| name | polyglot-recipes |
| description | > Use when this capability is needed. |
polyglot-recipes — cross-language seams as ripvec sees them
Be brief. Cite docs/AGENTIC_PATTERNS_4_0.md Part IX (NC1c, NC8, M5),
Part X (NC16, M22), Part XI §XI.4 (M6 trichotomy) and BUG_DATABASE.md
§§4-5 (I#54a/b polyglot edge bugs). aurora is the M14 polyglot
canonical (HCL+Python+SQL, validated through 3 cycles); the
constitutional polyglot sentinel.
§0 Graph position
Specializes the five hub orientations for cross-language seams. This
skill fires when no single per-language skill (c-recipes,
python-recipes, javascript-recipes, jvm-recipes, go-recipes,
rust-recipes) captures the task because the interesting edges
cross language boundaries. Most often escalates to
ripvec:drift-auditor because polyglot dark-matter manifests as
systemic dead-zone drift — ripvec can't see the seam, so the seam
silently rots.
§1 Polyglot character
What ripvec sees on a polyglot corpus:
- Cross-language string-as-API is everywhere. HCL outputs become
Python config values become SQL @{variable_name} interpolations
become Jinja
{{var}} becomes the URL the JS fetch() hits. None
of these are typed in ripvec's eyes — every hop is a string.
M5 anchor.
- M5 Dark-Matter Coefficient (NC16):
rg-files(name) / index-files(name). On aurora, bucket_name: 11 files contain the
string, 1 is in the symbol index. Ratio 11:1 = ripvec is blind to
10 of the 11 files for this name. Quantifiable polyglot blindness.
- M6 Oracles-Are-Typed (Codd/Pearl/Hickey trichotomy): every
cross-language API point fits one of three shapes:
- Codd-form: relational projection (HCL
terraform_remote_state.X.outputs.Y)
- Pearl-form: intervention/do-operator (Python sets SQL @{var})
- Hickey-form: value/identity (tfvars strings; protobuf bytes)
- Lensing decision: each oracle form needs a different recipe.
- NC8 Runtime-Variable-Injection Tracing: a 4-hop chain
(env → tfvar → Python config dataclass → SQL template var)
reproducible by grep-composition even when ripvec can't trace it
symbolically. Anchor recipe for polyglot detective work.
- NC1c "not in index" IS the M5 diagnostic. When
find_similar(symbol_name=X) returns "not in index" but rg
finds X across the corpus, that's a polyglot dark-matter signal.
- I#54a/b polyglot edge bugs are open. HCL→HCL via
terraform_remote_state and SQL FROM/JOIN edges are partial-
resolved via semantic search; full LSP edge resolution is a
4.2.0+ target. M22 Polyglot Incompleteness Cost says: when
bug deferral lets the dark-matter coefficient grow, productivity
decays at compound rates.
§2 Working recipes (polyglot earned its keep on these)
| Recipe | Trigger | Tool sequence | Caveat | Cite |
|---|
| NC16 Polyglot Dark-Matter Probe | "Quantify how blind ripvec is on this name" | mcp__ripvec__find_similar(symbol_name=X) → if "not in index" → cross-language mcp__ripvec__search(corpus="all", query=X) → compare hit-counts; ratio = dark-matter coefficient | High ratio (≥5) = serious polyglot blindness; pair with workaround | Part X §X.4 NC16 |
| NC8 Runtime-Variable-Injection Trace | "How does this Python config value reach the SQL query?" | Pick variable name (e.g., athena_silver_schema); mcp__ripvec__search(corpus="all", query="athena_silver_schema") → enumerate hits across HCL/Python/SQL files → narrate the 4-hop chain by file order | Reproducible by name-grep even where ripvec can't trace symbolically; M5 use-case canonical | Part IX §IX.4 NC8 |
| M6 Codd-form Oracle Probe (HCL remote_state) | "Where does Terraform module A read from module B's outputs?" | mcp__ripvec__search(query="terraform_remote_state", root=infrastructure/) → for each hit, the .outputs.X path IS the Codd projection | I#54a partial: search works, lsp_references returns silent empty on HCL refs (deferred 4.2.0) | M6, BUG_DATABASE §4 I#54a |
| M6 Pearl-form Oracle Probe (Python→SQL @{var}) | "Where does this template var get bound?" | Pick @{var_name} from SQL → mcp__ripvec__search(corpus="all", query="var_name") → look for variables={var_name: ...} Python assignment | This IS Pearl's do(var_name=value) intervention on the SQL DAG | M6, Part XI §XI.4 |
| M6 Hickey-form Oracle Probe (typed value/identity) | "Decomplect this tfvars string from its consumer types" | mcp__ripvec__search(query="bucket_name") then mcp__ripvec__lsp_references on each site to classify consumer-type (ARN vs S3-URI vs path) | M6 Hickey-form: the value travels typed-free; consumer-types diverge over time = M22 cost manifesting | M6, M22 |
| NC7 Spec-as-Implementation-Oracle | "Does the spec doc match the impl?" |
§3 Known engine gaps for this language family
Per docs/BUG_DATABASE.md (verified Cycle 11 W3 / 4.1.9).
