koine 0.8.1

A declarative, data-driven parser generator for creating languages, ASTs, and transpilers.

Koine

A declarative, data-driven parser generator for creating languages, ASTs, and transpilers with simple YAML.

Koine allows you to define a complete language pipeline—from validation to Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) generation to final code transpilation—using a single, human-readable JSON-compatible data structure. It separates the what (your language definition) from the how (the parsing engine).

Core Features

• Declarative: Define complex grammars entirely in YAML data. No code generation step required.
• Pipeline-based: Use Koine for simple validation, structured AST generation, or full transpilation.
• Powerful: Handles operator precedence, left/right associativity, lookaheads, and indentation-based syntax (see Roadmap).
• Language Agnostic: The Koine format is a specification. The engine can be implemented in any language (current implementation is Python).

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Installation

pip install koine

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Quick Start

Let's build a simple calculator that can parse 2 + 3 and transpile it to (add 2 3).

1. Create your grammar file, calc.yaml:

   # Note: This is a simplified rule for the quick start.
   # See the full grammar below for handling precedence.
   start_rule: expression
   rules:
     expression:
       ast: { structure: "left_associative_op" }
       sequence:
         - { rule: number }
         - zero_or_more:
             sequence:
               [{ rule: _ }, { rule: add_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: number }]
     add_op:
       ast: { leaf: true }
       literal: "+"
       transpile: { value: "add" }
     number:
       ast: { leaf: true, type: "number" }
       transpile: { use: "value" }
       regex: "\\d+"
     _:
       ast: { discard: true }
       regex: "[ \\t]*"
   

2. Use the Koine engine in main.py:

   import yaml
   from koine import Parser 
   
   with open("calc.yaml", "r") as f:
       grammar = yaml.safe_load(f)
   
   parser = Parser(grammar)
   result = parser.transpile("2 + 3")
   
   if result['status'] == 'success':
       print(f"Input: '2 + 3'")
       print(f"Output: {result['translation']}")
   

3. Run it:

   Input: '2 + 3'
   Output: (add 2 3)
   

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Overview

This document describes the JSON compatible grammar format for the Koine data-driven parser. The system is designed as a flexible pipeline that can be used for simple validation, structured data extraction (AST generation), or full-scale language translation (transpilation).

The core philosophy is to separate the what from the how. You define what the language looks like and what the output should be and the Koine engine handles how to parse and transform it.

This guide will walk through the three primary use cases, showing how to add complexity to the grammar definition at each stage using a calculator as a running example.

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Use Case 1: Validation

Goal: To answer the simple question, "Does this input string conform to my language's syntax?"

At this level, we only care about the structure of the language. We do not need an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) or a transpiled output. Therefore, we only use the Grammar Structure Keys. The ast and transpile directives are not needed and can be omitted entirely.

Full Example: A Validation-Only Calculator Grammar

This grammar can successfully parse valid mathematical expressions, but it produces no useful output beyond "success" or "failure".

validation_calculator.yaml

start_rule: expression

rules:
  expression:
    sequence:
      - { rule: term }
      - zero_or_more:
          sequence: [{ rule: _ }, { rule: add_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: term }]

  term:
    sequence:
      - { rule: power }
      - zero_or_more:
          sequence:
            [{ rule: _ }, { rule: mul_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: power }]

  power:
    sequence:
      - { rule: factor }
      - optional:
          sequence:
            [{ rule: _ }, { rule: power_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: power }]

  factor:
    choice:
      - { rule: number }
      - sequence:
          - { literal: "(" }
          - { rule: _ }
          - { rule: expression }
          - { rule: _ }
          - { literal: ")" }

  add_op:
    choice: [{ literal: "+" }, { literal: "-" }]

  mul_op:
    choice: [{ literal: "*" }, { literal: "/" }]

  power_op:
    literal: "^"

  number:
    regex: "-?\\d+"

  _:
    regex: "[ \\t]*"

Usage:

# Load the validation-only grammar
with open("validation_calculator.yaml", "r") as f:
    grammar = yaml.safe_load(f)

validator = Parser(grammar)
result = validator.parse("((2 + 3) * 4) ^ 5")

if result['status'] == 'success':
    # The 'ast' key will contain a raw, messy parse tree, which we ignore.
    print("Input string is a valid expression!")
else:
    print(f"Invalid: {result['message']}")

---

Use Case 2: Parsing to a Semantic AST

Goal: To validate the input string AND convert it into a clean, structured, and meaningful data representation (an AST).

This is the most common use case for parsing complex data. To achieve this, we build on the validation grammar by adding the ast directive block to our rules. This block tells the parser how to transform the raw parse tree into a clean AST by discarding whitespace, promoting nodes, and building specific structures. The transpile block is still not needed.

