---
id: LSN-0070
ticket: pbs-lsp-document-symbols-outline
title: PBS outline is an AST-backed document-symbol tree
created: 2026-09-21
tags: [studio, lsp, vscode, compiler-pbs, editor, outline, document-symbols]
---

# PBS outline is an AST-backed document-symbol tree

## Original Problem

PBS already had compiler-backed completion, hover, signature help, go-to-definition (`LSN-0068`), and find-references (`LSN-0069`). VS Code Outline stayed empty. Long `.pbs` files had to be scanned by hand.

The risk was building outline from semantic success (so the tree vanishes while typing), flattening to `SymbolInformation`, inventing a Document Symbol SPI, or stuffing workspace search and folding into the same payload.

## Consolidated Decision

PBS Document Symbols is the LSP projection of the **named declaration tree of the open `.pbs` file**, with the **recovered AST as backbone**.

Durable locks from `DEC-0054` (AGD-0044 Q1 A, Q2 AST tree, Q3 A, Q4 A, Q5 A, Q6 `.pbs`-only, Q7 existing kinds):

1. Presence, hierarchy, and ranges come from the document AST. Kind and `detail` may use cheap semantic enrichment. Semantics must not drop a named declaration still in the syntax tree, and must not require full analysis.
2. Named `TopDecl` plus syntactic members:
   - `fn` → Function, no children;
   - `declare struct` → Struct, children: fields, `ctor`s, methods;
   - `declare service` → Service, children: methods;
   - `declare contract` → Contract, children: signatures as methods;
   - `declare host` → Host, children: signatures;
   - `declare builtin type` → Builtin type, children: projection fields and signatures;
   - `declare enum` → Enum, children: cases;
   - `declare error` → Error, children: labels;
   - `declare callback` → Callback, no children;
   - `declare global` / `const` → Global / Const, no children;
   - `implements Contract for Owner` → top-level Contract named `contractName`, `detail` = owner name, children: methods.
   Locals, parameters, `this`, imports, and comments stay out. Private fields stay in. Overloads stay siblings. Host and builtin type appear only if the open file declares them.
3. Recovered AST is enough. Unnamed `InvalidDecl` is omitted. Named decls survive later semantic errors. No `PbsAst.File` → empty list. Do not invent nodes from text or token pairs.
4. Keep the capability on aggregated `FrontendLanguageService.documentSymbols` (default empty) plus a hierarchical DTO (`name`, `kind`, optional `detail`, range offsets, selection offsets, `children`). No file path on the DTO. PBS builds the tree in `prometeu-frontend-pbs`. Common LSP must not import `p.studio.compiler.pbs.*`. No Document Symbol SPI.
5. Advertise `documentSymbolProvider`. Payload is hierarchical `DocumentSymbol`, not flat `SymbolInformation`. `range` is the declaration span. `selectionRange` is the name span only if the AST already has one; this wave reuses the declaration span. Do not scan tokens for identifier spans. VS Code stays a thin client.
6. First wave is the current `.pbs` only. Out: imported supplementals, `mod.barrel`, locals, parameters, imports, comments, virtual documents, workspace symbols, folding, rename, snapshot cache. Server order is AST declaration order, not alphabetical.
7. Reuse `FrontendSymbolKind` / `PbsEditorialSymbolKind`. LSP projects to the closest host `SymbolKind`. Name is the identifier. `detail` may carry the AST signature (`(a: int) -> int`). Attributes such as `[Init]` do not enter the name.

Outline does not jump to another file. The physical-file destination policy of definition/references is not the outline policy.

Spec 23 §8.3 now also states: document symbols are the named declaration tree of the requested document; recovered syntax is enough; a missing syntax tree is empty; this is not a workspace index, folding ranges, or a foreign-file navigation list.

