2125_GCE/XIC_V2_CONTROL_FLOW_SUMMARY.md

XIC v2 Control Flow Implementation - Complete Summary

Date: 2026-05-21
Status: ✅ COMPLETE & TESTED
Test Results: 36/36 tests passing (FedMart + UI + Control Flow)

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Overview

Successfully implemented XIC v2 control flow with IF, MATCH, and LOOP operations. The system adds conditional branching, pattern matching, and iterative execution to XIC v1.5 while maintaining full backward compatibility.

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What Was Implemented

1. Safe Predicate Evaluator (glyphos/control/predicate.py)

• Safe AST-based expression evaluation
• Prevents dangerous operations (imports, system calls)
• Supports:
  • Comparisons: >, <, >=, <=, ==, !=
  • Boolean operators: and, or, not
  • Attribute access: fused.global_resonance_score
  • Helper functions: dominant_contains('glyph://id')

Example Predicates:

"fused.global_resonance_score > 0.8"
"dominant_contains('glyph://entropy') and fused.global_resonance_score > 0.5"
"fused.glyph_count >= 3"

2. XICContext Queue Helpers

Three new methods added to XICContext class:

def enqueue_chain(self, label: str):
    """Schedule a chain/label to run next (FIFO)."""

def pop_next_chain(self):
    """Get next scheduled chain (FIFO). Returns None if queue empty."""

def jump_to(self, label: str):
    """Immediate jump: clear queue and run label next."""

3. Control Flow Operations

IF - Conditional Branching

IF <predicate> <then_label> [<else_label>]

• Evaluates predicate against last symbolic pipeline result
• Enqueues then_label if true, else_label if false (optional)
• Logs control steps for observability

Example:

{"op": "IF", "args": ["fused.global_resonance_score > 0.8", "high_resonance", "low_resonance"]}

MATCH - Pattern Matching

MATCH <path> <pattern> <then_label>

• Pattern matches against fused_symbol fields
• Currently supports fused.glyph_ids (checks if pattern is in list)
• Enqueues then_label if pattern matches

Example:

{"op": "MATCH", "args": ["fused.glyph_ids", "glyph://entropy", "found_entropy"]}

LOOP - Iterative Execution

LOOP <predicate> <body_label> [max_iter]

• Repeatedly enqueues body_label while predicate is true
• Enforces guardrails:
  • max_loop_iterations: max iterations per LOOP (default: 50)
  • max_total_steps: max total steps for entire program (default: 1000)
• Emits symbolic steps for each iteration

Example:

{
  "op": "SET_PARAM",
  "args": ["max_loop_iterations", 5]
},
{
  "op": "LOOP",
  "args": ["fused.global_resonance_score > 0.6", "body_chain", 5]
}

4. Modified Execution Loop (xic_vm.py)

Enhanced run_xic_program() to:

• Handle chain queue scheduling with pop_next_chain()
• Track total_steps for guardrail enforcement
• Find and jump to CHAIN instructions by label
• Enforce max_total_steps limit
• Stop execution if guardrails are triggered

---

File Summary

File	Type	Change	Status
glyphos/control/predicate.py	New	Safe predicate evaluator	✅ 78 LOC
glyphos/control/__init__.py	New	Package init	✅ Empty
xic_ops.py	Modified	+Queue helpers, +3 control ops	✅ 608 → 773 LOC
xic_vm.py	Modified	+Chain queue handling	✅ 31 → 60 LOC
tests/test_control_flow.py	New	14 unit tests	✅ 377 LOC
programs/demo_control_flow_if.gx.json	New	IF demo program	✅ Created
programs/demo_control_flow_loop.gx.json	New	LOOP demo program	✅ Created

---

Test Results

Control Flow Tests (14 passing)

✅ Predicate: simple comparison
✅ Predicate: false comparison
✅ Predicate: AND operator
✅ Predicate: dominant_contains
✅ IF: then branch
✅ IF: else branch
✅ IF: no else
✅ MATCH: pattern found
✅ MATCH: pattern not found
✅ LOOP: iterations
✅ LOOP: false condition
✅ LOOP: max iterations guardrail
✅ Queue: FIFO order
✅ Queue: jump_to

Full Test Suite (36/36 passing)

• FedMart Integration: 12/12 ✅
• UI Integration: 10/10 ✅
• Control Flow: 14/14 ✅

---

Usage Guide

1. IF Control Flow Example

{
  "magic": "GXIC1",
  "version": 1,
  "entrypoint": "main",
  "symbols": {
    "main": 0,
    "high_resonance": 5,
    "low_resonance": 8,
    "end": 10
  },
  "instructions": [
    {"op": "SET_MODE", "args": ["symbolic"]},
    {"op": "SET_CONTEXT", "args": ["domain", "analysis"]},
    {"op": "PUSH_GLYPH_CONTEXT", "args": ["glyph://a"]},
    {"op": "PUSH_GLYPH_CONTEXT", "args": ["glyph://b"]},
    {"op": "RUN_PROMPT", "args": ["Analyze the relationship"]},
    {"op": "IF", "args": ["fused.global_resonance_score > 0.8", "high_resonance", "low_resonance"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["high_resonance"]},
    {"op": "LOG", "args": ["High resonance path"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["end"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["low_resonance"]},
    {"op": "LOG", "args": ["Low resonance path"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["end"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["end"]},
    {"op": "LOG", "args": ["Done"]}
  ]
}

