Standard Library Built-ins

Reference: Standard Library Built-ins

Vox includes a minimal, highly optimized standard library focused exclusively on system I/O, core conversions, and process lifecycle capabilities inherently trusted by the compiler orchestrator.

Global Built-ins

These core functions are evaluated globally across any lexical space in the application without module imports.

Signature	Description
fn len(collection: T) to int	Returns the number of elements in a sequence, string, list, or mapping dictionary structure.
fn str(val: T) to str	Explicitly coerces arbitrary object types and scalar values strictly into UTF-8 strings.
fn assert(condition: bool) to Unit	Halts execution contexts raising terminal logic failures safely.
fn print(message: str) to Unit	Synchronous STDOUT writer.

Process and Execution IO (std.fs.*)

File system operations interact securely via WASI/os permission mappings. Error cascades explicitly require Result.

Signature	Description
fn read(path: str) to Result[str]	Reads file at path as UTF-8 text. Returns Error(msg) if not found or unreadable.
fn write(path: str, content: str) to Result[Unit]	Creates or completely overwrites the target file with the string content.
fn exists(path: str) to bool	Evaluates whether a file or directory exists at the given path.
fn is_file(path: str) to bool	Returns true if the path is a file.
fn is_dir(path: str) to bool	Returns true if the path is a directory.
fn canonicalize(path: str) to Result[str]	Returns the canonical, absolute form of the path.
fn list_dir(path: str) to Result[list[str]]	Returns a list of filenames in the directory.
fn glob(pattern: str) to Result[list[str]]	Returns a list of paths matching the glob pattern.
fn remove(path: str) to Result[Unit]	Removes the file at the given path.
fn read_bytes(path: str) to Result[str]	Reads raw bytes as a string representation.
fn mkdir(path: str) to Result[Unit]	Creates a single directory at the given path.
fn copy(src: str, dst: str) to Result[Unit]	Copies a file from source to destination.
fn remove_dir_all(path: str) to Result[Unit]	Recursively removes a directory and all of its contents.

Path Manipulation (std.path.*)

Signature	Description
fn join(a: str, b: str) to str	Joins two path parts.
fn join_many(parts: list[str]) to str	Joins a list of path parts.
fn basename(p: str) to str	Extracts the base name from a path.
fn dirname(p: str) to str	Extracts the directory name from a path.
fn extension(p: str) to str	Extracts the file extension.

Environment (std.env.*)

Signature	Description
fn get(key: str) to Option[str]	Retrieves an environment variable.

Process Execution (std.process.*)

Signature	Description
fn which(cmd: str) to Option[str]	Finds a command in the PATH.
fn run(cmd: str, args: list[str]) to Result[int]	Runs a command and returns the exit code.
fn run_ex(cmd: str, args: list[str], cwd: str, env: map[str, str]) to Result[int]	Runs a command with specific cwd and environment.
fn run_capture(cmd: str, args: list[str]) to Result[{exit: int, stdout: str, stderr: str}]	Runs a command and captures its output.
fn exit(code: int) to never	Terminates the process with the given exit code.

JSON Processing (std.json.*)

Signature	Description
fn read_str(json: str, path: str) to Result[str]	Extracts a string from a JSON document at the given path.
fn read_f64(json: str, path: str) to Result[float]	Extracts a float from JSON.
fn quote(s: str) to str	Properly escapes a string for inclusion in JSON.

Cryptography (std.crypto.*)

Signature	Description
fn hash_fast(s: str) to str	Fast, non-cryptographic hash.
fn hash_secure(s: str) to str	Secure cryptographic hash (SHA-256).
fn uuid() to str	Generates a UUID v4 string.

Time (std.time.*)

Signature	Description
fn now_ms() to int	Returns current UNIX timestamp in milliseconds.

Logging (std.log.*)

Signature	Description
fn debug(msg: str) to Unit	Logs a debug message.
fn info(msg: str) to Unit	Logs an info message.
fn warn(msg: str) to Unit	Logs a warning message.
fn error(msg: str) to Unit	Logs an error message.

OpenClaw Invocation (OpenClaw.*)

Signature	Description
fn list_skills() to Result[str]	Lists available OpenClaw skills.
fn call(skill: str, args: str) to Result[str]	Invokes an OpenClaw skill.
fn subscribe(topic: str) to Result[str]	Subscribes to an OpenClaw topic.
fn unsubscribe(topic: str) to Result[str]	Unsubscribes from an OpenClaw topic.
fn notify(topic: str, msg: str) to Result[str]	Notifies an OpenClaw topic.

CDP System Automation (Browser.*)

Note: These are native-script only (not available when compiled to WASM).

Signature	Description
fn open() to Result[Unit]	Opens the default automation browser.
fn close() to Result[Unit]	Closes the automation browser.
fn goto(url: str) to Result[Unit]	Navigates to a specific URL.
fn click(selector: str) to Result[Unit]	Clicks on the DOM element matched by selector.
fn fill(selector: str, value: str) to Result[Unit]	Fills a DOM element with a text value.
fn wait_for(selector: str) to Result[Unit]	Waits for a selector to appear on the page.
fn text(selector: str) to Result[str]	Returns the inner text of an element.
fn html(selector: str) to Result[str]	Returns the inner HTML of an element.
fn screenshot(path: str) to Result[Unit]	Takes a screenshot and saves it to the path.

Network (std.http.*)

Signature	Description
fn get_text(url: str) to Result[str]	Submits an HTTP GET request to the target URL and returns the response body as text.
fn post_json(url: str, body: str) to Result[str]	Submits an HTTP POST request to the target URL with the provided JSON body string.

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Related Topics:

• Reference: Database Query Surface
• Explanation: The Runtime