Creating Custom Actions

Understanding Actions

In ARO, every statement follows the Action-Result-Object pattern:

<Verb> the <result> from/to/with/for the <object>.

Each verb maps to an action implementation that:

1. Receives structured information about the statement
2. Executes business logic
3. Returns a result to be bound to a variable

The ActionImplementation Protocol

public protocol ActionImplementation: Sendable {
    /// The semantic role of this action
    static var role: ActionRole { get }

    /// The verbs that trigger this action
    static var verbs: Set<String> { get }

    /// Valid prepositions for object clauses
    static var validPrepositions: Set<Preposition> { get }

    /// Required initializer
    init()

    /// Execute the action
    func execute(
        result: ResultDescriptor,
        object: ObjectDescriptor,
        context: ExecutionContext
    ) async throws -> any Sendable
}

Key Points

• Sendable: Actions must be thread-safe
• Static properties: Define metadata at compile time
• Async/throws: Actions can be async and may throw errors
• Returns any Sendable: Results must be sendable across concurrency domains

Action Roles

Actions are categorized by semantic role:

Step-by-Step: Creating a Custom Action

Step 1: Define Your Action

import ARORuntime

public struct EmailAction: ActionImplementation {
    // 1. Define the semantic role
    public static let role: ActionRole = .export

    // 2. Define verbs that trigger this action
    public static let verbs: Set<String> = ["Email", "Mail"]

    // 3. Define valid prepositions
    public static let validPrepositions: Set<Preposition> = [.to, .with]

    // 4. Required initializer
    public init() {}

    // 5. Implement execute
    public func execute(
        result: ResultDescriptor,
        object: ObjectDescriptor,
        context: ExecutionContext
    ) async throws -> any Sendable {
        // Implementation here
    }
}

Step 2: Implement the Execute Method

public func execute(
    result: ResultDescriptor,
    object: ObjectDescriptor,
    context: ExecutionContext
) async throws -> any Sendable {
    // Get required service
    guard let emailService = context.service(EmailService.self) else {
        throw ActionError.serviceNotFound("EmailService")
    }

    // Get the email content
    let content: EmailContent = try context.require(result.identifier)

    // Get the recipient from the object
    let recipient: String
    switch object.sourceType {
    case .variable:
        recipient = try context.require(object.identifier)
    case .literal:
        recipient = object.identifier
    default:
        throw ActionError.invalidObjectSource(object.sourceType)
    }

    // Perform the action
    let sendResult = try await emailService.send(
        content: content,
        to: recipient
    )

    // Emit event for observability
    context.emit(EmailSentEvent(
        recipient: recipient,
        messageId: sendResult.messageId
    ))

    return sendResult
}

Step 3: Register Your Action

// In your application setup
ActionRegistry.shared.register(EmailAction.self)

Step 4: Use in ARO

(Send Welcome Email: User Onboarding) {
    <Create> the <email-content> with {
        subject: "Welcome to our platform!",
        body: "Thanks for signing up..."
    }.
    <Extract> the <user-email> from the <user: email>.
    <Email> the <email-content> to the <user-email>.
    <Return> an <OK: status> for the <email>.
}

Execution Context

The ExecutionContext provides access to runtime services:

public protocol ExecutionContext: AnyObject, Sendable {
    // Variable Management
    func resolve<T: Sendable>(_ name: String) -> T?
    func require<T: Sendable>(_ name: String) throws -> T
    func bind(_ name: String, value: any Sendable)
    func exists(_ name: String) -> Bool

    // Service Access
    func service<S>(_ type: S.Type) -> S?

    // Event Emission
    func emit(_ event: any RuntimeEvent)

    // Metadata
    var featureSetName: String { get }
    var executionId: String { get }
}

Best Practices

Single Responsibility

Each action should do one thing well:

// Good: Focused action
public struct HashPasswordAction: ActionImplementation { ... }

// Bad: Action doing too much
public struct UserManagementAction: ActionImplementation { ... }

Fail Fast with Descriptive Errors

public func execute(...) async throws -> any Sendable {
    // Validate required services
    guard let service = context.service(MyService.self) else {
        throw ActionError.serviceNotFound("MyService")
    }

    // Validate required variables
    let input: InputType = try context.require(result.identifier)

    // ... proceed with execution
}

Emit Events for Observability

// Emit events for significant operations
context.emit(PaymentProcessedEvent(
    amount: amount,
    currency: currency,
    transactionId: result.id
))

Example: External API Action

public struct WeatherAction: ActionImplementation {
    public static let role: ActionRole = .request
    public static let verbs: Set<String> = ["Weather", "Forecast"]
    public static let validPrepositions: Set<Preposition> = [.forPrep]

    public init() {}

    public func execute(
        result: ResultDescriptor,
        object: ObjectDescriptor,
        context: ExecutionContext
    ) async throws -> any Sendable {
        guard let httpClient = context.service(HTTPClientService.self) else {
            throw ActionError.serviceNotFound("HTTPClientService")
        }

        let city: String = try context.require(object.identifier)
        let url = "https://api.weather.com/v1/forecast?city=\(city)"
        let response = try await httpClient.get(url: url)

        context.bind(result.identifier, value: response)
        return response
    }
}

Usage:

<Weather> the <forecast> for the <city>.