08 MG Grammar

📐 Memory Grammar (MG) — Quick Reference

Annotation-based DSL for structured memory files.
Every annotation starts with @. Every operator has exactly one meaning.

_{See also: Memory Schema}

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· ⚙️ Operators

Operator	Name	Meaning	Arity
:=	Bind	Assigns value to name	Binary
->	Relate	Directed relationship	Binary
=>	Transition	State change (from => to)	Binary
>>	Sequence	Ordered steps (A then B)	Binary
|	Union	List of alternatives	Binary
|>	Pipe	Scoped continuation	Unary

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· 📌 Annotations by Category

· 🆔 Identity

Annotation	Values	Example
@type	project user feedback reference	@type project
@domain	Registered values from grammar/registries/domains.md	@domain ai-governance | governance
@owner	Registered values from grammar/registries/owners.md	@owner jay-baleine

· 🏷️ Classification

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@tag	Searchable terms	@tag schema | validation | frontmatter
@scope	Visibility scope	@scope session

· 🔄 Lifecycle

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@state	Current state or transition	@state active or @state draft => active
@verified	Last verification date	@verified 2026-04-02
@version	Content version	@version 3
@stale	Days until stale (-1 = never)	@stale 14 or @stale never

· 📝 Content

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@context	Situation or transition	@context "migration in progress"
@decided	Named decision	@decided architecture := "event-driven"
@rule	Behavioral rule	@rule "always validate before write"
@note	Free-form note	@note "revisit after Phase 2"

· 🔗 Relations

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@depends	File dependencies	@depends schema -> grammar
@supersedes	File this replaced	@supersedes old-file
@next	Ordered sequence	@next phase-1 >> phase-2 >> phase-3
@blocks	Blocking dependency	@blocks deployment -> testing

· 📁 Files

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@created	File created	@created src/new-module.js
@modified	File modified	@modified src/config.js
@removed	File removed	@removed src/deprecated.js

· 🔔 Notify

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@notify	Alert owner with pipeline	@notify jay-baleine |> @load schema.md |> @rule "validate"

· 🛡️ Constraints

Annotation	Purpose	Example
@max	Line budget	@max 150
@require	Required dependency	@require auth-module
@forbid	Prohibited content	@forbid "hardcoded credentials"

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· 📋 Type Profiles

Each @type constrains which annotations are valid.

Type	Required	Optional	Enforced
project	@domain, @owner, @state, @verified, @version, @stale	@tag, @context, @decided, @next, @depends, @supersedes, @created, @modified, @removed, @notify, @max, @note	—
feedback	@domain, @owner, @verified, @version	@tag, @rule, @context, @depends, @note	@stale never
user	@domain, @owner, @verified, @version	@tag, @scope, @context, @note	@stale >= 90
reference	@domain, @owner, @verified, @version	@tag, @context, @depends, @note, @max	@state, @next, @notify, @created, @modified, @removed FORBIDDEN

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· 🔍 Disambiguation Rules

1. Every line starts with @ or |>. No other line start is valid.
2. -> is always a directed relationship. Never a transition.
3. => is always a state transition. Only after @state.
4. >> is always an ordered sequence. Only after @next.
5. | is always union. Only in @domain and @tag lists.
6. |> is always pipe-forward. Only in @notify chains.
7. := is always value binding. Only in @decided and named @rule.
8. Quoted strings are free text. Bare words are identifiers or paths.

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· 🖥️ Compiler

node grammar/compiler/mg-compile.js --validate
node grammar/compiler/mg-compile.js --validate --compiled-index
node grammar/compiler/mg-compile.js --validate --json

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_{Source: Memory governance in the repository}