| name | jai-language |
| description | Comprehensive Jai programming language reference and cheat sheet. Use when working with Jai code, tree-sitter-jai grammar development, or answering questions about Jai syntax and semantics. Covers declarations, types, control flow, directives, metaprogramming, and all language features. Trigger: user mentions 'Jai', 'Jai language', 'tree-sitter-jai', or asks about Jai syntax. |
Jai Language Reference
Complete reference for the Jai programming language by Jonathan Blow.
The Jai compiler distribution at ~/jai/jai/ contains the authoritative source:
- how_to/ — 80
.jai files across subdirectories covering all features
- examples/ — Real-world programs
- modules/ — Standard library
See references/cheatsheet.md for the full language cheat sheet.
See compendium/ for compilable code samples demonstrating every language feature (19 files).
See references/build-variables-recipe.md for the canonical
metaprogram recipe for custom compile-time build variables (#placeholder knobs module +
Message_Import-scoped add_build_string) — including the beta 0.2.029 gated-#load bug the
naive per-file injection hits. Use this recipe whenever a metaprogram needs to feed constants
into target code.
Compendium verification requirement
Every compendium .jai file must compile without errors or warnings against the current Jai compiler. When updating the skill for a new Jai release:
- Bump version headers in the cheatsheet and all compendium files.
- Reconcile changelog changes with skill content (removed features, new syntax, etc.).
- Compile every compendium file with
~/jai/jai/bin/jai-linux <file>.jai and confirm zero errors.
- Clean up build artifacts (
rm -rf .build in the compendium directory).
Do not mark a version as verified until compilation is confirmed. The compendium is a "known good" corpus — if it doesn't compile, the version stamp is a lie.
