Open participation, Graiphic leadership: seven simple project rules and how to contribute. Shared components are proven in Studio and qualified independently before an official release; all merges require maintainer review.
Human oversight of code generation — 11 November 2026:
The project philosophy
and Heilmeier framing center the human
capacity to follow and validate machine-generated software. FROG serializes a
structured model in .frog; Studio projects it into graphical dataflow
for comprehension and intervention. FIR/IR support qualified compilation and
execution. Specialized DARPA collaboration options remain separate.
Published Frontend sources — 12 November 2026:
The common C++ Frontend library and CLI
and the finite reference C bridge
are available as source. The 12 November checkpoint
identifies Frontend 0.2.0-local, API 3, as used by Studio 0.0.8.094.
The 9 November checkpoint
and initial 2 November checkpoint
retain their own standalone qualification. The
Source and Studio draft coverage matrix
identifies the formats, profiles and versions exercised.
Frontend interoperability contracts: Validation, FIR derivation and external-tool integration; versioned JSON Schemas and data examples. The 1 November documentation-only update preceded the later source publications; its former code-release deferral is not the current publication status. The selected Apache-2.0 scope does not publish Studio or the complete production Runtime.
Implementation/corpus checkpoint — 26 October 2026: Published SDK, 625 examples, native profiles and documentation boundaries. This is a dated implementation update, not a new normative language contract.
Historical authoring snapshot — 14 October 2026: Current code/specification reconciliation, actual saved .frog profile and 535 declared authoring contracts. Earlier dated integration statements below retain their historical scope; authored, lowered, compiled and tested capabilities remain distinct.
Free Open Graphical Dataflow Programming Language
FROG is an open, hardware-agnostic graphical dataflow programming language designed to describe computation as explicit executable graphs while remaining accessible, inspectable, portable, auditable, modular, and scalable across heterogeneous execution targets.
FROG opens the language layer itself:
canonical source, validated meaning, execution-facing FIR, lowering, backend contracts, runtime bridges, and compiler bridges.
In the generative AI era, software production becomes abundant, but accountable understanding becomes scarce.
FROG is designed to make generated or human-authored logic structured, graphical, inspectable, controllable, and governable.
Start here • Positioning • Execution architecture • Repository map • License
To write, generate or import a .frog file, use the
generator guide for a complete example,
stable ports, exact CLI commands, expected outputs and refusals. The
compact tool and LLM index links directly to the same
public authorities. Use the Studio
compatibility matrix to match a format and profile to a tested version.
The maintained Execution eligibility and diagnostics reference defines validation, build and launch gates, stable rule identifiers, and the evidence required to claim support. See also the IDE diagnostics contract and acceptance tracking matrix.
The current source/editor convergence decisions are in Source compatibility and profiles. Use the documentation map for references, proposals and dated evidence.
| Read this | For |
|---|---|
| FROG Strategy and Positioning | FROG definition, GO HW continuity, campaign priority, AI-era positioning, and dataflow rationale. |
| AI generation vs inspectability Orville chart | Visible root-level entry point for the AI-era positioning chart. |
| AI Orville chart explanation | Detailed non-normative explanation of why FROG (.frog / JSON) targets both AI generation compatibility and AI inspectability. |
| Format-first, not IDE-first | Why FROG's durable asset is the public source-to-FIR-to-contract pipeline rather than one IDE product. |
| Editors and authoring tools | How FROG-compatible editors fit around the public language specification, including Graiphic Studio. |
| FROG Architecture | Source, FIR, lowering, runtime/compiler, observability, targets, security, interoperability, and language/tooling separation. |
| FROG Repository Guide | Repository structure, public specification boundaries, documentation map, governance, and contribution/licensing pointers. |
| FROG Project Status | Published repository state, examples, conformance coverage, library/profile surfaces, and maturity notes. |
FROG is a public language specification, not a single IDE, runtime, compiler, device target, or vendor product. It defines a graphical dataflow language layer where source, validated meaning, execution-facing FIR, lowering, runtime contracts, compiler contracts, widgets, libraries, profiles, and conformance can be inspected independently.
Illustrative research positioning for the generative AI era: FROG targets machine-generatable source and useful human inspection. Its qualitative positions are research targets.
The long-form strategic explanation is maintained in FROG Strategy and Positioning. The dedicated AI generation compatibility vs AI inspectability chart explanation is maintained in AI Generation Compatibility vs AI Inspectability Orville Chart.
FROG can also serve as an inspectable executable-language layer within an engineering digital thread: optional lifecycle integrations can relate external intent, validated source, execution artifacts and observed evidence. Language semantics, target capabilities and organizational acceptance remain separate. The associated traceability contract is a proposal, not a released integration capability.
The IEC 61499 industrial bridge evaluation examines data exchange, encapsulated calculation and translation as distinct future integration paths. It is informative; no IEC 61499 backend or interoperability claim is made by this documentation.
FROG is a public language specification rather than a single editor product.
As the ecosystem grows, third-party and product-specific authoring tools may be
developed around the same .frog source model, validation rules,
interface concepts, widget definitions, and execution-facing contracts.
One such editor effort is Graiphic Studio, Graiphic's proprietary engineering environment being developed around the open FROG language. Graiphic Studio documentation is maintained separately as user-facing product documentation. It does not replace this repository as the public FROG language specification.
The IDE-facing architecture for conforming authoring environments is described
in IDE/, with the ecosystem-facing
editor list maintained in Editors and authoring
tools.
A conforming FROG ecosystem separates authoring, canonical source, structural validity, validated program meaning, canonical open execution-facing representation, lowering, runtime/compiler consumers, target execution, and source-aligned observability.
.frog source
-> loadability
-> structural validation
-> semantic validation
-> validated program meaning
-> FIR / Execution IR
-> lowering
-> backend contract
-> runtime-family and/or compiler-family consumptionThe reference execution architecture is preserved in FROG Architecture. The standalone ASCII pipeline page is available in End-to-End Execution Pipeline Diagram.
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
Expression/ | Canonical source and structural validity. |
Language/ | Validated program meaning. |
IR/ | Open execution-facing representation and downstream handoff posture. |
Libraries/ | Public libraries, widgets, and Default realizations. |
Profiles/ | Optional capability/profile surfaces. |
IDE/ | IDE-facing concepts, authoring, observability, and inspection. |
Examples/ | Public examples and validation-oriented dossiers. |
Conformance/ | Accept / reject / preserve expectations. |
Implementations/Reference/ | Non-normative reference implementation workspace. |
Strategy/ | Non-normative strategic framing layer, including AI-era Orville positioning. |
Versioning/ | Centralized specification-version governance and current-status reporting. |
The detailed repository structure and reading path are maintained in FROG Repository Guide.
This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details. External contributions are governed through CONTRIBUTING.md and CLA.md. Repository stewardship and governance are described in GOVERNANCE.md.
FROG — Free Open Graphical Language
Open graphical dataflow programming, specified as a language rather than owned as a product.
The 14 October implementation reconciliation follows Graiphic Studio as product evidence. The actual authoring document profile and 535 declared function contracts make current compatibility explicit without treating an editor catalogue as universal runtime support.