writeonce/docs/superpowers/plans/2026-08-18-inferred-gc-mark-sweep.md

Inferred GC + incremental mark-sweep — implementation plan

Status: COMPLETE (2026-08-18) — all phases landed on branch inferred-gc; just oop-accept fully green. Deviations from the plan as written, recorded honestly: (1) Phase 2 landed in two slices (2a inference-first is_gc_class, 2b demand promotion) and the @gc-keyword removal moved AHEAD of Phase 3 once the test helpers ran inference; (2) the collector is snapshot-at-beginning — roots scanned atomically at cycle start — rather than per-slice re-reads, which is what makes the pure Yuasa deletion barrier sufficient; (3) sweep is budgeted too (a resumable cursor), which is what keeps the budget-steps fixture's trace shape; (4) the barrier fixture lives in runtime/test/test_cycle.c (unit level) rather than the corpus — the corpus gc fixtures kept their existing traces unchanged; (5) no --dump-gc golden fixture was added — the classification was verified live against gc-cycle/employee/borrow-escape and the SCC unit cases ride the existing suites; (6) Phase 2's "runs on today's Bacon–Rajan collector" deliverable was unreachable: the RC runtime's unconditional RC_DEC of a nil old ?Node field value trapped, so the ring first RAN under the Phase-3 collector (whose no-RC design deletes that trap).

For agentic workers: use superpowers:executing-plans (inline) or subagent-driven-development. Steps are checkboxes. Per repo rule, this plan carries actions in words + verification commands, no code blocks — the design detail lives in the spec, which travels with this plan.

Goal: Replace developer-annotated @gc + reference counting with compiler-inferred GC-ness and an incremental per-shard tri-color mark-sweep collector, so the developer writes no memory annotations and the whole @gc-RC bug class is deleted by construction.

Architecture: A new compiler pass classifies each class owned or gc (structural SCC over the class-reference graph + demand promotion from the ownership pass), feeding the single existing seam Types.is_gc_class. The runtime retires RC + the Bacon–Rajan trial-deletion collector and grows a per-shard traced object list swept by a tri-color marker with a Yuasa deletion barrier; the 16-byte object header is repurposed (rc+borrow → sweep-list link), so nothing grows.

Tech stack: OCaml stdlib only (compiler, no opam); C11 + libc only (runtime); dune + make + just; golden + corpus + ASan gates.

Spec: ../specs/2026-08-11-inferred-gc-mark-sweep-design.md (read it — every task argues from it). Worked example + diagrams: ../../examples/gc-cycle/README.md.

Global Constraints

• OCaml stdlib only; no Menhir/ppx/opam. C11, libc only, direct syscalls.
• The object header stays exactly 16 bytes (_Static_assert(sizeof(wo_hdr)==16) must survive).
• ref B is an id (Copy) and creates no class-graph edge — never traced by structure.
• Land inference and the collector together as one coherent change set (dropping @gc without replacing RC re-opens the exact bug class it caused). Phases below may commit incrementally, but the branch is not "done" until the collector is in and RC is gone.
• Every GC-ness promotion is reported (a note); @gc in source becomes a diagnostic, never silently accepted.
• Collection is per-shard; no global stop-the-world, no cross-shard tracing, non-moving (no compaction).
• Verification gates, unchanged in name: just woc-test, just wovm-test, just oop-e2e, just oop-accept; goldens re-blessed with WOC_BLESS=1 dune runtest --root compiler.

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Phase 1 — Inference pass, additive (no emit/runtime change)

Deliverable: woc --dump-gc <path> prints the classification; no emitted bytecode, golden, or runtime behavior changes yet (field kinds still derive from the annotation, so existing goldens are untouched). Lowest-risk landing.

Task 1.1 — class-reference graph + Tarjan SCC (compiler/src/gcinfer.ml)

Files: Create compiler/src/gcinfer.ml; Modify compiler/src/dune (add gcinfer to modules).

• Build a directed graph over class names: edge A → B when A has a field whose resolved type is B, ?B, multi B, map<B,_>, or map<_,B> (unwrap Nullable). ref B contributes no edge. Read fields from Ast class decls; resolve names via the symbol table types.ml already builds.
• Run Tarjan's SCC (hand-written, stdlib only). Classify a class traced iff it is in a non-trivial SCC or has a self-loop; else owned. Expose Gcinfer.classify : <syms/classes> -> result returning the traced-name set plus, per traced class, the reason (a cycle path for the note).
• Verify with a tiny OCaml unit in compiler/test (or the existing runner) over: self-loop (Node.next: ?Node), mutual recursion (A.b:B, B.a:A), multi Self, map<_,Self>, and the ref T-creates-no-edge case. Run just woc-test; expected PASS.
• Commit.

