Architecture / Technical preview

Keep the contract.
Compose the transformations.

Kalo separates specifications from their representations and the portable plugins that compile between them. Pipelines make the graph runnable.

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The model

Five layers. Explicit boundaries.

Each layer has an identity and a narrow job. That is what makes the system extensible without making every part know about every other part.

01

Specification

Names the stable conceptual contract and its version.

KA:MO1
02

Format

Defines a concrete representation of that contract.

KA:MO1:YAML1
03

Plugin

Declares compatible inputs and outputs, then performs one transformation.

plugin.wasm
04

Store

Connects a format to local files, a Git ref, or another declared boundary.

local / git
05

Pipeline

Orders plugins into stages and gives the workflow a stable name.

compile

Composition

A pipeline is a graph you can inspect.

Stages sequence the work. Steps invoke versioned plugins. Stores declare where typed inputs come from and where typed outputs go.

Branch to multiple outputsChain one output into the next inputKeep boundaries visible in kalo.yaml
STOREMorphe YAMLKA:MO1:YAML1
WASM PLUGINcompile
FORMATGo
FORMATTypeScript
FORMATPostgreSQL

Plugin contract

Inputs and outputs are declared.

A plugin configuration connects named inputs and one output to explicit formats and stores. The plugin runs at the WASM boundary; the pipeline owns orchestration.

kalo.yamlcontract
plugins:
  "@kalo-build/plugin-morphe-go-struct":
    version: "v1.0.0"
    inputs:
      schema:
        format: "KA:MO1:YAML1"
        store: "KA_MO_YAML"
    output:
      format: "KA:MO1:GO1"
      store: "KA_MO_GO"

Resolution + execution

Make the moving parts explicit.

01

Resolve

kalo install resolves declared plugins and caches the exact WASM artifacts.

02

Lock

kalo.lock records plugin versions, cached locations, and resolved SHA-256 hashes.

03

Verify

Execution verifies plugin bytes against the locked hash and fails closed on a mismatch.

04

Constrain

Optional flags support offline, network-denied, deterministic, read-only, time-bounded, and memory-bounded runs.

Deterministic execution is an explicit mode, and reproducibility still depends on the behavior of each plugin.

Extension model

One new contract.
One focused plugin.

New specifications, formats, stores, and plugins extend the graph without redefining the Kalo runtime.

Inspect the source ↗