prometeu-runtime/docs/specs/runtime/16-host-abi-and-syscalls.md

Host ABI and Syscalls

Domain: host ABI structure Function: normative

This chapter defines the structural ABI between the PVM and the host environment.

It focuses on:

• syscall identity;
• load-time resolution;
• instruction-level call semantics;
• metadata shape;
• argument and return-slot contract.

Operational policies such as capabilities, fault classes, determinism, GC interaction, budgeting, and blocking are split into a companion chapter.

1 Design Principles

The syscall ABI follows these rules:

1. Stack-based ABI: arguments and return values are passed through VM slots.
2. Canonical identity: host services are named by stable (module, name, version).
3. Load-time resolution: symbolic host bindings are resolved before execution.
4. Metadata-driven execution: arity and result shape come from syscall metadata.
5. Not first-class: syscalls are callable but not ordinary function values.
6. Status-first operational policy: across syscall domains, operationally observable failure must surface through explicit status values, while only structural violations fault as Trap and only internal invariant breaks escalate as Panic.

2 Canonical Syscall Identity

Syscalls are identified by a canonical triple:

(module, name, version)

Example:

("gfx", "present", 1)
("audio", "play", 2)

This identity is:

• language-independent;
• toolchain-stable;
• used for linking and capability gating.

Input queries are VM-owned intrinsic calls in v1 and are outside the syscall identity space.

3 Syscall Resolution

The host maintains a registry:

(module, name, version) -> syscall_id

At load time:

1. the cartridge declares required syscalls by canonical identity;
2. bytecode encodes host-backed call sites as HOSTCALL <sysc_index>;
3. the loader validates and resolves those identities;
4. the loader rewrites HOSTCALL <sysc_index> into SYSCALL <id>;
5. the executable image uses only numeric syscall ids at runtime.

Raw SYSCALL <id> is not valid in a PBX pre-load artifact and must be rejected there.

4 Syscall Instruction Semantics

Pre-load artifact form:

HOSTCALL <sysc_index>

Final executable form:

SYSCALL <id>

Where:

• <sysc_index> indexes the program-declared syscall table;
• <id> is the final numeric host syscall id.

Execution steps:

1. the VM looks up syscall metadata by <id>;
2. the VM ensures the argument contract is satisfiable;
3. the syscall executes in the host environment;
4. the syscall produces exactly the declared ret_slots.

The execution result must respect the canonical runtime boundary defined with 16a-syscall-policies.md:

• successful or operationally rejected execution returns values in the declared stack shape;
• Trap is reserved for structural ABI misuse or invalid call shape;
• Panic is reserved for runtime/host invariant failure.

5 Syscall Metadata Table

Each syscall is defined by metadata.

Conceptual structure:

SyscallMeta {
    id: u32
    module: string
    name: string
    version: u16
    arg_slots: u8
    ret_slots: u8
    capability: CapabilityId
    may_allocate: bool
    cost_hint: u32
}

Fields:

Field	Description
id	Unique numeric syscall identifier
module	Canonical module name
name	Canonical syscall name
version	ABI version of the syscall
arg_slots	Number of input stack slots
ret_slots	Number of return stack slots
capability	Required capability
may_allocate	Whether the syscall may allocate VM heap objects
cost_hint	Expected cycle cost

The loader uses this table to resolve identities and validate declared ABI shape.

6 Arguments and Return Values

Syscalls use the same slot-oriented argument/return philosophy as ordinary calls.

Argument passing

Arguments are pushed before the syscall.

Example:

push a
push b
SYSCALL X

Return values

After execution, the syscall leaves exactly ret_slots values on the stack.

Composite results use multiple stack slots rather than implicit hidden structures.

Return shape must also follow the transversal status-first policy in 16a-syscall-policies.md:

• when a syscall exposes operational failure, status:int is the canonical first return slot;
• operations with observable operational failure paths must expose that explicit status:int return;
• operations with no real operational error path may remain void (ret_slots = 0);
• if extra payload is returned together with status, the payload must follow the leading status slot in the declared stack shape;
• stack shape remains strict in both cases and must match syscall metadata exactly.

MEMCARD game surface (mem, v1)

The game memcard profile uses module mem with status-first return shapes. mem is a domain layer backed by runtime fs (it is not a separate storage backend).

Canonical operations in v1 are:

• mem.slot_count() -> (status, count)
• mem.slot_stat(slot) -> (status, state, used_bytes, generation, checksum)
• mem.slot_read(slot, offset, max_bytes) -> (status, payload_hex, bytes_read)
• mem.slot_write(slot, offset, payload_hex) -> (status, bytes_written)
• mem.slot_commit(slot) -> status
• mem.slot_clear(slot) -> status

Semantics and domain status catalog are defined by 08-save-memory-and-memcard.md.

Asset surface (asset, v1)

The asset runtime surface also follows the status-first ABI shape.

Canonical operations in v1 are:

• asset.load(asset_id, slot) -> (status, handle)
• asset.status(handle) -> status
• asset.commit(handle) -> status
• asset.cancel(handle) -> status

For asset.load:

• asset_id is a signed 32-bit runtime identity;
• slot is the target slot index;
• bank kind is resolved from asset_table by asset_id, not supplied by the caller.

7 Syscalls as Callable Entities (Not First-Class)

Syscalls behave like call sites, not like first-class guest values.

This means:

• syscalls can be invoked;
• syscalls cannot be stored in variables;
• syscalls cannot be passed as function values;
• syscalls cannot be returned as closures.

Only user-defined functions and closures are first-class.

8 Relationship to Other Specs

• 16a-syscall-policies.md defines operational policies layered on top of this ABI.
• 15-asset-management.md defines asset-domain semantics behind some syscall families.
• 08-save-memory-and-memcard.md defines persistent save-domain semantics.
• 02a-vm-values-and-calling-convention.md defines the slot/call philosophy reused by the syscall ABI.