Glyph System

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mashin has a visual language. Every runtime event, governance decision, and platform component is represented by a bracket-framed symbol. The same symbols appear in execution traces, the IDE, terminal output, error messages, and documentation. If you learn the symbols, you can read any mashin trace in any human language.

The rule

Every symbol has exactly one meaning. No symbol appears in two contexts.

The bracket frame [ ] is the governance boundary made visual. Nothing escapes the brackets. The frame is the brand.

Quick reference

IDENTITY          EXECUTION         GOVERNANCE        SIGNALS
[*]  machine      [≡]  compute      [√]  allow        [!]  signal
[□]  krate        [◎]  reason       [⊘]  deny
[∴]  koda         [○]  mem read     [?]  hold
[~]  kortex       [◉]  mem write    [x]  terminate
[#]  kanon        [→]  call         [+]  recorded
[⊞]  kura         [⊳]  decide
[◇]  kore         […]  await
[Ξ]  kodex        [⇄]  network
[▷]  kanvas
[♡]  kardia

Identity glyphs

These identify platform components. They appear in navigation, documentation, and architecture diagrams.

Glyph	Name	What it is
`[*]`	machine	The universal unit. The asterisk is a wildcard: machines can be anything.
`[□]`	krate	A packaged machine. The outlined square: sealed, self-contained.
`[∴]`	koda	The reasoning engine. “Therefore”: the conclusion drawn from premises.
`[~]`	kortex	The network fabric. The wave: data flowing between machines.
`[#]`	kanon	The governance ledger. The hash mark: the cryptographic chain.
`[⊞]`	kura	The registry. A grid of cells: a structured catalog.
`[◇]`	kore	The verified kernel. The diamond: formally verified, unbreakable.
`[Ξ]`	kodex	The text-first rendering surface. Three lines on a page.
`[▷]`	kanvas	The graphical interface layer. Outward-facing, presenting.
`[♡]`	kardia	koda’s core personality. The heart of cognition.

Execution glyphs

These represent step types at runtime. They appear in Kine traces, step timelines, and monitoring. Color indicates status: blue = running, green = completed, red = failed.

Glyph	Step type	What it means
`[≡]`	`:compute`	Pure computation. Structured evaluation, no effects.
`[◎]`	`:reason`	Focused reasoning. An LLM, symbolic planner, or solver is thinking.
`[○]`	`:remember` read	Memory recall. Reaching into stored knowledge.
`[◉]`	`:remember` write	Memory store. Writing new knowledge.
`[→]`	`:call`	Invoking another machine. Directed action, delegation.
`[⊳]`	`:decide`	Branch point. Forking into paths based on a condition.
`[…]`	`:await`	Suspended. Waiting for external input, webhook, or timer.
`[⇄]`	network	Data exchange. Bidirectional communication via kortex.

Governance glyphs

These represent what the runtime decided. They appear alongside execution glyphs in traces and audit logs.

Glyph	What it means
`[√]`	Allow. All governance checks passed.
`[⊘]`	Deny. Governance intercepted. Capability not declared, budget exceeded, or policy violated.
`[?]`	Hold. Requires human review before proceeding.
`[x]`	Terminate. Forced stop. Circuit breaker, timeout, or kill signal.
`[+]`	Recorded. A ledger event was written. The hash chain extended.

Signal glyph

Glyph	What it means
`[!]`	Signal. Something needs attention. Run failure, governance alert, or system event.

Reading a trace

An execution trace is a sequence of glyphs. Each line tells you what happened, what was checked, and what decided what.

[*] emailTriager                        run started
  [○] recall previous_context           reading memory
  [√]                                   governance: allowed
  [◎] classify                          reasoning with claude-sonnet
  [√]                                   governance: allowed
  [⊳] route                            deciding: urgency == "high"?
    [?] send_reply                      hold: awaiting human approval
    [√] approved by [email protected]    governance: approved
    [→] @mashin/actions/slack/post      calling external machine
    [[*]] slack_post                    nested execution
      [⇄] POST api.slack.com/chat      network call
      [√]                               governance: allowed
    [[*]] done                          nested execution complete
  [+] behavioral ledger                 hash chain event recorded
  [→] {escalated: true, response: ...}  final output
[*] emailTriager                        run complete (1.2s, $0.003)

A person unfamiliar with mashin can read this trace and understand what happened. That is the test.

In terminal output

Every glyph has an ASCII fallback for terminals without Unicode:

$ mashin run emailTriager --input '{"email": "..."}'
[*] emailTriager
  [o] recall previous_context     [v]
  [@@] classify                   [v]
  [|>] route
    [?] send_reply               hold: awaiting approval...
    [v] approved
    [->] slack/post              [[.]] [<>] POST api.slack.com [v]
  [+] ledger
  [->] {escalated: true}
[*] done (1.2s, $0.003)

In error messages

The glyph tells you the category before you read the text:

[⊘] Governance denied: capability "net.http" not declared
    Machine: emailTriager
    Step: fetch_data (line 23)

[x] Run terminated: budget exceeded ($0.50 limit, $0.51 spent)
    Machine: research_agent

[?] Hold: awaiting approval for send_email
    Machine: emailTriager
    Approve: mashin approve run_01JQ... step send_email

[!] Signal: run failed
    Machine: emailTriager
    Error: SMTP connection refused

Color mapping

Colors are symbolic. Each carries a single meaning. Color reinforces but is never required; the glyph alone must be sufficient.

Color	Hex	Symbolic meaning	Used with
Emerald green (brand)	`#10B981`	Identity, life, intelligence	`[*]` `[∴]` `[◇]` all identity glyphs
Green		Allowed, verified, completed	`[√]`
Amber		Attention, governance, hold	`[?]` `[…]` `[!]`
Red		Denied, terminated, boundary	`[⊘]` `[x]`
Blue		Active, thinking, in motion	`[◎]` `[≡]` `[→]` `[⊳]`
Gray		Recorded, structural, at rest	`[+]`

Neutrals (structure) + Emerald green (intent) + Amber (governance) + Red (boundaries) = meaningful system.

Design constraints

Bracket frame: every glyph is contained in [ ]. The governance boundary made visual.
Typographic only: interior symbols are mathematical, geometric, or punctuation. No emoji, no pictographs.
Monochrome capable: every glyph works in a single color.
Terminal renderable: every glyph has a plain-text ASCII fallback.
1:1 mapping: every symbol has exactly one meaning across all contexts.

Implementation

React:

import { Glyph } from '@mashin/kodex'

<Glyph type="reason" state="active" />    // [◎] in blue, pulsing
<Glyph type="verified" state="success" /> // [√] in green
<Glyph type="denied" state="blocked" />   // [⊘] in red

SwiftUI:

GlyphView(glyph: .reason, state: .active, size: .compact)
GlyphView(glyph: .verified, state: .success)

Terminal (Elixir):

IO.puts("[@@] classify    [v]")
IO.puts("[|>] route")
IO.puts("  [?] send_reply    hold: awaiting approval")