## Final Implementation

| Layer | What landed |
|---|---|
| PBS editorial | `PbsAstDocumentSymbols` walks `PbsAst.File.topDecls` in source order. `PbsEditorialSupportService.documentSymbols` delegates to that walk. |
| Generic contract | `FrontendLanguageService.documentSymbols` defaults to `List.of()`. `FrontendDocumentSymbol` is hierarchical and pathless. |
| PBS mapping | `PBSFrontendLanguageService` requires `editorialContext.syntaxTree()` to be `PbsAst.File`. Barrels and unknown trees stay empty. Kinds map with `valueOf(kind.name())`. |
| LSP | `documentSymbolProvider`, `textDocument/documentSymbol`, hierarchical `DocumentSymbol`. Nested enum/error children project to `EnumMember`. Compile-only frontends stay empty. |
| VS Code | Unchanged thin client. |

`mod.barrel` is assembled as `BarrelFile`, not `PbsAst.File`, so `astByFile` has no barrel outline. Empty is the honest first-wave result.

Error case labels have no per-label span in the AST. Children reuse the parent `ErrorDecl` span rather than scanning tokens.

## Examples

Outline of a file is the declarations in that file, not imports or locals:

```pbs
import { Log } from @sdk:log;

fn helper() -> int { return 42; }

fn frame() -> void {
  let local = 1;
  helper(local);
}
```

Outline: `helper`, `frame`. Not `Log`, not `local`.

Struct members and overloads as siblings:

```pbs
declare struct Vec(x: int) {
  ctor make(x: int) { return; }
  fn blend(dx: int, dy: int) -> int { return dx; }
}

fn helper() -> int { return 42; }
fn helper(value: int) -> int { return value; }
```

Outline: `Vec` (`x`, `make`, `blend`), then two `helper` siblings. Private field `x` is present. `detail` on `blend` is `(dx: int, dy: int) -> int`.

Recovered parse keeps the named decl:

```pbs
declare ;
fn ok() -> int { return 1; }
```

Outline: `ok`. The unnamed `InvalidDecl` is omitted.

`[Init] fn init()` still names the symbol `init`.

`implements TickLike for Point` is a top-level node named `TickLike` with detail `Point`.

## Pitfalls

Do not wait for semantic analysis to succeed before showing outline. The tree must survive broken intermediate edits.

Do not omit private fields because they are not in `mod.barrel`. Outline is for the author of this file.

Do not collapse overloads. AST identity forbids merging declaration sets.

Do not walk `File.imports` or supplemental imported `TopDecl`s. Those symbols are not declared in this document.

Do not implement outline for `mod.barrel` in this contract. Barrel AST is a different root. Empty is correct until a later decision.

Do not scan tokens to invent a tighter `selectionRange`. This wave uses the declaration span.

Do not put a file path on `FrontendDocumentSymbol`. The host already has the document URI. Outline is not go-to-definition.

Do not reuse the physical-file jump rule of `LSN-0068` as an outline destination policy. Clicking outline stays inside the buffer.

Do not overload document symbols with folding or scope guides (`LSN-0034`, `AGD-0053`).

Do not split a Document Symbol SPI “for future languages”. PBS is a real consumer of `FrontendLanguageService` (`LSN-0067`).

Do not treat this lesson as closing workspace symbols, folding, rename, document links, or hierarchy.

## References

- Agenda: `AGD-0044` (Q1 A, Q2 AST tree, Q3 A, Q4 A, Q5 A, Q6 `.pbs`-only, Q7 existing kinds)
- Decision: `DEC-0054`
- Plan: `PLN-0133`
- Spec 23 §8.3 — optional document symbols; recovered AST tree of the requested document
- `LSN-0068` — definition is a jump; outline is not
- `LSN-0069` — references invert definition identity
- `LSN-0034` — do not overload document symbols with structural anchors
- `LSN-0058` — generic `FrontendLanguageService` for LSP
- `LSN-0047` — protocol stays in `lsp-v1`; compiler owns semantics
- `LSN-0067` — no SPI without a real in-repo consumer
- Still open: `AGD-0045` workspace symbols, `AGD-0046` rename, `AGD-0051` snapshots, `AGD-0053` folding, `AGD-0055` document links, `AGD-0056` hierarchy