← The notebook

Working theory 3 of 6 · revised October 16, 2026

What can a tool actually know about a running system?

What I think right now

Less than its documentation claims, and more than it usually checks. Reflective Rust is my attempt to make a tool say which facts it observed, which it inferred, and where each one came from.

What would change my mind

Static analysis that matches runtime truth often enough that provenance stops mattering in practice.

Loose ends

  • The cost of carrying provenance through a large codebase.
  • What a tool should do when observed and declared facts disagree.

The trail

  1. System Reflective Rust ↗ Runtime descriptors carry provenance, access policy, compatibility, and signed identity. Compiler facts, declarations, and observations remain distinguishable.
  2. Essay Living Documentation The input-side contract for generative work.
  3. Public repo rust-swift ↗

Think I have this wrong? That is the most useful thing you could tell me.

Disagree with me