Language Shape

ArchAI source should be readable by architects and reliable for LLM agents to emit.

The syntax is intentionally grouped: constraints live under the thing they constrain, generated outputs live under predictable groups, and every block maps to a canonical path.

Grouped Source

project housing_study:

  site main:
    parcels:
      parcel pcl_001:
        coordinate_system project_mm

        boundary:
          edge front: (0, 0) -> (42000, 0) tags [frontage]
          edge east:  (42000, 0) -> (39000, 28000)
          edge rear:  (39000, 28000) -> (4000, 31000)
          edge west:  (4000, 31000) -> (0, 0)

        constraints:
          zoning r3

          setbacks:
            front:
              from boundary.edges.front
              distance 5000mm

          lot_coverage:
            max 0.4

          far:
            max 1.2

Ergonomic Rules

• Prefer grouped blocks over distant cross-references.
• Keep one concept per block.
• Use named properties for architectural meaning.
• Use relative paths inside a semantic parent.
• Use explicit full paths when crossing to another group.
• Make all compiler and eval diagnostics cite paths.

SDK Equivalent

project("housing_study", ({ site }) => {
  site("main", ({ parcel }) => {
    parcel("pcl_001", ({ boundary, constraints }) => {
      boundary(({ edge }) => {
        edge("front", { from: [0, 0], to: [42000, 0], tags: ["frontage"] });
      });

      constraints(({ setback, lotCoverage, far }) => {
        setback("front", { from: "boundary.edges.front", distance: mm(5000) });
        lotCoverage("max", { value: 0.4 });
        far("max", { value: 1.2 });
      });
    });
  });
});