open-standards/wai/README.md
David Charlot fc5c19b696
All checks were successful
no-vanity-metrics / Scan committed Markdown for vanity metrics (push) Successful in 3s
WAI conformance / cargo-class corpora · linux (push) Successful in 30s
WAI conformance / cargo-class corpora · linux-arm64 (push) Successful in 41s
WAI conformance / cross-arch byte-equality · linux (push) Successful in 13s
WAI conformance / cross-arch byte-equality · linux-arm64 (push) Successful in 18s
WAI conformance / cargo-class corpora · windows (push) Successful in 1m46s
WAI conformance / cross-arch byte-equality · windows (push) Successful in 31s
WAI conformance / cargo-class corpora · macos (push) Successful in 1m18s
WAI conformance / cross-arch byte-equality · macos (push) Successful in 19s
docs(wai): document the system libraries a default wai-rs build links
`wai-rs` builds the codec chain by default, and those crates link system
libraries rather than vendoring them -- which follows from "WAI does not
re-implement codecs", but means a fresh clone fails inside a codec crate's
build script with no hint that the missing piece is an OS package. Nothing
in the tree said so.

Lists the packages for macOS and Debian/Ubuntu, and records the
`--no-default-features` path that skips the C chain entirely (the envelope,
manifest and `world` engine don't need it -- it's how wasm32 is built).

Debian names checked against Ubuntu 24.04; macOS set verified by building
wai-rs with default features after installing them.

Also corrects the jpegxl-rs comment, which claimed system libjxl 0.11.x
specifically -- 0.12.0 builds fine.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>
2026-08-26 12:27:29 -04:00

135 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
Raw Permalink Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

