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type: adr id: 0054-drop-compiler-vocabulary status: accepted created: 2026-06-07 updated: 2026-06-07 supersedes: superseded_by:

ADR-0054: Drop the residual compiler vocabulary (complete the de-cosplay)

Context

An earlier de-cosplay sweep dropped the product-noun "compiler" framing ("specification compiler", "agents-as-compiler") but kept precise-seeming internal terms: the artifact class label "compiler-visible", the structured-form provenance fields compiler_version / compiled_at, the conformance tier "corpus-compilable", and assorted "compile" metaphors. An adversarial skeptic review of the whole repo found these residuals sitting on the most-read contract pages (≈42 "compiler-visible" + ~60 "compiler" occurrences) — in direct tension with the understated positioning (ADR-0053 §4 bans "compiler" as a public term) and with Invariant 1 (NO RUNTIME): there is no compiler. Telling adopters "corpus is not a compiler" while the artifact catalogue they copy verbatim still classifies files as "compiler-visible" and stamps a compiler_version field is dishonest framing.

Decision

Remove the residual compiler vocabulary completely from reader-facing content (the immutable ADR bodies keep theirs as history):

• Artifact class label: "compiler-visible" → "corpus-format". The spec.md naming marks corpus's parse/emit format; a conformant tool (never corpus itself) parses or emits it. ("corpus-parsed" phrasing → "parsed", for the same NO-RUNTIME reason.)
• Structured-form provenance fields: compiler_version → tool_version, compiled_at → emitted_at. This is a schema contract change. It is safe because the structured form ships no emitter or consumer (Invariant 1): the schema, the three golden-corpus fixtures, and the worked examples are renamed together in this change, and no deployed tool reads the old names.
• Conformance tier: "corpus-compilable" → "lowerable". The lower step name is kept; the tier means an approved spec can be lowered into tasks deterministically.
• Incidental "compile" metaphors: "must compile" → "must lower cleanly"; "lint/compile findings" → "lint findings"; "compiled into tasks/the graph" → "lowered into …".
• KEPT (not corpus-as-compiler roleplay): the lower step name, the *.ir.json / *.plan.json reserved filenames, and genuine references to other ecosystems' compilers (the C# LangVersion analogy in versioning.md; the adopter's own code compiler in the code-migration skills).

This completes the de-cosplay and enforces ADR-0053 §4 and Invariant 1 in the contract layer, not just the on-ramp. It changes no closed set, the SOL grammar, the nine steps, or the verdict model; the only contract change is the two renamed structured-form provenance field names.

Alternatives considered

Alternative	Why rejected
Keep "compiler-visible" / compiler_version as precise internal terms (the earlier de-cosplay's choice)	The skeptic audit showed they read as "corpus is a compiler" on the most-copied contract pages, undercutting ADR-0053 §4 and contradicting NO RUNTIME. "Internal" terms that ship in the artifact catalogue an adopter copies are not internal.
Rename the reader-facing label but keep the schema field	compiler_version is the same roleplay, in the contract instance an adopter copies verbatim. Half-honest is the dishonesty the audit flagged.
Rename the *.ir.json filename too	Out of scope: the filename is a stable reserved contract name (kept by the prior de-cosplay) and contains no "compiler" token.

Consequences

• Positive: one honest, consistent vocabulary; the NO-RUNTIME framing now holds in the contract layer, not only the pitch; ADR-0053's overclaim ban is enforceable against the artifact pages.
• Negative: a reserved-schema-field rename touching the schema + 3 fixtures + 3 examples — coordinated in this one change; cheap because no shipped tool consumes the field.
• Neutral: no closed set, grammar, step, or verdict change.

Status

Accepted (v0.1). The vocabulary sweep + the schema-field rename + the fixture/example updates are this change.

Affected obligations / constraints

• Enforces: 0053 §4 (overclaim ban) and Invariant 1 (NO RUNTIME) in the contract layer.
• Grounded by: the skeptic adversarial audit (this session).
• Contract change: the structured-form provenance fields tool_version (was compiler_version) and emitted_at (was compiled_at).
• Does NOT change: any closed set, the SOL grammar, the nine steps, the verdicts, or the artifact set.

Ledger note (2026-06-11): refined by ADR-0057, ADR-0059.

Ledger note (2026-06-12): register sweep completed at the tree level by ADR-0070 (conformance/ → checks/).