platform, kept in one monorepo and verified through one release gate.

This document records the standard platform model. The first CLI slice is implemented through walktop; future platform areas remain planned until their own proof slices ship.

Platform Model

WalkLang should grow through a small explicit core plus a standard platform. The standard platform is organized around user-facing capability areas instead of backend-shaped implementation buckets.

Initial capability areas:

CLI
TUI
database
web app
desktop app
game
automation

Official standard platform areas stay in this monorepo. They are not separate official repos, independently versioned packages, or disconnected plugins.

Proof Parity

Every official standard platform area needs the same discipline as core language work:

spec or design doc
source docs
positive tests
negative tests when invalid forms matter
fixture mode for host-dependent behavior
generated reference docs when APIs are exposed
native build or runtime proof
release/install proof when tools are shipped
status and release-note updates

Draft means the API may change. It does not mean untested, undocumented, or half-wired.

First Area: CLI

The first standard platform area is CLI. CLI is the best first area because it already exercises the current draft process, file, terminal, parse, and IO surface without requiring web, database, desktop, game, or full TUI runtime commitments.

The CLI area should prove:

arguments
environment access
configuration
file IO
process execution
terminal-safe output
color-forward output with plain fallback
deterministic tests
docs and install flow

First Tool: walktop

walktop is the first CLI proof app and an official standalone WalkLang tool. It is a small system monitor, similar in spirit to a tiny htop or btop, but it stays in CLI scope. It does not require live keyboard input or commit WalkLang to a full TUI framework.

walktop source lives at:

tools/walktop/
  README.md
  walk.toml
  src/main.walk
  src/walktop.walk
  tests/main_test.walk
  testdata/basic/

walktop is built from WalkLang source into a standalone native command and installed by the normal local install flow after it passes the release gate. In the systems compiler port, that standard install and release path builds walktop through the C++ compiler candidate.

walktop v0 Scope

Minimum command surface:

walktop --once
walktop --frames 5
walktop --fixture tools/walktop/testdata/basic

Minimum display:

title and version
OS label
CPU or load bar
memory bar
disk bar
process count
spinner or frame counter
clear warning/error row when data is missing

Quality bar:

compact dashboard
aligned metric rows
stable-width bars
intentional color on capable terminals
plain deterministic output for NO_COLOR, redirected output, and tests
no raw command output
no noisy ASCII art
no placeholder/debug layout

Data Source

walktop gathers data by calling existing OS commands through WalkLang process APIs and parsing text output. This proves CLI capability before adding a dedicated WalkLang system module.

Live mode may call real OS commands. Tests must use fixture mode so parsing, rendering, animation frames, failure paths, and fallback output do not depend on the current machine's CPU, memory, disk, or process state.

Terminal Styling

walktop uses WalkLang terminal APIs for color, style, clear, and cursor behavior wherever possible. Raw ANSI strings should not be used as an app-local shortcut.

If walktop needs a small missing terminal primitive to meet the release-quality bar, add that primitive through the normal proof loop. Do not build a broad TUI framework in the CLI slice.

Implemented Slice

The first implementation slice shipped:

• tools/walktop/ as a real WalkLang project.
• walktop --once, walktop --frames 5, and walktop --fixture tools/walktop/testdata/basic.
• Fixture-mode tests for parse, render, argument, and warning behavior.
• End-to-end native build/run proof for walktop --once --fixture ....
• Install and release scripts that build walktop from WalkLang source through the C++ compiler candidate.
• Docs, generated docs, status, and release notes for the shipped slice.

No new terminal primitive was required for this slice.