Task 1.2 — --dump-gc mode + golden

Files: Modify compiler/bin/main.ml (argv dispatch + usage), compiler/src/dump.ml (renderer). Test: new golden under compiler/test/golden/.

• Add a --dump-gc <path> mode: run lex→parse→types, call Gcinfer.classify, print one Name<pad>owned|gc<pad>(reason) line per class in declaration order (the spec's --dump-gc artifact shape). Reason is the cycle path for structural, empty for owned.
• Add the usage line and the mode to the dispatch match (beside --dump-owner).
• Add a golden fixture: run --dump-gc over docs/examples/gc-cycle (expect Node gc (cycle Node -> Node), Segment owned) and over the pricing corpus subset. Bless with WOC_BLESS=1.
• Run just woc-test; expected PASS, and existing goldens unchanged (no emit path touched). Commit.

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Phase 2 — Demand promotion + rewire field kinds to the inferred set (still on RC runtime)

Deliverable: field GCREF-ness and owner exemptions derive from inference, not the annotation; @gc in source is an error; the gc-cycle sample compiles and runs on today's Bacon–Rajan collector. Goldens re-blessed. This proves the front-end end to end before the collector swap.

Task 2.1 — demand half (promotion from ownership escapes)

Files: Modify compiler/src/gcinfer.ml, compiler/src/owner.ml (add a collect-promotions mode).

• Add a mode to the ownership pass that, instead of emitting WO-E304/long-lived-alias errors, records the offending class. Gcinfer runs owner in this mode, unions the recorded classes into the traced set, and re-runs — terminating because the set only grows (bounded by class count). Each demand promotion carries its escape-site note.
• Verify: a PriceCache-shaped fixture (acyclic, aliased) classifies gc (alias escape, …) via --dump-gc. just woc-test PASS. Commit.

Task 2.2 — inference is the source of GC-ness; annotation errors

Files: Modify compiler/src/types.ml (is_gc_class reads the inferred set), compiler/src/parser.ml (@gc arm → diagnostic), compiler/src/dump.ml (stop rendering @gc), compiler/src/emit.ml/disasm.ml (class-flag provenance only; bit unchanged). Error: new WO-E1xx in docs/plan/oop-vm/01-error-catalog.md.

• Thread the inferred traced-set into the typing context so Types.is_gc_class answers from it. Field-kind derivation (→ WO_K_GCREF) and every owner.ml exemption then follow with no further change (that is the seam).
• Turn the parser's @gc acceptance into a WO-E1xx diagnostic pointing at inference + --dump-gc. Update the error catalog.
• Re-bless every golden that rendered @gc, flags=gc, or a changed GCREF field kind (WOC_BLESS=1). Convert the gc/ corpus fixtures to drop @gc from source (they rely on inference now).
• Verify: docs/examples/gc-cycle now emits (no WO-E301 — traced classes alias freely) and runs on the current runtime, printing ring a -> b -> c -> a. just woc-test, just oop-e2e PASS. Commit.

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Phase 3 — Runtime collector swap (the coherent landing)

Deliverable: RC and trial deletion are gone; the incremental tri-color mark-sweep with the Yuasa barrier reclaims cycles; .wob version bumped. This is the largest phase and lands with Phase 2's front-end.

Task 3.1 — header rewrite + per-shard traced list

Files: Modify runtime/src/wob.h (wo_hdr), runtime/src/obj.h (wo_rt list head + wo_obj_new links traced objects), runtime/src/gc.{c,h}.

• Repurpose the header: retire rc and (for traced objects) borrow; give those 8 contiguous bytes to a 64-bit intrusive sweep-list link. Keep colors in the existing WO_F_COLOR bits. The _Static_assert(sizeof(wo_hdr)==16) must still hold.
• wo_rt gains a traced-list head; wo_obj_new links a traced-class instance (class-flag bit set) in as white. Sweep recovers size via wo_obj_size (class table). Retire cycbuf and WO_F_BUF.
• Verify build both dispatch flavors: just wovm-build + make -C runtime test test-iso. Commit.

Task 3.2 — tri-color incremental mark + Yuasa barrier + budgeted sweep

Files: Modify runtime/src/gc.{c,h}, runtime/src/vm.c (roots via pc gc-mask; barrier in SETF/map_set/push; retire RC_INC/RC_DEC cases; safepoints at back-edges/calls).

