Frontend Workflow

FOL now has a dedicated frontend layer above the compiler pipeline.

That layer is the fol tool itself.

The frontend is implemented in fol-frontend, and it is the user-facing workflow shell for:

• project/workspace setup
• fetch/update flows
• build/run/test/emit flows
• editor tooling dispatch under fol tool

The detailed reference has moved to the Tooling section:

• Tooling
• Frontend Workflow
• Tool Commands

Use this overview page only as the entrypoint pointer.

• workflow commands
• direct compile dispatch
• root help
• output rendering
• frontend diagnostics

So the root binary is no longer its own separate CLI implementation.

Current Boundary

The current frontend milestone is about local workflows and the first backend.

It already covers:

• project and workspace scaffolding
• documented build.fol package entry files for new projects
• root discovery
• package preparation through fol-package
• git-backed dependency fetching and materialization
• fol.lock writing, locked fetches, offline warm-cache fetches, and update flows
• workspace dependency/status reporting
• full V1 build/run/test orchestration
• routed workspace build/run/test/check entry through build.fol
• emitted Rust and lowered IR output
• editor-tooling entrypoints for parse, highlight, symbols, and LSP startup
• shell completions
• safe cleanup of build/cache/git/package-store roots
• frontend-owned direct compile routing

Future work is still expected around:

• richer package-store policy beyond the first git/store workflow
• lockfile/version solving beyond the current pinned git contract
• additional backend targets