symbols.md

title	Symbols and references
description	Canonical symbol IDs, local and qualified references, resolution scope, and duplicate-definition rules.

RF symbols name architecture semantics. They are distinct from traversals, which read instance or verified saved-plan evidence at a specified language position.

Canonical symbol IDs

symbol-id       = owner, ".", kind, ".", name ;
kind            = "concept" | "context" | "relation" | "rule" ;
local-reference = kind, ".", name ;

Part	Meaning	Example
owner	Dialect owner or embedded rf owner	aws
kind	Closed semantic kind	concept
name	Lowercase kebab-case identifier	load-balancer

Examples of canonical IDs:

ID	Owner	Kind	Name
aws.rule.subnet	aws	rule	subnet
aws.relation.subscribes-to	aws	relation	subscribes-to
google.concept.load-balancer	google	concept	load-balancer
rf.context.network	rf	context	network

Slash-separated IDs and untyped free strings are not symbol references.

Reference syntax by position

Position	Accepted kind	Local syntax	Qualified syntax
Rule as	Concept	concept.application	Current owner or rf
Context emission as	Context	context.runtime	Current owner or rf
Relation emission as	Relation	relation.uses-network	Current owner only in 0.1.0
Emission to	Concept or Rule	concept.database, rule.database	Current owner or allowed rf Concept
Policy target.concept	Concept	Not accepted	Any linked qualified owner
Policy target.rules item	Rule	Not accepted	Any linked qualified Dialect owner
contexts first argument	Context	Not accepted in Policy source	Any linked qualified owner
relations first argument	Relation	Not accepted in Policy source	Any linked qualified owner
Query target or contributor	Concept or Rule	Not accepted in Policy source	Any linked qualified owner

RF Vocabulary currently contains Concepts and Contexts only. Therefore an rf.relation.* or rf.rule.* reference is invalid.

Dialect resolution

Inside a Dialect:

1. kind.name resolves only against current Dialect.
2. owner.kind.name may name current owner or rf.
3. A local miss does not fall back to rf.
4. A reference to another Dialect owner is rejected.
5. There are no imports, aliases, wildcard references, or shadowing rules.

rule "subnet" {
  match {
    type = "example_subnet"
  }

  as = rf.concept.subnet

  context {
    as       = rf.context.network
    to       = concept.virtual-network
    via      = source.network_id
    on_null  = "absent"
    on_empty = "absent"
  }
}

Here, concept.virtual-network means current Dialect's Concept. It does not mean rf.concept.virtual-network.

Policy Pack resolution

Every semantic reference in Policy source must be owner-qualified:

target {
  concept = rf.concept.subnet
  rules   = [aws.rule.subnet]
}

assert = exists(contexts(rf.context.network, rf.concept.virtual-network))

Portable Policy Pack source carries references, not version pins. Compilation against a Form resolves each reference and derives exact semantic pins. Unknown owners or symbols fail linking.

Collection and duplicates

Dialect compilation has two passes. Compiler first collects definitions, then resolves references. A Rule may therefore reference a definition in a later file.

Case	Result
Same top-level Concept declared twice	DUPLICATE_ID
Same top-level Context declared twice	DUPLICATE_ID
Same top-level Relation declared twice	DUPLICATE_ID
Same Rule declared twice	DUPLICATE_ID
Same labeled context emission reused by several Rules	One shared local Context symbol
Same labeled relation emission reused by several Rules	One shared local Relation symbol
Top-level Context plus matching labeled context emissions	One documented Context symbol
Top-level Relation plus matching labeled relation emissions	One documented Relation symbol

Labeled emissions can introduce local Context or Relation symbols. Concepts are never introduced implicitly: every Concept must have an explicit top-level definition or come from RF Vocabulary.

Rejected syntax

as = subnet
as = rf/subnet
as = other.concept.subnet

These fail because references are typed and dotted, and a Dialect cannot import a foreign owner. A Policy reference such as concept.subnet fails with POLICY_REFERENCE_UNQUALIFIED.