• Delete trial deletion (mark_gray/scan_black/scan_/collect_white/white_free/zombie guard). Implement: roots = value/frame slots read via the per-pc gc-mask; grey worklist; mark budget WO_GC_BUDGET; owned objects traversed-not-freed, skipping subtrees via the precomputed "transitively-contains-gcref" class bit; sweep frees white + unlinks, repaints black→white; heap-goal trigger; WO_GC_TRACE per-slice counts.
• Yuasa deletion barrier: on a store into a GCREF slot while marking, shade the old value grey. Lives in the VM store paths (no new opcode).
• Verify: just wovm-test. Commit.

Task 3.3 — emitter + format: retire RC, restate the gc-mask, bump .wob

Files: Modify compiler/src/emit.ml (drop emit_rc + escape-acquire anchor; gc-mask now = GC roots), compiler/src/owner.ml (delete rc table/elision/resolve_rc/release_gc/clobber rule), interpreter (opcodes 27–28 reserved), docs/plan/oop-vm/00-wob-format.md (version bump + reserved opcodes + gc-mask contract), runtime/src/loader.c if it validates opcodes.

• Stop emitting RC_INC/RC_DEC; reserve the opcodes; bump the .wob version in the format doc + loader constant. Restate the drop-table gc-mask contract as "GC roots at this pc". wo_drop_kind for WO_K_GCREF becomes a no-op.
• Re-bless all affected goldens (--dump-bc, --dump-owner, disasm) with WOC_BLESS=1.
• Verify: just woc-test, just oop-e2e, just oop-accept. Commit.

Task 3.4 — fixtures: adversarial barrier + cycle rewrites

Files: Modify runtime/test/test_cycle.c, runtime/test/test_rc.c; corpus tests/corpus/gc/{abandoned-cycle,budget-steps,held-cycle}; add an adversarial barrier fixture.

• Rewrite test_cycle.c/test_rc.c off rc assertions onto: abandoned cycle freed, rooted cycle survives, slices bounded, sweep-list leak-free after N cycles. Re-bless abandoned-cycle/budget-steps traces; redefine held-cycle as "a cycle rooted from a live frame survives a slice" (from inside a running program).
• Add the barrier fixture: hide a traced object between slices (store into a blackened object, drop the original ref); it must survive with the barrier in and be freed (corruption) with it compiled out — the design's safety net.
• Verify: just wovm-test, just oop-accept, ASan clean after repeated cycles. Commit.

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Phase 4 — Migration: amend the normative docs

Files: docs/00-principles.md (principle 3), the OOP spec (decision table, §3 rule 5, §4 memory model), docs/plan/oop-vm/00-wob-format.md, 01-error-catalog.md (retire WO-W201, update WO-E304 wording, add the new WO-E1xx), 08-builtin-surface.md (delete the push special case + set gap), docs/00-status.md (record 7b superseding iteration 2's memory model), docs/stories/language-runtime-database/07b-inferred-gc-mark-sweep.md (status → done), docs/examples/gc-cycle/README.md (flip "Run status" to shipped + wire a just gc-cycle acceptance).

• Apply each amendment in the spec's §8 migration table. Add a docs/examples/gc-cycle acceptance script + just gc-cycle recipe running --dump-gc + ring/owned demos under WO_GC_TRACE.
• Verify: just oop-accept green; just gc-cycle green; git grep '@gc' -- '*.wo' returns nothing (success criterion 1). Commit.

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Success criteria (from the spec §Success criteria)

1. No .wo contains @gc; using it is a diagnostic.
2. --dump-gc classifies every class; each traced reason is a cycle path or a named escape.
3. RC_INC/RC_DEC in no emitted image; opcodes reserved in the format doc.
4. The adversarial barrier fixture fails barrier-out, passes barrier-in.
5. An abandoned cycle collects within budgeted slices; a rooted cycle survives.
6. Whole corpus ASan-clean, including after repeated cycles — closing milestone-1 criterion 3.

Self-review notes

• Spec coverage: §1 inference → Ph1+2.1; §2 emitter → 2.2/3.3; §3 header+list → 3.1; §4 mark+barrier → 3.2; §5 error handling → inherent (no new mechanism); §6 deletions → 3.2/3.3; §7 testing → 3.4; §8 migration → Ph4. No gaps.
• Order risk: Phase 1 is provably golden-neutral (no emit path touched). Phase 2 first changes emitted output (field kinds) → re-bless. Phase 3 is the format bump → biggest re-bless. Phases 2+3 must ship together to satisfy the "coherent landing" constraint even though committed as steps.