Syntax overview

An Acore module is a sequence of declarations, properties, imports, and object members. Newlines and spaces separate tokens but are not statement terminators. Semicolons are not part of the current source grammar.

Module declaration

Use a dotted module name when a profile needs a stable source identity:

module commerce.orders

The generic evaluator accepts modules without this declaration. Acore UI source requires it because the module identity participates in the graph and artifact.

Comments

Line comments begin with // and continue to the end of the line.

// Contract policy shared by all endpoints.
policies {
  cache = CachePolicy { strategy = "network_first" ttlSeconds = 60 }
}

Block comments are not part of the current lexer.

Properties

A property can have a value, a type, or both:

name = "orders"
port: Int = 8080
optionalLabel: String? = null

The block shorthand creates a dynamic object assigned to the property:

project {
  id = "orders-api"
  version = "1.0.0"
}

Use a typed object expression when a value must instantiate a declared class:

cache = CachePolicy {
  strategy = "cache_first"
  ttlSeconds = 300
}

There is no new keyword. new CachePolicy {} is invalid Acore.

Objects and dynamic keys

Plain braces create a dynamic object. Bracketed keys are evaluated at runtime:

headers = {
  contentType = "application/json"
  ["x-request-id"] = "example"
}

Contract maps commonly use typed mapping objects:

variants = Mapping {
  ["mobile"] = VariantConfig {
    include = Listing { "public_*" }
  }
}

Collections

Square brackets create a list expression. Commas are optional:

codes = [502, 503, 504]
names = ["tasks" "users"]

Contract schemas also use typed collection objects such as Listing {} and Mapping {} because their class constraints are part of acore.base:

retryOnCodes = Listing { 502 503 504 }
writableFields = Listing { "title" "status" }

Strings and numbers

The current parser accepts double-quoted strings, signed integers, and decimal floats:

message = "contract ready"
attempts = 3
sampleRate = 0.25

Escapes are lexed inside double-quoted strings. Triple-quoted and hash-delimited tokens are reserved by the lexer but are not part of the documented evaluated surface yet; use ordinary strings in portable source.

Annotations and modifiers

Annotations precede a member and may carry an object body. Modifiers precede properties, classes, type aliases, functions, or modules where supported:

@deprecated { reason = "Use currentEndpoint" }
hidden oldEndpoint = "legacy"

open class BasePolicy {
  enabled: Boolean = true
}

Implemented modifier tokens are local, hidden, fixed, const, abstract, open, and external. Their effect depends on the declaration and compiler profile; do not use them as a security boundary.

Identifiers

Identifiers begin with an ASCII letter or underscore and continue with letters, digits, or underscores. Dots are member access except inside a module name. Names are case-sensitive.

Continue with Values, types, and operators.