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Welcome to the KOSL Wiki

Krait Object Serialization Language (KOSL) is a human-first configuration and serialization format designed to offer structured data representation with minimal syntactical noise.

It combines elements of .env files, JSON, and TOML while actively rejecting the whitespace sensitivity of YAML and arbitrary implicit type conversions.

Navigation

• Language Specification — Grammar, types, and implicit array behaviors.
• CLI Reference — How to use the command-line interface tool.
• Cargo Integration — Using KOSL to manage Rust project manifests (Cargo.kosl -> Cargo.toml).
• VS Code Extension — Manual installation and editor setup.

Core Design Principles

1. Strict Parsability: Ambiguous types are rejected or treated as safe defaults (e.g., semantic versions are parsed as strings rather than failing float parsers).
2. Minimalist Syntax: Braces are replaced with simple parenthetical structures () for objects/maps and brackets [] for lists.
3. Deterministic Formatting: Eliminates stylistic variations by maintaining standard trailing comma and whitespace rules.
4. Zero Hidden Magic: No auto-evaluation of complex timestamps, regex, or octals.