"Standard Library Built-ins"

Reference: Standard Library Built-ins

Vox includes a minimal, highly optimized standard library focused exclusively on system I/O, core conversions, and process lifecycle capabilities inherently trusted by the compiler orchestrator.

Global Built-ins

These core functions are evaluated globally across any lexical space in the application without module imports.

Signature	Description
`fn len(collection: T) -> int`	Returns the number of elements in a sequence, string, list, or mapping dictionary structure.
`fn str(val: T) -> str`	Explicitly coerces arbitrary object types and scalar values strictly into UTF-8 strings.
`fn assert(condition: bool) -> Unit`	Halts execution contexts raising terminal logic failures safely.
`fn print(message: str) -> Unit`	Synchronous STDOUT writer.

Process and Execution IO (`std.fs.*`)

File system operations interact securely via WASI/os permission mappings. Error cascades explicitly require Result.

Signature	Description
`fn read(path: str) -> Result[str]`	Reads file at `path` as UTF-8 text. Returns `Error(msg)` if not found or unreadable.
`fn write(path: str, content: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Creates or completely overwrites the target file with the string content.
`fn exists(path: str) -> bool`	Evaluates whether a file or directory exists at the given path.
`fn is_file(path: str) -> bool`	Returns true if the path is a file.
`fn is_dir(path: str) -> bool`	Returns true if the path is a directory.
`fn canonicalize(path: str) -> Result[str]`	Returns the canonical, absolute form of the path.
`fn list_dir(path: str) -> Result[list[str]]`	Returns a list of filenames in the directory.
`fn glob(pattern: str) -> Result[list[str]]`	Returns a list of paths matching the glob pattern.
`fn remove(path: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Removes the file at the given path.
`fn read_bytes(path: str) -> Result[str]`	Reads raw bytes as a string representation.
`fn mkdir(path: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Creates a single directory at the given path.
`fn copy(src: str, dst: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Copies a file from source to destination.
`fn remove_dir_all(path: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Recursively removes a directory and all of its contents.

Path Manipulation (`std.path.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn join(a: str, b: str) -> str`	Joins two path parts.
`fn join_many(parts: list[str]) -> str`	Joins a list of path parts.
`fn basename(p: str) -> str`	Extracts the base name from a path.
`fn dirname(p: str) -> str`	Extracts the directory name from a path.
`fn extension(p: str) -> str`	Extracts the file extension.

Environment (`std.env.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn get(key: str) -> Option[str]`	Retrieves an environment variable.

Process Execution (`std.process.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn which(cmd: str) -> Option[str]`	Finds a command in the PATH.
`fn run(cmd: str, args: list[str]) -> Result[int]`	Runs a command and returns the exit code.
`fn run_ex(cmd: str, args: list[str], cwd: str, env: map[str, str]) -> Result[int]`	Runs a command with specific cwd and environment.
`fn run_capture(cmd: str, args: list[str]) -> Result[{exit: int, stdout: str, stderr: str}]`	Runs a command and captures its output.
`fn exit(code: int) -> never`	Terminates the process with the given exit code.

JSON Processing (`std.json.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn read_str(json: str, path: str) -> Result[str]`	Extracts a string from a JSON document at the given path.
`fn read_f64(json: str, path: str) -> Result[float]`	Extracts a float from JSON.
`fn quote(s: str) -> str`	Properly escapes a string for inclusion in JSON.

Cryptography (`std.crypto.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn hash_fast(s: str) -> str`	Fast, non-cryptographic hash.
`fn hash_secure(s: str) -> str`	Secure cryptographic hash (SHA-256).
`fn uuid() -> str`	Generates a UUID v4 string.

Time (`std.time.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn now_ms() -> int`	Returns current UNIX timestamp in milliseconds.

Logging (`std.log.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn debug(msg: str) -> Unit`	Logs a debug message.
`fn info(msg: str) -> Unit`	Logs an info message.
`fn warn(msg: str) -> Unit`	Logs a warning message.
`fn error(msg: str) -> Unit`	Logs an error message.

OpenClaw Invocation (`OpenClaw.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn list_skills() -> Result[str]`	Lists available OpenClaw skills.
`fn call(skill: str, args: str) -> Result[str]`	Invokes an OpenClaw skill.
`fn subscribe(topic: str) -> Result[str]`	Subscribes to an OpenClaw topic.
`fn unsubscribe(topic: str) -> Result[str]`	Unsubscribes from an OpenClaw topic.
`fn notify(topic: str, msg: str) -> Result[str]`	Notifies an OpenClaw topic.

CDP System Automation (`Browser.*`)

Note: These are native-script only (not available when compiled to WASM).

Signature	Description
`fn open() -> Result[Unit]`	Opens the default automation browser.
`fn close() -> Result[Unit]`	Closes the automation browser.
`fn goto(url: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Navigates to a specific URL.
`fn click(selector: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Clicks on the DOM element matched by selector.
`fn fill(selector: str, value: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Fills a DOM element with a text value.
`fn wait_for(selector: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Waits for a selector to appear on the page.
`fn text(selector: str) -> Result[str]`	Returns the inner text of an element.
`fn html(selector: str) -> Result[str]`	Returns the inner HTML of an element.
`fn screenshot(path: str) -> Result[Unit]`	Takes a screenshot and saves it to the path.

Network (`std.http.*`)

Signature	Description
`fn get_text(url: str) -> Result[str]`	Submits an HTTP GET request to the target URL and returns the response body as text.
`fn post_json(url: str, body: str) -> Result[str]`	Submits an HTTP POST request to the target URL with the provided JSON body string.

Related Topics:

Vox: The AI-Native Programming Language