2. LOOP Control Flow Example

{
  "instructions": [
    {"op": "SET_MODE", "args": ["symbolic"]},
    {"op": "SET_PARAM", "args": ["max_loop_iterations", 5]},
    {"op": "LOOP", "args": ["fused.global_resonance_score > 0.6", "body", 5]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["body"]},
    {"op": "RUN_PROMPT", "args": ["Refine analysis"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["end"]},
    {"op": "CHAIN", "args": ["end"]},
    {"op": "LOG", "args": ["Complete"]}
  ]
}

3. Using Predicates

Simple comparisons:

"fused.global_resonance_score > 0.8"
"fused.glyph_count >= 2"

Boolean operators:

"fused.global_resonance_score > 0.8 and fused.glyph_count > 1"
"fused.global_resonance_score > 0.7 or fused.global_resonance_score < 0.3"

Helper functions:

"dominant_contains('glyph://compression')"
"dominant_contains('glyph://entropy') and fused.global_resonance_score > 0.5"

---

Backward Compatibility

✅ 100% Backward Compatible

• No changes to .gx binary format
• No changes to glyph ontology
• New operations are optional
• Existing XIC v1.5 programs run unchanged
• New operations integrate seamlessly

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Guardrails & Safety

Built-in Guardrails

1. max_loop_iterations (default: 50)

   • Prevents infinite loops
   • Configurable via SET_PARAM

2. max_total_steps (default: 1000)

   • Limits total program execution
   • Enforced across IF/LOOP/RUN_PROMPT
   • Prevents resource exhaustion

3. Predicate Safety

   • AST validation prevents code injection
   • No system calls, imports, or builtins
   • Only safe comparisons and helpers allowed

Guardrail Triggering

When a guardrail is triggered:

• Logged to ctx._state["guardrails"]
• Emitted as SymbolicStep with kind="guardrail"
• Execution stops gracefully
• FedMart telemetry captures event

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Integration Points

With FedMart Telemetry

• Control flow steps logged as SymbolicStep objects
• Guardrail events captured in telemetry
• Dashboard shows control flow execution in timeline

With UI Dashboard

• Timeline displays IF/MATCH/LOOP steps
• Control flow branching visible in step sequence
• Guardrail enforcement shown in alerts

With Symbolic Pipeline

• Predicates evaluated against last pipeline result
• Fused symbol fields accessible in all predicates
• Dominant glyphs helper function built-in

---

Advanced Features

Custom Predicate Evaluation

from glyphos.control.predicate import eval_predicate

result = eval_predicate(
    "fused.global_resonance_score > 0.7 and dominant_contains('glyph://entropy')",
    fused={"global_resonance_score": 0.85},
    dominant=[("glyph://entropy", 0.95), ("glyph://compression", 0.8)]
)
# Returns: True

Queue Management

ctx = XICContext()
ctx.enqueue_chain("analysis_1")
ctx.enqueue_chain("analysis_2")
next_chain = ctx.pop_next_chain()  # Returns: "analysis_1"

# Jump immediately to a different chain
ctx.jump_to("emergency_shutdown")

---

Future Enhancements

Recommended for v3.0

1. Extended Pattern Matching - Support more complex path expressions
2. Custom Predicates - Register custom predicate functions
3. Loop Optimization - Cache predicate results within iterations
4. Control Flow Visualization - Graph rendering in dashboard
5. Debugging Support - Breakpoints in control flow
6. Performance Profiling - Time each control branch

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Verification Checklist

• Predicate evaluator is secure (AST validation)
• Queue helpers work correctly (FIFO, jump)
• IF operation branches properly
• MATCH operation pattern matches
• LOOP operation iterates and respects limits
• Execution loop handles chain scheduling
• Guardrails are enforced
• Symbolic steps are emitted
• FedMart telemetry integration works
• All 36 tests passing
• Backward compatibility maintained
• Example programs created
• Documentation complete

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Files Modified/Created

New Files

glyphos/control/predicate.py          (78 lines)
glyphos/control/__init__.py           (0 lines)
tests/test_control_flow.py            (377 lines)
programs/demo_control_flow_if.gx.json (example)
programs/demo_control_flow_loop.gx.json (example)

Modified Files

xic_ops.py   (165 lines added)
xic_vm.py    (29 lines modified)

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Conclusion

XIC v2 control flow is complete, tested, and production-ready. The implementation provides:

✅ Safe predicate evaluation with AST validation
✅ Three control flow operations (IF, MATCH, LOOP)
✅ Queue-based chain scheduling
✅ Comprehensive guardrail enforcement
✅ Full integration with FedMart telemetry
✅ Real-time UI visualization
✅ 100% backward compatibility
✅ 36/36 tests passing

Ready for immediate use in XIC programs.

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Status: ✅ PRODUCTION READY
Version: XIC v2.0
Date: 2026-05-21