Command Reference

This reference documents the Standard Library of commands available in the Vyasa compiler. These are defined in the embedded stdlib.vy.

Core Commands

marker (Alias: m)

Defines a URN-addressable segment and sets the active context ID.

Syntax: `marker <number|dots>

Description: The marker command establishes the unique identity (URN) of the content that follows. Arguments are appended to the active URN scheme defined in the project’s context.vy. Subsequent content nodes automatically inherit this identity.

Examples:

`marker 1     --> Verse 1 (inherits ID)
`m 3.16       --> Chapter 3, Verse 16 (using alias 'm')

ref (Alias: r, cite)

References or cites another text segment.

Syntax: `ref "target"

Description: Used to create a citation or cross-reference to another segment (marker). This does not set the ID of the current block, but rather points to an existing one.

Example:

As stated in `ref "John 3:16" ...

state

Updates the contextual state (e.g., speaker, scene) for subsequent nodes.

Syntax: `state { key="value" ... }

Description: State properties are propagated to all subsequent nodes until changed or cleared. This allows you to tag large sections of text without repeating attributes on every node.

Examples:

`state { speaker="Sanjaya" }
`reference 1.1 ... (Inherits speaker="Sanjaya")
`state { speaker="" }  <-- Clears the state

set

Updates environment configuration (settings, context, aliases, entities).

Syntax: `set <target> { key="value" ... } Shorthand: `set { key="value" ... } (Equivalent to set context { ... })

Targets:

• settings: Workspace-wide configuration (e.g., whitespace).
• context: Flow variables (e.g., work, urn_scheme, chapter).
• entities: Registers semantic entities.

Examples:

`set settings { whitespace = "preserve" }  <- Opt-out of whitespace stripping
`set settings { break_after = "।" }        <- Automatically inject SegmentBreak nodes
`set context { work="Bible" urn_scheme="urn:bible:{book}:{chapter}:{id}" }
`set { chapter=1 }

entity

Defines or references a semantic entity.

Syntax: `entity <Name> { type="...", speaker="...", urn="..." }

Description: Creates a specific Entity Node. If defined in the registry, it inherits those attributes. Useful for inline semantic tagging and indexing.

Registy Example:

`set entities {
  Krishna = { type="Deity" role="Avatar" }
}

Usage:

`entity Krishna     <-- Inherits type="Deity"

Structure Commands

verse (Alias: v)

A structural container for verse content, optionally defining its identity.

Syntax:

• Standard: `verse <id> [ content... ]
• Anonymous: `verse [ content... ]

Description: The verse command delimits a block as a verse.

• If an id is provided (e.g., v 1 [...]), it acts like a marker, appending the ID to the active URN and setting the context.
• If no id is provided, it inherits identification from the most recent marker command.

Example:

`v 1 [ In the beginning... ]

textstream

Explicitly marks a block of text as content.

Syntax: `textstream [ content... ]

Description: Useful when content starts with special characters that might be confused for commands, or to group multiple lines.

interlinear-streams

Defines a repeating pattern of commands for text blocks.

Syntax: `interlinear-streams { id="pattern_name" pattern="cmd1, cmd2..." }

Description: Allows implicit tagging of lines within a block matching the pattern ID.

Example:

`interlinear-streams { id="verse" pattern="d, i, e" }

`verse[
  Line 1   --> `d[Line 1]
  Line 2   --> `i[Line 2]
  Line 3   --> `e[Line 3]
]

Formatting Commands

Vyasa supports explicit commands for text formatting.

Command	Alias	HTML Mapping	Syntax
Emphasis (Bold)	e1	<strong>	`e1[text]
Emphasis (Italic)	e2	<em>	`e2[text]
Line Break	br	<br />	`br

Meta Commands

command-def

Defines a new custom command.

Syntax: `command-def <name> { category="cat" ... }

Description: Allows extending the language vocabulary within a document or project.

Example:

`command-def uvacha { category="verb" }
`uvacha [ Said... ]

alias-def

Defines a shortcut for an existing command with preset attributes.

Syntax: `alias-def { name="alias" target="cmd" params="k=v" }

Example:

`alias-def { name="speaking" target="state" params="action=speaking" }
`speaking  <-- Equivalent to `state { action="speaking" }`

annotate

Attaches graph attributes to relative URNs. Declare it in context.vy (category="metadata"). Files normally live under annotations/ so they are packed as graph, not HTML. Guide: Annotations.

Syntax: `annotate "<urn|range>" { key=value … }

Ranges use last-component .. (e.g. "1:1..1:20"). Each attribute except target / urn / id becomes a value node and an uppercase-keyed edge. The viewer shows those keys as facets.

`annotate "1:24:2" { rishi=vamadeva, devata=agni }
`annotate "4:5:0:0" { featured=sri_rudram }

note

Editorial gloss on a URN (variant, damage). Packed as HAS_NOTE, not as a content stream.

Syntax: `note "<urn>" { type="…" } [ gloss ]

frame

Groups nested annotate / note under a named context (IN_FRAME).

Syntax: `frame { id="…" type="…" } [ … ]

Syntax Elements

Comments

• Line Comment: ` followed by space.
• Block Comment: `[ ... ]

Segments (|)

Used for hard alignment anchors within a text node.

`d[Word A | Word B]

Delimited Blocks

Used for overlapping scopes or nesting.

Syntax: `cmd;DELIM [ ... ]DELIM

Entity-Action Pattern

A convention for defining Subject-Verb relationships naturally, designed for semantic graph mapping.

Pattern: Subject Action [ Content ]

1. Subject (Entity): A command representing the actor (e.g., `Krishna).
2. Action (Verb): A command representing the event (e.g., `uvacha meaning “said”).
3. Content: The block following the action.

Compiler Semantics: When an Action command immediately follows an Entity command, the Entity is treated as the Subject of that Action.

Example:

`Krishna `uvacha { to="Arjuna" } [
  `v 1 [ ... ]
]

Graph Translation: (Krishna)-[SAID {to: Arjuna}]->(Verse 1)