🌀 Inference Programming Language

Inference is a programming language designed for building verifiable software. It is featured with static typing, explicit semantics, and formal verification capabilities available out of the box.

Inference allows for mathematically verifying code correctness without learning provers. Keep the implementation correct, even with vibecode.

Important

The project is in early development. Internal design and implementation are subject to change. So please be patient with us as we build out the language and tools.

Editor Support

Install the official VS Code extension for syntax highlighting:

Learn

• Inference homepage
• Access our Inference book for a guide on how to get started
• Inference Programming Language specification

Inference Suite CLI (infs)

infs is the unified toolchain CLI for Inference. It provides subcommands for building, managing, and working with Inference projects.

Build Command

The infs build command compiles a single .inf source file through three phases:

1. Parse (--parse) – Build the typed AST using tree-sitter
2. Analyze (--analyze) – Perform type checking and semantic validation (WIP)
3. Codegen (--codegen) – Emit WebAssembly binary with optional Rocq translation

You must specify at least one phase flag; phases run in canonical order (parse → analyze → codegen).

Basic Usage

# Via cargo
cargo run -p infs -- build path/to/file.inf --parse

# After building, call the binary directly
./target/debug/infs build path/to/file.inf --codegen -o

Output Flags

• -o – Generate WASM binary file in out/ directory
• -v – Generate Rocq (.v) translation file in out/ directory

Show Version

infs version
infs --version

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Usage / IO / Parse failure

Future Commands (Planned)

• infs install – Download and install toolchain versions
• infs new – Scaffold new projects
• infs doctor – Verify installation health
• infs (no args) – Launch TUI interface

Distribution

Prebuilt binaries are available for each release. Two CLI tools are distributed:

• infs - Full-featured toolchain CLI (recommended for all users)
• infc - Standalone compiler CLI (for direct compilation)

Release Artifacts

Platform	infs	infc
Linux x64	infs-linux-x64.tar.gz	infc-linux-x64.tar.gz
Windows x64	infs-windows-x64.zip	infc-windows-x64.zip
macOS ARM64	infs-macos-apple-silicon.tar.gz	infc-macos-apple-silicon.tar.gz

Directory Structure

<distribution-folder>/
├── infs (or infc)          # The CLI binary
├── bin/
│   ├── inf-llc            # LLVM compiler with Inference intrinsics
│   └── rust-lld           # WebAssembly linker
└── lib/                   # (Linux only)
    └── libLLVM.so.*       # LLVM shared library

Notes:

• On Linux, the LLVM shared library must be in the lib/ directory.
• On Windows, all required DLL files should be placed in the bin/ directory next to the executables.
• The CLI binaries automatically locate dependencies relative to their own location.
• No system LLVM installation is required for end users.

Building from Source

To build Inference from source, you'll need the required binary dependencies for your platform.

For detailed platform-specific setup instructions, see:

• Linux Development Setup
• macOS Development Setup
• Windows Development Setup

Required Binaries

Download the following files for your platform and place them in the specified directories:

Linux

• inf-llc: Download → Extract to external/bin/linux/
• rust-lld: Download → Extract to external/bin/linux/
• libLLVM: Download → Extract to external/lib/linux/

macOS

• inf-llc: Download → Extract to external/bin/macos/
• rust-lld: Download → Extract to external/bin/macos/

Windows

• inf-llc.exe: Download → Extract to external/bin/windows/
• rust-lld.exe: Download → Extract to external/bin/windows/

Build Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Inferara/inference.git
   cd inference

2. Download and extract the required binaries for your platform (see links above)

3. Make the binaries executable (Linux/macOS only):

   chmod +x external/bin/linux/inf-llc external/bin/linux/rust-lld    # Linux
   chmod +x external/bin/macos/inf-llc external/bin/macos/rust-lld    # macOS

4. Build the project:

   cargo build --release

The compiled binaries will be in target/release/ (infs and infc).

Build Commands

The workspace is configured for efficient development:

• cargo build - Builds only the core/ crates (faster for core development)
• cargo build-full - Builds the entire workspace, including tools and tests
• cargo test - Runs tests for core/ crates and the tests/ integration suite
• cargo test-full - Runs tests for all workspace members, including tools

Roadmap

Check out open issues.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details.