This guide is the tour. The canonical contract — what the
compiler actually enforces — lives in the spec/ directory at
the repository root. When the guide and the spec disagree, the
spec wins; when you need the exact rule, an edge case, or a
diagnostic’s meaning, go there.
AGENTS.md — the load-bearing prompt for
agents writing .hl. It condenses the six idiomatic patterns,
the “what’s not in the language” reflexes, and the formal
design model into one file. Excellent for a human, too.
Working programs — crates/hale-codegen/tests/fixtures/examples/
holds ~70 small per-feature programs, numbered. Reading a few
near your target shape is the fastest way to see real,
compiling Hale.