{"tools":["Whitelist · DEFAULT-DENY (no tools if absent) · gitignore-style globs · `!` negation."]}

the language

tools

Whitelist · DEFAULT-DENY (no tools if absent) · gitignore-style globs · `!` negation. One of 62 words the served contract declares, projected from workflow.schema.json, the same file your editor validates against.

1surfaceagent
optionaleverywherea choice, never a miss
arraytypethe declared shape
10skeletonscarry 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.

agent: arrayWhitelist · DEFAULT-DENY (no tools if absent) · gitignore-style globs · `!` negation.inside agent:

in a real file

from the chain skeleton

chain.nika.yaml

40  tools: ["nika:read", "nika:write"]

a verbatim slice, real line numbers from chain.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

NIKA-SEC-002

where it lives

accepted by

agent

[{"slug":"the-agent-workflow-spectrum","title":"The agent workflow spectrum","date":"2026-07-11"},{"slug":"anatomy-of-a-verb","title":"Anatomy of a verb","date":"2026-07-05"}]

from the blog

defined by

02-verbs

the block it lives in

agent: inside agent:

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