The Python surface's shrink ledger

KERNEL.md asks which translator heads are primitive and which are derived, and requires every derived form still fused into the compiler to say why. This page asks the same of the library, and is generated by extensions/python/tools/ledger.py from the code rather than maintained by hand.

Space publishes 113 methods.

class	count	what it means
primitive	24	speaks to the engine; nothing on this surface expresses it
derived	15	its body reaches another PUBLIC method, so it is macro-expressible by one
shared	26	reaches a private helper: an implementation already collapsed, which is a shrink's outcome rather than its target
facade	39	delegates to a satellite module; the layering, not a duplication
property	9	no body to class

The derived methods, and what each buys

A derived method is not a defect. A named form of one mechanism is derived and should stay, because collapsing it would put the mechanism's argument back at the call site. What the ledger refuses is a derived method with no answer.

method	expressible by	what it buys
add_tagged_fact	add	the tag threader's atom shape, so a caller writes the tag and the proposition rather than the (fact tag proposition) spelling, and gets the stored atom back where add answers nothing
add_tagged_rule	add	the same for a rule, whose atom the algebra generates from a head and its premises rather than from a literal
copy	atoms	one act for enumerate-and-store, and the space it answers is a new one rather than this handle rebound
doc	eval	the structured (@doc ...) answer decoded into its parts, where eval of get-doc answers the raw term
eval	answers	the EAGER path. It delegates to answers only for the carrier, the theory and the interpreter, and the split is measured rather than assumed: routing it through the cursor unconditionally left a memoized definition's call keys unrecorded, 13 entries on the eager path against 0 through the cursor
ne	eq	the negated relation as one term, (not (== a b)), so a caller spells the relation rather than its expansion
pre_add	define	a HOOK rather than an equation: the definition it installs runs on the write path, which is a different moment from a call
register_foreign_library	register_prolog	the library PATH handling around a registration, so a caller names a shared object rather than resolving it
solve	eval	the relational direction and the answer template. It derives the template from the pattern's variables followed by any new subject variables, which is what lets either direction introduce the bindings and removes let's hand-written third argument
subs	map	substitution keyed by ATOM, and an answer Row accepted directly. map takes a transform over every node; this is the transform, and the key carries whether a variable or a symbol is meant
transaction	eval	all-or-nothing over the block, which no sequence of evaluations gives: the engine's own transaction boundary is what makes a failure leave the space unchanged
transactional	transaction	the DECORATOR shape, so each CALL of the wrapped function runs in its own transaction. transaction runs one callable now; decoration cannot await and cannot run anything
type	eval	the first get-type answer decoded, including the undefined case, where eval answers the raw term list
watch	subscribe	the ITERATOR form of the callback method, and a deadline. A caller who wants to pull events cannot use a callback, and the two consumption models are why both exist
why	match	the question without the answers. It asks why a pattern matches nothing without the caller first materialising the match that did not happen