theus 2.1.4

Theus Agentic Framework - Industrial Grade Process-Oriented Programming (POP)

Theus: Process-Oriented Operating System for Python

"Data is the Asset. Code is the Liability. Theus protects the Asset."

Theus is a next-generation architectural framework that treats your application not as a collection of objects, but as a deterministic workflow of processes. It introduces the Process-Oriented Programming (POP) paradigm to solve the chaos of state management in complex systems like AI Agents, Core Banking, and Industrial Automation.

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🌪️ The Problem

In modern software (OOP, EDA, Microservices), the biggest source of bugs is State Management:

• Implicit Mutations: Who changed user.balance? Was it the PaymentService or the RefundHandler?
• Race Conditions: Transient events corrupting persistent data.
• Zombie State: Old references pointing to stale data.
• Audit Gaps: We log what happened, but we can't mathematically prove why it was allowed.

🛡️ The Theus Solution

Theus acts as a micro-kernel for your logic, enforcing strict architectural invariants at runtime:

1. The 3-Axis Context Model

State is no longer a "bag of variables". It is a 3D space defined by:

• Layer: Global (Config), Domain (Session), Local (Process).
• Semantic: Input (Read-only), Output (Write-only).
• Zone:
  • DATA: Persistent Assets (Replayable).
  • SIGNAL: Transient Events (Reset on Read).
  • META: Observability (Logs/Traces).

                                     [Y] SEMANTIC
                             (Input, Output, SideEffect, Error)
                                      ^
                                      |
                                      |
                                      |                +------+------+
                                      |               /|             /|
                                      +--------------+ |  CONTEXT   + |----------> [Z] ZONE
                                     /               | |  OBJECT    | |      (Data, Signal, Meta)
                                    /                | +------------+ |
                                   /                 |/             |/
                                  /                  +------+------+
                                 v
                            [X] LAYER
                     (Global, Domain, Local)

2. Zero-Trust Memory

• Default Deny: Processes cannot access ANY data unless explicitly declared in a @process Contract.
• Immutability: Inputs are physically frozen (FrozenList, FrozenDict).
• Isolation: Signals cannot be used as Inputs for Business Logic (Architectural Boundary enforcement).

3. Industrial-Grade Audit

• Active Defense: Rules (min, max, regex) are enforced at Input/Output Gates.
• Severity Levels:
  • S (Safety): Emergency Stop.
  • A (Abort): Hard Stop Workflow.
  • B (Block): Rollback Transaction.
  • C (Campaign): Warning.
• Resilience: Configurable tolerance thresholds (e.g., "Allow 2 glitches, block on 3rd").

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📦 Installation

Theus requires Python 3.12+ to leverage advanced typing and dataclasses.

pip install theus

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⚡ Quick Start: Building a Bank

This example demonstrates Contracts, Zoning, and Transaction safety.

1. Define the Context (The Asset)

from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from theus.context import BaseSystemContext

@dataclass
class BankDomain:
    # DATA ZONE: Persistent Assets
    accounts: dict = field(default_factory=dict) # {user_id: balance}
    total_reserves: int = 1_000_000
    
    # SIGNAL ZONE: Control Flow
    sig_fraud_detected: bool = False

@dataclass
class BankSystem(BaseSystemContext):
    domain: BankDomain = field(default_factory=BankDomain)

2. Define the Process (The Logic)

from theus.contracts import process

@process(
    # STRICT CONTRACT
    inputs=['domain.accounts'],
    outputs=['domain.accounts', 'domain.total_reserves', 'domain.sig_fraud_detected'],
    errors=['ValueError']
)
def transfer(ctx, from_user: str, to_user: str, amount: int):
    # 1. Input Validation
    if amount <= 0:
        raise ValueError("Amount must be positive")
    
    # 2. Business Logic (Operating on Shadow Copies)
    # ctx.domain.accounts is a TrackedDict
    sender_bal = ctx.domain.accounts.get(from_user, 0)
    
    if sender_bal < amount:
        # Trigger Signal
        ctx.domain.sig_fraud_detected = True
        return "Failed: Insufficient Funds"

    # 3. Mutation (Optimistic Write)
    ctx.domain.accounts[from_user] -= amount
    ctx.domain.accounts[to_user] = ctx.domain.accounts.get(to_user, 0) + amount
    
    # 4. Invariant Update
    # (Note: reserves don't change in transfer, but we have write access just in case)
    
    return "Success"

3. Run with Safety (The Engine)

from theus.engine import TheusEngine

# Setup Data
sys_ctx = BankSystem()
sys_ctx.domain.accounts = {"Alice": 1000, "Bob": 0}

# Initialize Engine
engine = TheusEngine(sys_ctx, strict_mode=True)

# 🚀 PRO TIP: Auto-Discovery
# Instead of registering manually: engine.register_process("transfer", transfer)
# You can scan an entire directory (Theus will find all @process functions):
# engine.scan_and_register("src/processes")

engine.register_process("transfer", transfer)

# Execute
result = engine.run_process("transfer", from_user="Alice", to_user="Bob", amount=500)

print(f"Result: {result}")
print(f"Alice: {sys_ctx.domain.accounts['Alice']}") # 500

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🛠️ CLI Tools

Theus provides a powerful CLI suite to accelerate development and maintain architectural integrity.

• theus init <project_name>: Scaffolds a new project with the standard V2 structure (src/, specs/, workflows/).
• theus audit gen-spec: Scans your @process functions and automatically populates specs/audit_recipe.yaml with rule skeletons.
• theus audit inspect <process_name>: Inspects the effective audit rules, side effects, and error contracts for a specific process.
• theus schema gen: Infers and generates specs/context_schema.yaml from your Python Dataclass definitions.

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🧠 Advanced Architecture

The Transaction Engine

Theus uses a Hybrid Transaction Model:

• Scalars: Updated in-place with an Undo Log (for speed).
• Collections: Updated via Shadow Copy (for safety). If a process crashes or is blocked by Audit, Theus rolls back the entire state instantly.

The Audit Recipe (audit.yaml)

Decouple your business rules from your code.

process_recipes:
  transfer:
    inputs:
      - field: "amount"
        max: 10000        # Max transfer limit
        level: "B"        # Block transaction
    outputs:
      - field: "domain.total_reserves"
        min: 0            # Reserves must never be negative
        level: "S"        # Safety Interlock (Stop System)

The Orchestrator (FSM)

Manage complex flows using workflow.yaml:

states:
  IDLE:
    events:
      CMD_TX: "PROCESSING"
  PROCESSING:
    entry: "transfer"
    events:
      EVT_SUCCESS: "NOTIFY"
      EVT_FAIL: "IDLE"

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📚 Documentation

• POP Whitepaper v2.0: The formal theoretical basis.
• Theus Master Class: 15-Chapter Zero-to-Hero Tutorial.
• AI Developer Guide: Prompt context for LLMs.

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⚖️ License

• Software: MIT License.
• Whitepaper: CC-BY 4.0.

Maintained by: Hoàng Đỗ Huy