Full Example: An AST-Generating Calculator Grammar

We now add directives like discard, promote, leaf, and structure to produce a useful tree.

ast_calculator.yaml

start_rule: expression

rules:
  expression:
    ast: { structure: "left_associative_op" }
    sequence:
      - { rule: term }
      - zero_or_more:
          sequence: [{ rule: _ }, { rule: add_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: term }]

  term:
    ast: { structure: "left_associative_op" }
    sequence:
      - { rule: power }
      - zero_or_more:
          sequence:
            [{ rule: _ }, { rule: mul_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: power }]

  power:
    ast: { structure: "right_associative_op" }
    sequence:
      - { rule: factor }
      - optional:
          sequence:
            [{ rule: _ }, { rule: power_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: power }]

  factor:
    ast: { promote: true }
    choice:
      - { rule: number }
      - sequence:
          - { literal: "(" }
          - { rule: _ }
          - { rule: expression }
          - { rule: _ }
          - { literal: ")" }

  add_op:
    ast: { leaf: true }
    choice: [{ literal: "+" }, { literal: "-" }]

  mul_op:
    ast: { leaf: true }
    choice: [{ literal: "*" }, { literal: "/" }]

  power_op:
    ast: { leaf: true }
    literal: "^"

  number:
    ast: { leaf: true, type: "number" }
    regex: "-?\\d+"

  _:
    ast: { discard: true }
    regex: "[ \\t]*"

Usage:

# Load the AST-generating grammar
with open("ast_calculator.yaml", "r") as f:
    grammar = yaml.safe_load(f)

parser = Parser(grammar)
result = parser.parse("((2 + 3) * 4) ^ 5")

if result['status'] == 'success':
    print("Successfully parsed. AST:")
    # The result now contains a valuable 'ast' key with a clean tree
    print(json.dumps(result['ast'], indent=2))

Output AST:

{
  "tag": "binary_op",
  "op": {
    "tag": "power_op",
    "text": "^",
    "line": 1,
    "col": 16
  },
  "left": {
    "tag": "binary_op",
    "op": {
      "tag": "mul_op",
      "text": "*",
      "line": 1,
      "col": 10
    },
    "left": {
      "tag": "binary_op",
      "op": {
        "tag": "add_op",
        "text": "+",
        "line": 1,
        "col": 5
      },
      "left": {
        "tag": "number",
        "text": "2",
        "line": 1,
        "col": 3,
        "value": 2
      },
      "right": {
        "tag": "number",
        "text": "3",
        "line": 1,
        "col": 7,
        "value": 3
      }
    },
    "right": {
      "tag": "number",
      "text": "4",
      "line": 1,
      "col": 12,
      "value": 4
    }
  },
  "right": {
    "tag": "number",
    "text": "5",
    "line": 1,
    "col": 18,
    "value": 5
  }
}

---

Use Case 3: Full Transpilation

Goal: To validate the input, parse it to a clean AST, and then transform that AST into a different string format (e.g., from infix math to LISP-style s-expressions).

This is the full power of the pipeline. We use all three components: the grammar structure, the ast block, and now the transpile directive block. The transpile rules tell the final stage of the engine how to convert each AST node into a string.

Full Example: A Transpiling Calculator Grammar

We add transpile directives to our operator and number rules to define the target output format.

full_calculator_grammar.yaml

start_rule: expression

rules:
  expression:
    ast: { structure: "left_associative_op" }
    sequence:
      - { rule: term }
      - zero_or_more:
          sequence: [{ rule: _ }, { rule: add_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: term }]

  term:
    ast: { structure: "left_associative_op" }
    sequence:
      - { rule: power }
      - zero_or_more:
          sequence:
            [{ rule: _ }, { rule: mul_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: power }]

  power:
    ast: { structure: "right_associative_op" }
    sequence:
      - { rule: factor }
      - optional:
          sequence:
            [{ rule: _ }, { rule: power_op }, { rule: _ }, { rule: power }]

  factor:
    ast: { promote: true }
    choice:
      - { rule: number }
      - sequence:
          - { literal: "(" }
          - { rule: _ }
          - { rule: expression }
          - { rule: _ }
          - { literal: ")" }

  add_op:
    ast: { leaf: true }
    choice:
      - { literal: "+", transpile: { value: "add" } }
      - { literal: "-", transpile: { value: "sub" } }

  mul_op:
    ast: { leaf: true }
    choice:
      - { literal: "*", transpile: { value: "mul" } }
      - { literal: "/", transpile: { value: "div" } }

  power_op:
    ast: { leaf: true }
    literal: "^"
    transpile: { value: "pow" }

  number:
    ast: { leaf: true, type: "number" }
    transpile: { use: "value" }
    regex: "-?\\d+"

  _:
    ast: { discard: true }
    regex: "[ \\t]*"

Usage:

# Load the full grammar
with open("full_calculator_grammar.yaml", "r") as f:
    grammar = yaml.safe_load(f)

parser = Parser(grammar)
result = parser.transpile("((2 + 3) * 4) ^ 5")

if result['status'] == 'success':
    print("Parse successful. Transpiling AST...")
    print(f"Final Output: {result['translation']}")

Final Output:

Final Output: (pow (mul (add 2 3) 4) 5)

---

Full Grammar and Directive Reference

Grammar Structure Keys

These keys define the actual parsing logic.

