phel-lang

name	phel-lang
description	Building applications WITH Phel (Lisp that compiles to PHP). Triggers on .phel files, phel-config.php, phel CLI commands (init, run, repl, test, build), or requests to build a Phel app. Skip when working on the Phel compiler internals (use compiler-guide or phel-patterns instead).

Phel

Lisp dialect compiling to PHP. PHP interop via php/ prefix.

Load order

1. .agents/RULES.md — hard rules, modern features, CLI cheatsheet
2. .agents/tasks/common-gotchas.md — read BEFORE writing code
3. .agents/index.md — task map
4. .agents/tasks/<intent>.md — recipe for current task
5. .agents/quick-syntax.md — one-screen syntax cheatsheet
6. src/phel/ and docs/ only when a recipe points there

Hard rules (skim, then load RULES.md)

• Verify fn names with (doc <fn>) or grep src/phel/core/. Never invent.
• Collections immutable. (conj v x) returns new; rebind via def/let/atom.
• CLI args: *argv*, not php/$argv.
• Side effects: doseq; building sequences: for.
• String module is phel.string (was phel.str pre-v0.33).
• Namespace separator: prefer . (app.main); \ deprecated.
• Hot or public defn: add :tag to params + return. See .agents/tasks/typed-defn.md.
• Opt-in defn metadata: ^:async, ^:memoize, ^{:memoize-lru N}.
• Top-level side effects break phel build; guard with (when-not *build-mode* ...).

Working examples

.agents/examples/{todo-app, http-json-api, cli-wordcount}/ — copy, adapt, run.