the language

after

The CONTROL boundary · {producer-task: predicate}. Each entry is one control edge (spec/03-dag.md §after). State, never data — observe outcomes through with:. One of 59 words the served contract declares, projected from workflow.schema.json, the same file your editor validates against.

1surfacetask
optionaleverywherea choice, never a miss
objecttypethe declared shape
2skeletonscarry this key

the contract

1 declaration

Descriptions are the schema's own; the deeper invariants (value languages and regexes) ride the same projection. A miss is a nika check finding before anything runs.

task: objectThe CONTROL boundary · {producer-task: predicate}. Each entry is one control edge (spec/03-dag.md §after). State, never data — observe outcomes through with:.one step of the plan

in a real file

from the etl-state skeleton

etl-state.nika.yaml

43  delta:44    with:                           # the bindings ARE the edges · previous + fresh → delta45      previous: ${{ tasks.previous.output }}46      fresh: ${{ tasks.fresh.output }}47    ◆invoke:48      tool: "nika:json_diff"        # RFC 6902 · empty patch = nothing new49      args:50        before: "${{ with.previous }}"51        after: "${{ with.fresh }}"

a verbatim slice, real line numbers from etl-state.nika.yaml, conformance-gated upstream on every spec push. open the full skeleton →

cross-references

skeletons that carry it

the check gates that name it

where it lives

[{"slug":"the-trace-you-can-replay","title":"The trace you can replay","date":"2026-07-05"},{"slug":"dag-for-free","title":"The plan you get for free","date":"2026-06-29"}]

from the blog

defined by

03-dag

the block it lives in

task: one step of the plan

The whole grammar in one place: the four verbs · the standard library · the spec. Try it in the playground. Read the reference →