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nibli KR cookbook

Short surface cheat sheet. Normative reference: NIBLI_KR.md (v0.1). Executable grammar: nibli-kr/src/nibli_kr.pest. Examples match the product README language table.

nibli KR is a strict predicate-call surface: one statement per line, ending with a period. Unknown predicate words are a compile error, never a guess — names resolve through the committed English corpus, fail-closed.

Common patterns

nibli KR / REPL inputReads as
dog(Adam).Adam is a dog
animal(every dog).every dog is an animal (a rule)
~eats(Adam).Adam does not eat
past eats(me, some food).I ate some food
dog(Adam) & cat(Betis).conjunction (| or, -> if-then)
goes(Adam, destination: some market).named argument places
beautiful(every person where ~cat).rule with a negated restrictor (NAF)
Kim = Adam.identity
? red(exactly 2 red).REPL exact-count query over the current KB (? selects the query route; it is not KR grammar)
all $x: dangerous($x) & uses(Adam, $x) -> warns($x).prenex rule with variables

exactly N and no compile as count formulas only for querying. They cannot be asserted as persistent cardinality constraints; assert ordinary facts and re-query the current count.

Predicates and places

dog(Adam).
goes(Adam, destination: some market).
  • Positional args fill places in order; named args use corpus place labels (destination:, …).
  • Converted aliases and compounds are dictionary-driven; uncurated a+b compounds fail closed.

Rules

animal(every dog).
eats(every animal).
dog(Adam).

Description-style universals (every dog) compile to rules. Explicit prenex:

all $x: dog($x) -> animal($x).

For ordinary predicates, temporal wrappers are part of each rule literal’s meaning. A bare rule is unqualified; it is not automatically projected into the past, present, or future. Declare same-flavor taxonomy or cross-flavor causation explicitly:

all $x: past dog($x) -> past animal($x).
all $x: past eats($x) -> now be_hungry($x).

With only all $x: dog($x) -> animal($x)., a past dog(Adam). fact does not derive past animal(Adam).

Choose exactly one prefix family per atom. past ~eats(Adam). and must ~eats(Adam). are valid, while must past eats(Adam). and past must eats(Adam). are compile errors. This restriction is per formula path, so separate rule literals may still declare a mapping such as past P -> must Q.

Negation-as-failure

~eats(Adam).

Stratified NAF under closed-world assumptions — see GUARANTEES for oracle coverage. Unstratifiable programs are rejected at assert time.

Where to go next