kernel

Everything a cognet can do outside its own world. See Kernel for why there is only one door.

// ambient — never imported
kernel.output(type: OutputType, data: OutputData): Promise<void>
kernel.run(code: string): Promise<RunResult>
kernel.run(code: string[]): Promise<RunResult[]>
kernel.body(): Manifest | null
kernel.presence(): Presence | null
kernel.scope(): Scope
kernel.base(): Promise<string>
kernel.emit(type: CognetEvent, data: unknown): void
kernel.fault(fault: { code: string; message: string; excerpt?: string }): Promise<void>

output, emit and fault need no answer, so any system may use them: in a sync system they are made when its run lands, in order, with its writes; in an async one, as they are made. body, presence and scope are as they stood when the run began. Everything else needs an answer, so only an async system may ask — it runs beside the tick, and its writes land on a later one. A worker system has no kernel.

output

Acts on the body — one act, on one of the controls it declared. Every kind, field and control type is on Output.

kernel.output("cognet:output:vector", { channel: "/wheels", values: [0.4, 0.4], basis: sensed })

run

Runs code in the agent's sandbox, checked against its policy. Never throws — success and failure both come back as a result.

const result = await kernel.run(`await search("arxiv", "depth estimation")`)
if (!result.ok) console.warn(result.error?.kind)   // "timeout" | "policy" | "interrupt" | "exception"

const [a, b] = await kernel.run([blockA, blockB])   // concurrent, results in order

The kernel records the code and its result itself. The cognet writes nothing.

body

What the body said it is: its senses, its controls, how its parts sit. null until a body is worn. Find senses by what they are, never by channel.

const eye = kernel.body()?.senses.find(sense => sense.kind === "visual")

presence

Whether the body is the mind's to move right now. null until the body says.

Senses keep arriving in every state. held and overridden carry a why.

scope

Every module and function the sandbox can run right now — and, under unavailable, what failed to load. A mind that shows its model unavailable can say "I can't search arXiv right now" instead of guessing.

base

The user's identity text for this agent, rendered. "" when there is none, never null.

emit

The mind's own telemetry: recorded, shown in the debugger, never shown to the user. Types are cognet:* only — a mind can't forge the kernel's events. Rarely needed: every system run and every write is already recorded.

kernel.emit("cognet:log:info", { value: "map rebuilt from 412 looks" })

fault

For a mind that renders a model's output: reports that the model broke the mind's grammar. The kernel puts it in the model's next context, so the model sees its mistake and corrects. Never shown to the user.

await kernel.fault({ code: "UNDECLARED_BINDING", message: "interpolated {total}, which the script never declared" })

Errors