# mashin documentation
# https://docs.mashin.live

## What this site is

docs.mashin.live is the technical documentation for mashin, a platform
for building deterministic, auditable intelligent systems using the
mashinTalk language.

## What you will find here

- Getting started guides: installation, first machine, deployment
- Language guide: mashinTalk syntax, step types, sections, stores
- Platform documentation: governance, ledger, evolution, networking
- Reference: every step type, section, store, type, and surface
- Courses: "Introduction to mashin" and "Introduction to Agents"
- Tooling: CLI, editor support (VS Code, Zed), LSP

## Key concepts

- A machine is a .mashin file that describes an AI workflow
- Step types: compute (pure), reason (LLM), call (composition),
  remember/recall (memory), decide (control flow), await (async)
- Every effect goes through governed actions (@mashin/actions/*)
- Four I/O primitives: HTTP, File, Exec, Database. Everything else
  is a machine built from those.
- The governance kernel is extracted from Rocq proofs (618+ theorems)

## mashinTalk syntax overview

mashinTalk uses keyword-hierarchy syntax (no braces). A machine has
sections: accepts (inputs), responds with (outputs), implements (steps),
ensures (governance), verifies (tests). Steps are written as:

  compute name expression
  reason name
    task "prompt"
  call name, from: "@mashin/actions/http/get"
    url "https://example.com"

## Example machine

  machine greeter
    accepts
      name as text, required
    responds with
      greeting as text
    implements
      compute greet {greeting: "Hello, " + input.name + "!"}
    verifies
      test "greets by name"
        given {name: "World"}
        expect {greeting: "Hello, World!"}

## Related sites

- https://mashin.live: product home, papers, blog
- https://intentdrivencomputing.org: the paradigm (vendor-neutral)

## Author

Alan Lawrence McCann
Mashin, Inc.