Worm Protocol

Two-ended cursor (head + tail) that can ingest, parse, shuttle, and emit data across the filesystem with reversible verbs.

Core Concept

A worm is a two-pointer cursor that spans structures:

# Worm: two-pointer cursor spanning structures
worm_anatomy:
  tail:
    position: "left side"
    action: "emit here (POOP)"
  buffer: "payload / active_tokens"
  head:
    position: "right side"
    action: "ingest here (EAT/CHOMP)"

• Head: Where the worm looks, reads, ingests
• Tail: Where the worm drops, writes, emits
• Buffer: What the worm is carrying (normalized tokens)
• Length: Head–tail distance (zero-length = NOP cursor)

The Reversible Verb Basis

The worm's verbs form a reversible basis for undo/redo:

This maps to:

• serialize/deserialize: EAT → normalize → POOP
• undo/redo: Every verb has an inverse
• copy/transform: CHOMP source → BARF target

Movement Verbs

Worm Movement

MOVE-WORM   Move head (and optionally tail)
MOVE-HEAD   Move head only
MOVE-ASS    Move tail only

Movement modes:

• mode: abs - Absolute path
• mode: rel - Relative steps
• direction: up/down/in/out/left/right - Spatial navigation
• tail: follow | stay - Whether tail follows head

Unit-Based Cursor

NEXT-UNIT   Advance head by unit
PREV-UNIT   Move head backward by unit
SELECT-RANGE   Select N units into buffer

Units: char | word | sentence | paragraph | section | page | line

Tree Navigation

TREE-UP      Move to parent
TREE-DOWN    Move to child (by index/name)
TREE-NEXT    Move to next sibling
TREE-PREV    Move to previous sibling
TREE-OPEN    Expand node (view hint)
TREE-CLOSE   Collapse node (view hint)
TREE-HIDE    Hide subtree (view hint)
TREE-SHOW    Show hidden subtree

Data Flow Verbs

EAT - Ingest at Head

invoke: EAT
effect: Read content at head, parse tokens, normalize to digestive_format
updates:
  - buffer: filled with content
  - active_tokens: parsed tokens
  - payload: last consumed chunk

CHOMP - Pattern-Anchored Ingest

invoke: CHOMP
params:
  pattern: "regex or anchor string"
effect: Scan for pattern, ingest following content
use_when: "Need to find specific section then consume it"

POOP - Emit at Tail

invoke: POOP
effect: Write buffer/payload at tail position
options:
  - Append to file
  - Write YAML to emit_dir
  - Emit selected tokens only

BARF - Emit at Head

invoke: BARF
effect: Write buffer/payload at head position (regurgitate)
use_when: "Need to emit where you just read"

STICK-UP-BUM - Inject External Data

invoke: STICK-UP-BUM
params:
  data: "External data to inject"
effect: Normalize and store in buffer/payload
use_when: "Loading data from outside the worm's crawl path"

State Shape

state:
  head: "."           # Current head position (path)
  tail: "."           # Current tail position (path)
  buffer: []          # Interior ingestion buffer
  payload: null       # Last consumed chunk
  digestive_format: "neutral"   # Normalization format
  active_tokens: []   # Parsed tokens in worm's "brain"
  scan_pattern: ""    # Pattern for CHOMP anchoring
  scan_mode: "pattern-then-chomp"
  emit_dir: ".moollm/skills/worm/out"  # Where YAML output goes
  reversible: true    # Enable undo/redo verb basis

Worm Variants

Different worm personalities for different tasks:

Usage Patterns

Copy with Transform

1. Position head at source, tail at destination
2. CHOMP source (pattern-aware)
3. Tokens normalize in buffer
4. POOP to destination

Link Walking

1. MOVE-WORM head=symlink tail=follow
2. Worm "inchworms" across the link
3. EAT to capture target content
4. Continue crawling

Doc-to-Doc Pipeline

1. Head in doc A, tail in doc B
2. EAT from A → buffer fills
3. POOP to B → content transfers
4. Repeat for streaming pipeline

Casting Network

Worm A: CHOMP source → POOP to emit_dir/casting.yml
Worm B: EAT from emit_dir/casting.yml → process → POOP
Worm C: Consumes B's output → builds taxonomy

Safety Guidelines

• Default to NOP if path unclear or permissions uncertain
• Avoid ingesting secrets/PII - skip sensitive patterns
• Respect read/write boundaries - don't write outside workspace
• Log reversible ops - enable rollback if something goes wrong
• Don't cross trust boundaries - stay in permitted zones

Integration Points

Example Session

> MOVE-WORM head="skills/adventure/" tail=follow
Worm positioned at skills/adventure/

> EAT
Ingested CARD.yml (467 lines), SKILL.md (1143 lines)
Buffer: 12 sections, 3 methods, 15 advertisements

> MOVE-WORM head="skills/bootstrap/"
Head moved to skills/bootstrap/ (tail stayed at adventure/)

> CHOMP pattern="methods:"
Chomped methods section (8 methods found)

> POOP
Emitted to .moollm/skills/worm/out/methods-comparison.yml