Format

The format (fmt) command parses Strata Text and renders it into a normalized, inspection-friendly form.

It exists to help humans see what Strata thinks the value is, without changing semantics or producing binary output.

---

Purpose

format is a developer experience tool, not a canonical transformation.

It is used to:

• Validate Strata Text syntax

• Inspect parsed structure

• Debug parsing issues

• Normalize layout for readability

• Confirm what will be encoded

It does not produce Strata Core Binary.

---

Command

strata-js fmt <input.st>

---

What it does

The command performs the following steps:

1. Reads the .st file as UTF-8 text

2. Parses it using the Strata Text grammar

3. Converts the parsed value into an inspectable representation

4. Prints formatted JSON to stdout

The output reflects the exact parsed value, not a reinterpreted one.

---

Output format

The output is:

• JSON

• Pretty-printed

• Deterministic

• Intended for humans

Rules:

• Integers are rendered as strings

• Bytes are rendered as byte arrays

• Maps preserve logical structure

• Lists preserve order

This format is not Strata Text and not Strata Core Binary.

---

Example

Input:

config { 
    enabled: true 
    retries: 3 
    name: "strata" 
    empty: null 
}

Output:

{ 
    "config": { 
        "enabled": true, 
        "retries": "3", 
        "name": "strata", 
        "empty": null 
    } 
}

---

Canonical guarantees

format does not guarantee:

• Canonical byte layout

• Canonical key ordering

• Hash stability

Those guarantees only apply to .scb encoding.

However:

• If fmt output changes, the parser behavior changed

• If parser behavior changes, encoding and hashing may change

• Therefore, fmt is a diagnostic window into determinism

---

Failure modes

Formatting fails if:

• The input is not valid Strata Text

• Integers exceed the allowed range

• Strings contain invalid escapes

• Bytes literals are malformed

Errors include precise location information (line, column, offset).

---

What format does NOT do

The command does not:

• Encode to .scb

• Hash values

• Validate canonical ordering

• Normalize semantic meaning

• Accept non-canonical binary input

It operates strictly at the Strata Text layer.

---

Relationship to other commands

• Use fmt to inspect

• Use compile to encode

• Use hash to fingerprint

• Use decode to inspect binary data

Each command has a single responsibility.

---

Summary

format answers one question:

“What value does this Strata Text actually describe?”

It is a visibility tool. It is not a canonical transformation. It exists to keep humans honest while Strata stays exact.