LLM-powered logical reasoning with Prolog - Calculator for logic
Project description
prolog-reasoner
SWI-Prolog as a "logic calculator" for LLMs — available as an MCP server and a Python library.
LLMs excel at natural language but struggle with formal logic. Prolog excels at logical reasoning but can't process natural language. prolog-reasoner bridges this gap by exposing SWI-Prolog execution to LLMs through two complementary surfaces:
- MCP server — the connected LLM (e.g. Claude) writes Prolog and executes it via the server. No LLM API key needed on the server side.
- Python library — a full NL→Prolog pipeline with self-correction, for programs that don't have an LLM in the loop. Requires an OpenAI or Anthropic API key.
Both surfaces share the same Prolog executor; the library adds an LLM-based translator on top.
Features
- MCP tool (
execute_prolog): run arbitrary SWI-Prolog code with a query - CLP(FD) support: constraint logic programming for scheduling and optimization
- Negation-as-failure, recursion, all standard SWI-Prolog features
- Transparent intermediate representation: inspect / modify Prolog before execution
- Library mode: NL→Prolog translation with self-correction loop (OpenAI / Anthropic)
Requirements
- Python ≥ 3.10
- SWI-Prolog installed and on PATH (≥ 9.0)
- API key for OpenAI or Anthropic — only for library mode, not for the MCP server
Installation
# MCP server only (no LLM dependencies)
pip install prolog-reasoner
# Library with OpenAI
pip install prolog-reasoner[openai]
# Library with Anthropic
pip install prolog-reasoner[anthropic]
# Both providers
pip install prolog-reasoner[all]
MCP Server Setup
The MCP server exposes a single tool, execute_prolog, that runs Prolog code written by the connected LLM. It does not call any external LLM API, so no API key is required.
Claude Desktop / Claude Code
{
"mcpServers": {
"prolog-reasoner": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["prolog-reasoner"]
}
}
}
Or, if prolog-reasoner is installed directly:
{
"mcpServers": {
"prolog-reasoner": {
"command": "prolog-reasoner"
}
}
}
Docker (SWI-Prolog bundled)
Use Docker if you don't want to install SWI-Prolog locally:
docker build -f docker/Dockerfile -t prolog-reasoner .
{
"mcpServers": {
"prolog-reasoner": {
"command": "docker",
"args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "prolog-reasoner"]
}
}
}
Tool reference
execute_prolog(prolog_code, query, max_results=100)
prolog_code— Prolog facts and rules (string)query— Prolog query to run, e.g."mortal(X)"(string)max_results— cap the number of solutions returned (default 100)
Returns a JSON object with success, output, query, error, and metadata (execution time, result count, truncated flag).
Library Usage
The library exposes PrologExecutor (Prolog-only, no LLM) and PrologReasoner (NL→Prolog pipeline, needs an LLM API key).
Execute Prolog directly (no LLM)
import asyncio
from prolog_reasoner.config import Settings
from prolog_reasoner.executor import PrologExecutor
async def main():
settings = Settings() # no API key needed
executor = PrologExecutor(settings)
result = await executor.execute(
prolog_code="human(socrates). mortal(X) :- human(X).",
query="mortal(X)",
)
print(result.output) # mortal(socrates)
asyncio.run(main())
Full NL→Prolog pipeline (requires LLM API key)
import asyncio
from prolog_reasoner import PrologReasoner, TranslationRequest, ExecutionRequest
from prolog_reasoner.config import Settings
from prolog_reasoner.executor import PrologExecutor
from prolog_reasoner.translator import PrologTranslator
from prolog_reasoner.llm_client import LLMClient
async def main():
settings = Settings(llm_api_key="sk-...") # from env or explicit
llm = LLMClient(
provider=settings.llm_provider,
api_key=settings.llm_api_key,
model=settings.llm_model,
timeout_seconds=settings.llm_timeout_seconds,
)
reasoner = PrologReasoner(
translator=PrologTranslator(llm, settings),
executor=PrologExecutor(settings),
)
translation = await reasoner.translate(
TranslationRequest(query="Socrates is human. All humans are mortal. Is Socrates mortal?")
)
print(translation.prolog_code)
result = await reasoner.execute(
ExecutionRequest(prolog_code=translation.prolog_code, query=translation.suggested_query)
)
print(result.output)
asyncio.run(main())
Configuration
All settings via environment variables (prefix PROLOG_REASONER_):
| Variable | Default | Required for |
|---|---|---|
LLM_PROVIDER |
openai |
library (openai or anthropic) |
LLM_API_KEY |
"" |
library only — leave unset for MCP |
LLM_MODEL |
gpt-5.4-mini |
library |
LLM_TEMPERATURE |
0.0 |
library |
LLM_TIMEOUT_SECONDS |
30.0 |
library |
SWIPL_PATH |
swipl |
both |
EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_SECONDS |
10.0 |
both |
LOG_LEVEL |
INFO |
both |
Benchmark
benchmarks/ contains 10 logic problems across 5 categories (deduction, transitive, constraint, contradiction, multi-step) to compare LLM-only reasoning vs LLM+Prolog reasoning. The benchmark exercises the library path (translator + executor), since it requires the NL→Prolog step.
docker run --rm -e PROLOG_REASONER_LLM_API_KEY=sk-... \
prolog-reasoner-dev python benchmarks/run_benchmark.py
Results are saved to benchmarks/results.json.
Development
# Build dev image
docker build -f docker/Dockerfile -t prolog-reasoner-dev .
# Run tests (no API key needed — LLM calls are mocked)
docker run --rm prolog-reasoner-dev
# With coverage
docker run --rm prolog-reasoner-dev pytest tests/ -v --cov=prolog_reasoner
# Or via docker compose
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml run --rm test
License
MIT
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