| Bug | Status | Symptom | Workaround | Cite |
|---|
B-0017 / I#54a HCL terraform_remote_state edges | Open (P2) | lsp_references on HCL .outputs.X returns silent empty; semantic search works | Use mcp__ripvec__search instead of lsp_references for HCL edges | BUG_DATABASE §4 |
| B-0018 / I#54b SQL FROM/JOIN edges | Open (P2) | SQL table references not resolved to schema definitions | Cross-language string search; the M5 dark-matter pattern | BUG_DATABASE §4 |
B-0019 HCL module "X" { source = "../X" } blocks | Open (P3, subsumed by I#54a) | Module composition edges missing | Workaround via search; treat as I#54a | BUG_DATABASE §4 |
| B-0020 SQL chunker zero-symbols (per-CREATE granularity) | Partial fix | CREATE TABLE → struct now indexed per-file; per-CREATE granularity still missing | One file = one schema oracle; live with file-level granularity | BUG_DATABASE §4 |
B-0021 HCL locals { } blocks chunked as single | Open (P3) | Individual local-vars not addressable | Use mcp__ripvec__search(query="local.X") | BUG_DATABASE §4 |
B-0023 HCL locals { ... } collapsed to single chunk | Open (P3) | Same family as B-0021 | Same workaround | BUG_DATABASE §4 |
| N3 anti-pattern: string-API across languages | Open architectural | Treating untyped string passing as if typed | Apply M5 + M6 trichotomy; document each oracle's form explicitly | M5, M22 |
§4 Polyglot-specific BPMN — the M6 Codd-form HCL→Python→SQL trace flow
flowchart TD
U[User: "How does the silver schema name<br/>get from Terraform to the SQL query?"] --> PV[Pick a variable name<br/>e.g. athena_silver_schema]
PV --> SA[mcp__ripvec__search<br/>corpus=all, query=athena_silver_schema]
SA --> CLA{Hits include .tf .py .sql .j2 ?}
CLA -->|Yes — polyglot trace| EH[Enumerate per file kind]
CLA -->|HCL only| HCL_only[Single-language;<br/>route to c-recipes / language-specific]
EH --> HF[For each HCL hit:<br/>read locals{} or output{} or var{} surrounding]
HF --> PF[For each Python hit:<br/>read read_tfvar / config dataclass / @click.option]
PF --> SF[For each SQL hit:<br/>read CREATE TABLE / @{var} interpolation / FROM]
SF --> JF[For each Jinja/.j2 hit:<br/>read {{var}} expansion]
JF --> CH[Chain narration: HCL output → Python read → SQL @{var} → Jinja {{var}}]
CH --> DM[Compute M5 dark-matter coefficient<br/>rg-files / index-files ratio]
DM --> DMR{Ratio ≥ 5?}
DMR -->|Yes| ALERT[**Polyglot dark matter detected**<br/>route to ripvec:drift-auditor<br/>cite M22 polyglot incompleteness cost]
DMR -->|No| CLEAN[Trace is clean;<br/>document M6 oracle form per hop]
HCL_only --> H6[H6 Fill-Graph Dual<br/>combine find_similar+lsp_references<br/>per c-recipes / jvm-recipes appropriate]
§5 Cross-corpus calibration
Polyglot is exercised primarily by aurora (canonical IaC polyglot,
per Part X §X.4):
- aurora (~few hundred HCL+Python+SQL files) — M14 polyglot
canonical. M5 dark-matter coefficient measured (
bucket_name: 11:1).
NC8 4-hop chain reproducible. NC7 spec-vs-impl drift quantifiable.
- Cycle 6 Wave 6 / opus/aurora finding: M22 Polyglot
Incompleteness Cost — bug deferral on I#54a/b lets the dark-matter
coefficient grow; aurora's
bucket_name was 11:1 in Wave 5 → 11:0
in Wave 6 (the darkness deepened, not improved).
- (Cycle 12+ candidate) add a second polyglot dipole partner:
candidate is a Django+PostgreSQL+templates app, or a NestJS app
with protobuf/graphql.
- Diagnostic rule: if a polyglot finding reproduces on aurora
AND a second polyglot corpus, it's M5/M6 architectural; if on
aurora only, suspect IaC-specific (HCL chunker, SQL grammar).
§6 Heritage citations
Polyglot's earned heritage:
- Codd, E.F. A Relational Model of Data (1970) — HCL
terraform_remote_state.X.outputs.Y is literally a relational
projection (SELECT outputs.Y FROM remote_state WHERE name=X).
M6 Codd-form anchor.
- Pearl, J. Causality (2009) — Python setting SQL @{var} is
Pearl's
do(var=value) operator on the SQL DAG: an intervention
not an observation. M6 Pearl-form anchor.
- Hickey, R. Simple Made Easy (2011); The Value of Values
(2012) — typed-free string-as-value flowing across language
boundaries is complecting value with identity. M6 Hickey-form
anchor; M22 incompleteness-cost roots here.
- Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical Investigations §43 (1953) —
"the meaning of a word is its use in the language" — polyglot
strings have meanings determined by their consumer types, not
their producer. M5 dark-matter is literally Wittgensteinian.
- Brooks, F. No Silver Bullet (1986) — polyglot architecture
is essential complexity (the cost of right-tool-for-the-job)
AND accidental (the cost of cross-language semantic erosion);
M22 quantifies the accidental cost.
- Box, G.E.P. All Models Are Wrong (1976) — the polyglot
oracle trichotomy (Codd/Pearl/Hickey) is a model not a theorem;
use it where it earns its keep.
- Naur, P. Programming as Theory Building (1985) — polyglot
codebases require cross-language theory; the M22 cost is the
theory-rot tax when ripvec can't see one of the languages
involved.
Source: fnordpig/my-claude-plugins — distributed by TomeVault.