Mark ui +devlore:root=true and sweep the ui.* call sites #700

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1. David-Noble-at-work

   self-assigned this

   on Aug 26, 2026
2. David-Noble-at-work

   added

   Area:ArchitectureSystem architecture and designSystem architecture and design

   taskImplementation work itemImplementation work item

   Epic:StarlarkSurfaceThe Starlark authoring surfaceThe Starlark authoring surface

   Priority:P2Scheduled, not urgentScheduled, not urgent

   on Aug 26, 2026
3. David-Noble-at-work commented on Aug 26, 2026

   

   David-Noble-at-work

   on Aug 26, 2026

   ContributorAuthor

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   Settled: error keeps the global name.

   All six methods take their natural globals — error, fail, note, print, succeed, warn.

   A predeclared name cannot be assigned over at module scope, so error = compute() in a script is a resolve error rather than a shadow. Accepted: script authors adopt err for the variable, which is the convention Go authors already follow for exactly the same reason — the language took error first.

   That convention needs writing down where authors will meet it: the ui design doc, and the resolve-error path if it can carry a hint.

   Scale note for the sweep: 231 ui.* call sites across .star files need rewriting to bare names. The 64 print( and 85 fail( sites need no edits — they become provider-backed by resolution.
4. David-Noble-at-work commented on Aug 26, 2026

   

   David-Noble-at-work

   on Aug 26, 2026

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   Two findings from reading placeModule (pkg/op/starlarkbridge/runtime.go:334).

   1. The sweep is mandatory. The root path installs each method as its own top-level entry and never sets predeclared[module.Name()]. ui.note() stops resolving — this is a replacement, not an addition. All 231 ui.* call sites must be rewritten.

   2. Defect in the branch this activates (runtime.go:403):

   for m := range module.Methods() {
       snake := op.CamelToSnake(m.Name())
       if refused[snake] {
           return          // <- abandons every method not yet placed
       }
       ...
       predeclared[snake] = attr
   }

   return should be continue. One refused method silently drops every method the loop has not yet reached, and because it ranges over module.Methods(), which ones survive depends on iteration order rather than on what the runtime admits.

   Never fired: no provider has been RoleModule|RoleRoot, and ui claims deterministic on all six so a hermetic runtime refuses none. Putting ui at root arms it.

   Note this is the second defect found in this same unexercised branch — the assertion on line 419 was inverted until #677 step 6 added tests. Fixing it here, with a test that refuses one method of a root provider and asserts the others still surface.
5. David-Noble-at-work commented on Aug 26, 2026

   

   David-Noble-at-work

   on Aug 26, 2026

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   Design docs updated with the signature rationale — docs/architecture/3.5.16-ui-provider.md gains two sections:

   • Root placement: owning print and fail — the resolver mechanism, the six globals, the fact that root replaces rather than adds, and the error/err convention
   • Why the signature is (msg string) — double interpretation, the toGoInto type loss, the call-site survey, and the residual cost

   The status companion now records that root placement is designed-not-landed, and states the consequence plainly: until it lands, the uniformity the architecture document claims holds for ui.print(...) but not for a bare print(...).
6. David-Noble-at-work

   added 2 commits that reference this issue on Aug 26, 2026

   docs(ui): one string is the correct contract for the narration method…

   ...

   e4ada18

   Providers claim what they guarantee, and a type-checked pass holds th…

   ...

   ca7744e
7. David-Noble-at-work

   closed this as completedin #708on Aug 27, 2026