BuildLang TextMate Grammar

The editor-facing TextMate grammar that teaches syntax highlighters how to read .bld files.

Official TextMate grammar for BuildLang. This is the small editor-facing layer that teaches syntax highlighters how to read .bld files without carrying compiler behavior or backend claims.

What this is

A language definition that tells syntax-highlighting engines how to render .bld source files. The same grammar powers:

• The BuildLang VS Code extension
• Syntax highlighting on GitHub (via github-linguist)
• Any TextMate-compatible editor (Sublime Text, TextMate, Atom, etc.)

Files

Path	Purpose
grammars/buildlang.tmLanguage.json	The grammar definition
language-configuration.json	Comment tokens, brackets, surrounding-pair rules
samples/	Representative .bld files used by linguist for language detection

BuildLang in brief

BuildLang is an effects-oriented systems language. Keywords in this grammar fall into several categories:

• Classical systems keywords - fn, struct, enum, trait, impl, let, mut, pub, mod, use, if, else, match, loop, while, for, in, return, break, continue, ref, move, unsafe, extern, async, await, dyn, where, typeof, sizeof, true, false, Self, self, crate, super
• Effect system - with, effect, handle, resume, perform
• AI/neural primitives - ai, neural, infer
• Module system - module (ecosystem-level), alongside standard mod
• Macros - macro, macro_rules
• Reserved - abstract, become, do, final, override, priv, try, yield, union, default, auto, box

Primitive types recognized: i8, i16, i32, i64, i128, isize, u8, u16, u32, u64, u128, usize, f32, f64, bool, char, str, String, and common standard types (Vec, Option, Result, Box, Rc, Arc, HashMap, HashSet, BTreeMap, BTreeSet).

Usage

This is a TextMate grammar package, not a compiler or runnable program: there is no CLI to run and nothing to import. "Using" it means installing the grammar into a TextMate-compatible editor (or consuming it via github-linguist) so .bld files get syntax highlighting. See USAGE.md for install steps per editor, the grammar's scope name and file type, the JSON-validation/packaging commands, and worked highlighting examples.

The compiler and any buildc command live in the separate HarperZ9/buildlang repository, not here.

The browser evidence example is an editor fixture only. It documents Telos workflow vocabulary for highlighting and examples; this package does not compile or execute browser automation.

Using this grammar

VS Code

Install the BuildLang VS Code extension - it bundles this grammar.

Sublime Text / TextMate

Place the grammar file in the appropriate packages directory. Sublime Text accepts .tmLanguage.json directly since ST4.

github-linguist

This repository is included as a submodule by github-linguist/linguist under vendor/grammars/buildlang-tmLanguage. Consumers do not need to install anything.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

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Zentropy Labs · order out of entropy. An independent lab building evidence-first tools that leave a re-checkable artifact behind. Built by Zain Dana Harper in Seattle. The full workbench is at Project Telos.