StructuredMerge

Ruleset draft

A portable merge contract, not one universal algorithm.

The merge ruleset draft defines a vocabulary and compact format for describing structured merge behavior across document families.

Core directives

A conforming ruleset declares the document family, which syntax elements participate, how owners are matched, how non-structural content is read, and how attached content is handled.

format toml
owners line_bound_statements
match signature
read native_read_portable_write
attach normalize_tracked_layout_merge
comment_style hash_comment
render toml_pairs_and_tables

Required

  • format
  • owners
  • match
  • read
  • attach

Optional when needed

  • comment_style and render
  • capability and logical_owner
  • repair
  • surface and delegate

What the draft does not claim

It does not require one parser API, one implementation language, byte-identical output, or one mandatory algorithm. The aim is semantic interoperability: implementations can differ internally while honoring the same declared behavior.

Read the informational draft on GitHub.