Key	Description	Value Type	Example
literal	Matches an exact string of text.	string	{ literal: "if" }
regex	Matches text against a regular expression.	string	{ regex: "-?\\d+" }
rule	References another rule by its name.	string	{ rule: expression }
sequence	Matches a series of rules in a specific order.	list of rules	{ sequence: [ {rule: A}, {rule: B} ] }
choice	Matches one of several possible rules. Tries them in order.	list of rules	{ choice: [ {rule: A}, {rule: B} }
zero_or_more	Matches the given rule zero or more times (*).	A single rule	{ zero_or_more: {rule: A} }
one_or_more	Matches the given rule one or more times (+).	A single rule	{ one_or_more: {rule: A} }
optional	Matches the given rule zero or one time (?).	A single rule	{ optional: {rule: A} }
positive_lookahead	Asserts that the text ahead matches the rule, but does not consume text (&).	A single rule	{ positive_lookahead: {literal: "TO"} }
negative_lookahead	Asserts that the text ahead does not match the rule, but does not consume text (!).	A single rule	{ negative_lookahead: {literal: "END"} }

The ast Block

The ast block controls how the Abstract Syntax Tree is constructed for a given rule.

Key	Description	Example
tag	Renames the node in the final AST. Useful for creating cleaner, more abstract node types.	ast: { tag: "clone_to" }
discard	Throws away the node created by this rule. It will not appear in the AST. Essential for whitespace, comments, and syntactic sugar.	ast: { discard: true }
promote	Replaces the current node with its child node in the AST. This is used to simplify the tree by removing unnecessary intermediate nodes.	ast: { promote: true }
leaf	Marks this as a terminal node in the AST. It will have no children, even if it's composed of other rules. Its text and value are preserved.	ast: { leaf: true }
type	Adds a data type hint to a leaf node. Currently, type: "number" will cause the system to parse the node's text as a numeric value.	ast: { leaf: true, type: "number" }
name	In a sequence, assigns a name to a specific child. This causes the parent's children attribute in the AST to be a dictionary instead of a list.	{ rule: path, ast: { name: "repo" } }
structure	A powerful directive that automatically builds complex tree structures.	ast: { structure: "left_associative_op" }

Why Use tag?

The tag directive provides three powerful advantages: decoupling, abstraction, and clarity.

1. Decoupling Grammar from AST: The name of a rule often describes its syntactic role (what it does for parsing, like term or factor), while the tag describes its semantic meaning (what it is, like a binary_op). This allows the grammar to be structured for correct parsing (e.g., operator precedence) while producing a simple, semantic AST for the next stage.

2. Creating Abstract Concepts: A tag allows you to create a single, unified AST node type from multiple different syntactic forms. For example, a language might have let_statement and const_statement rules, but both can be given the tag variable_declaration, simplifying the code that consumes the AST.

3. Improving Grammar Readability: Sometimes, a rule needs a long, descriptive name to be clear (e.g., statement_ending_with_optional_semicolon), but you want a short, concise name in your AST (e.g., statement).

structure Types:

• "left_associative_op": Automatically builds a left-leaning binary operation tree. It expects the rule to have a sequence with two children: the left-hand side, and a zero_or_more of the operator and the right-hand side.
• "right_associative_op": Automatically builds a right-leaning binary operation tree. It expects the rule to have a sequence with two children: the left-hand side, and an optional recursive call containing the operator and the right-hand side.

The transpile Block

The transpile block controls how a finished AST node is converted into the final output string.

Key	Description	Example
template	Uses a Python f-string-like template to generate the output. Placeholders like {repo} are filled in from the AST node's named children.	transpile: { template: "(call {func} {args})" }
use	Uses a specific property from the AST node as the output. "use: "value" is for numbers. "use: "text" is for identifiers or string literals.	transpile: { use: "value" }
value	Provides a hardcoded string value as the output for this node. This is perfect for converting operators like + into function names like "add".	transpile: { value: "add" }

Roadmap

See our TODO.md for planned features, including:

• Integrated Stateful Lexer for indentation-based languages.

Author

The Koine engine was developed by Chris Bates.

• https://github.com/chrsbats

Acknowledgements

This project was made possible by the foundational ideas and early conceptual prototypes developed by Adam Griffiths. Their insights into creating a fully data-driven parsing pipeline were instrumental in shaping the final architecture and philosophy of Koine.

• https://github.com/adamlwgriffiths

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.