# WAI — Web AI Media Transport & Execution
A container + capability-dispatch standard for media. **WAI does not
re-implement codecs**; it dispatches to SOTA standard libraries (AVIF,
JPEG-XL, PNG, JPEG, Opus, FLAC, AV1, zstd, XZ) and adds an envelope
that lets the *neural-shared-prior* path coexist with the model-free
floor.
Two paths open every conforming file:
- **Neural condition** — the sink regenerates the media against a
shared ambient prior (a model). The model is a *requirement of
existence*, never shipped (an `.mp3` doesn't ship its decoder
either).
- **Zeroth condition** — a *menu of registered SOTA codecs*. Always
satisfiable on any device that ships ffmpeg or equivalent.
The capability a file requires is *named*, not supplied.
## Building
`wai-rs` builds the codec chain by default (the `codecs` feature), and those
crates link **system** libraries rather than vendoring them — consistent with
"WAI does not re-implement codecs". Without them the build stops in a codec
crate's build script, not in WAI's own code:
```sh
# macOS
brew install jpeg-xl libavif opus dav1d xz
# Debian / Ubuntu
apt-get install libjxl-dev libavif-dev libopus-dev libdav1d-dev liblzma-dev
```
To build without the C codec chain — the envelope, manifest and `world`
engine do not need it, which is also how the wasm32 target is built:
```sh
cargo check -p wai --no-default-features
```
## What's here
| Path | Contents |
|------|----------|
| [`SPEC.md`](SPEC.md) | WAI v1.0 spec — envelope, manifest, capability menu |
| [`wai-rs/`](wai-rs/) | Rust reference implementation (lib + cdylib + staticlib + C FFI) |
| [`glossary/`](glossary/) | Reference catalog of media codecs surveyed for capability registration. [`codecs.json`](glossary/codecs.json) is the canonical survey dataset; [`SCHEMA.md`](glossary/SCHEMA.md) defines the shape and contribution rules. Rendered at [wai.transaction.science/glossary](https://wai.transaction.science/glossary). |
| [`corpus/`](corpus/) | Standard test material (Kodak/CLIC/Tecnick/SIPI images, Xiph Derf + UVG video, SQAM-class audio, enwik8 + Silesia text). Not committed; `CORPUS.md` documents reacquisition. |
## Quickstart
```bash
cd wai-rs
cargo test --lib # every registered capability + envelope round-trip
cargo build --release --bin wai
cargo build --release --lib # produces libwai.dylib/.so/.dll + libwai.a
```
On macOS, libflac lives under the Homebrew "flac" formula prefix that
Cargo doesn't probe automatically. The committed `.cargo/config.toml`
adds the path; if you build outside the repo set
`RUSTFLAGS="-L /opt/homebrew/opt/flac/lib"`.
## SDK consumption
`wai-rs` exposes a stable C ABI in [`src/ffi.rs`](wai-rs/src/ffi.rs) —
the cdylib drops in as `libwai.dylib`/`.so`/`.dll`. Bindings for any
language (Python ctypes, Node N-API, Swift, JNI, Go cgo, etc.) call
into:
- `wai_image_{png,jpeg,avif,jxl}_{encode,decode}`
- `wai_audio_{opus,flac}_{encode,decode}`
- `wai_text_{zstd,xz}_{encode,decode}`
- `wai_envelope_{pack,unpack}` — wrap/unwrap the WAI container
- `wai_buffer_free`, `wai_last_error` — memory + error handling
## Registered capabilities (the zeroth menu)
| Capability | Codec | Lossless? | Mandatory? |
|---|---|---|---|
| `wai.image.png` | PNG | yes | **mandatory floor** |
| `wai.image.jxl` | JPEG-XL | both | recommended |
| `wai.image.avif` | AVIF (AV1-based) | lossy | recommended |
| `wai.image.jpeg` | JPEG | lossy | recommended (legacy compat) |
| `wai.audio.flac` | FLAC | yes | **mandatory floor** |
| `wai.audio.opus` | Opus | lossy | recommended |
| `wai.video.av1` | AV1 | lossy | recommended |
| `wai.video.av1.lossless` | AV1 (`quantizer=0`) | YUV-lossless | recommended |
| `wai.text.zstd` | zstd | yes | **mandatory floor** |
| `wai.text.xz` | XZ/LZMA2 | yes | recommended |
Neural capabilities (`wai.neural.*`) are OPTIONAL and sink-advertised. Most
run float inference, so their decode is exact only on the build that produced
it. A distinguished subset is **integer-exact by construction** — an all-`i64`
decode with no float and no ONNX — so the reconstructed artifact is
byte-identical on every machine and its hash is portable. Conformance is a
hash: a deployer can require `intent=replicate` to dispatch only to these.
| Capability | Integer-exact decode of | Conformance |
|---|---|---|
| `wai.neural.int_hyper` | image — integer hyperprior σ source + integer entropy + integer synthesis | byte-exact (hash-portable) |
| `wai.neural.int_synth` | image — integer synthesis only | byte-exact (hash-portable) |
| `wai.video.int_hyper` | video — `int_hyper` I-frame + integer half-pel motion-compensated P-frames | byte-exact (hash-portable) |
| `wai.audio.int_codec` | audio — learned 1-D transform, integer synthesis → int16 PCM | byte-exact (hash-portable) |
| `wai.splat.int_codec` | 3D — learned Gaussian-splat-attribute transform, integer synthesis | byte-exact (hash-portable) |
## Interactive & temporal content (extensions)
Beyond the codec menu, WAI carries content that consumes input or moves
over time — reconstructed from instructions at the sink, over one
`wai.det.fixed64` fixed-point floor, each with its own deterministic
`*-equivalence` conformance criterion:
| Capability | What it carries | Conformance |
|---|---|---|
| `wai.world.{scene,replay,live}` | interactive worlds (signed op log) | replay-equivalence |
| `wai.world.model` | action-conditioned world model (signed action ops → next frame, integer transition + synthesis) | replay-equivalence |
| `wai.mesh.glb` / `wai.splat.spz` | 3D mesh / Gaussian-splat assets | content-addressed |
| `wai.audio.scene` | object-based spatial audio | mixdown-equivalence |
| `wai.audio.score` | music as note events (synthesized at the sink) | mixdown-equivalence |
| `wai.haptic.signal` | keyframed touch envelopes | sample-equivalence |
| `wai.feed.state` | scoreboards / telemetry / market feeds | replay-equivalence |
| `wai.avatar.pose` | digital humans (skeletal pose stream) | pose-equivalence |
| `wai.splat.4d` | volumetric / 4D temporal Gaussian splats | frame-state-equivalence |
| `wai.film.linear` | animation / CGI film (sealed world + camera track) | film-equivalence |
| `wai.film.reel` | a film with cuts (one world, a sequence of shots) | reel-equivalence |
And the verify half — a signed, energy-accounted lineage for opaque
captured content WAI does **not** reconstruct (`wai.asset.provenance`).
See [`SPEC.md`](SPEC.md) §5 and [`extensions/`](extensions/) for each.
## License
Apache-2.0 — see [`LICENSE`](LICENSE).