rajamesandClaude Opus 5.5
42610e844f
MESH.md step 2. A capsule of F18 code is the words a neighbour writes to a node's port: for each stretch of memory, "@p a! @p push", the address and count, "@p !+ unext" and the words; then a jump to the start. A node born empty executes that from its port, so it needs nothing in it beforehand. - capsule.h/.c: v4_capsule_write, any node's memory as such a capsule - mkimage writes the nucleus so, to capsules/v4/nucleus-64.f18, and the addresses a host needs as a C file; the memory image is no longer linked into either product - mkcapsule is unchanged: the nucleus capsule is a built file kept under capsules/, as BLOCK_MAP.md is, and is baked, hashed and signed with the rest - boot: the node is born empty (v4_image_born); the nucleus capsule is found, its hash and signature checked, and given to the node a word at a time as it reads its port; PARITY:V4_NUCLEUS carries its name and hash Verified: test_fabric.c (59 checks, both widths, and under ASan and UBSan): a memory with a programme and scattered words arrives word for word in an empty node and runs. The nucleus capsule rebuilds byte for byte. hosted-check passes on three ISAs; clean qemu with STARFORTH_V4=1 on amd64, aarch64 and riscv64 takes the nucleus in, passes POST (550 of 550) and answers lines typed at each prompt (logs/20261006-102421, -102706, -103048). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
capsules/
FORTH personality files loaded by the VM at boot. A capsule is an immutable, content-addressed payload; its XXHash64 hash is its identity. Any mutation changes the hash and the birth protocol rejects the image.
Key files
| File | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
init.4th |
(m) MAMA_INIT |
Default Mama VM personality — loaded at LBN 2048 |
ACL.4th |
user | Word-level ACL system; self-activating at boot |
zuse.4th |
user | Bootstrap superuser; loaded by ACL.4th |
doe.4th |
user | DoE workload words (EXEC-DOE) — opt-in |
workload-0.4th … workload-9.4th |
(p) |
Numbered personality variants |
init-l8-*.4th |
(p) |
L8 Jacquard mode variants (stable/volatile/diverse/temporal/transition/omni) |
hermes/init.4th |
(p) |
Hermes baby VM personality |
artemis/init.4th |
(p) |
Artemis baby VM personality |
Block namespace
Block ranges are shared across all loaded capsules — collisions cause silent word-definition overwrites.
| Range | Owner |
|---|---|
| 2048–2099 | init.4th |
| 2100–2199 | doe.4th |
| 3000–3999 | workload capsules |
| 4000+ | user-defined (ACL.4th, zuse.4th, …) |
Each block is limited to 1024 bytes. Verify with wc -c before committing.
See also
experiments/bare_metal/README.md— DoE protocols and block namespace rulesdocs/03-architecture/word-acl/DESIGN.md— ACL system designtools/mkcapsule.c— assembles capsules intocapsule_generated.c- Project root