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[Critical] Natural Language Guards Emit Verbatim as Invalid Python #121
Description
Source
NLS Comprehensive Review (Feb 5, 2026) — Section 4
Description
When a guard is written in natural English rather than as a Python expression, the emitter passes it through verbatim, generating invalid Python.
Reproduction
GUARDS:
- divisor must not be zero -> ValueError("Cannot divide by zero")
Generates:
if not (divisor must not be zero):
raise ValueError('Cannot divide by zero')This is a SyntaxError.
Options (Design Decision Required)
- Guards are Python expressions only — validate at parse time, reject NL
- Guards are NL with a translation layer — build NL-to-Python translator for common patterns (
must not be zero->!= 0,must not be empty->len(x) > 0) - Guards have explicit syntax — e.g.,
REQUIRE: divisor != 0for code,GUARD: divisor must not be zerofor NL
Review recommends Option 3 as best for NLS's identity.
Current behavior
Silently generating broken Python is the worst option.
Severity
Critical — generates syntactically invalid code without warning
Activity
Mnehmos commentedon Feb 8, 2026
Resolved by merge of PR #127.