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Providers And Artifacts

Providers are one of the main ways packages compose execution and backend behavior.

What A Provider Is​

A provider is a package-owned capability that other packages can import and target.

Examples include:

  • host LLVM providers
  • GPU route providers
  • shader providers

Providers make capabilities explicit instead of hiding them in global branches.

Provider IDs​

Provider relationships are declared with explicit IDs such as:

provider.core.host_llvm
provider.gpu.vulkan
provider.shader.spirv

These IDs let packages say exactly what they need.

Artifacts​

Providers usually expose or consume artifact kinds as part of route resolution.

Real examples include:

  • host.llvm_value
  • host.nir_value
  • shader.expression

An artifact kind tells the framework what sort of thing a route produces or expects.

Concrete manifest wiring (real pattern)​

In real packages you typically see provider IDs in two places:

  • Package root morph.toml: import/export provider edges across packages.
  • Feature feature.toml: route declarations that target a provider and declare the produced artifact kind.

Example (provider export, morphs/GPU/morph.toml):

[export.gpuvulkan]
kind = "provider"
id = "provider.gpu.vulkan"
provider = "provider.gpu.vulkan"

Example (provider-targeted route, morphs/Core/features/api/feature.toml):

[core.input.route.hostllvm]
provider_id = "provider.core.host_llvm"
route_id = "host.llvm"
artifact_kind = "host.llvm_value"
required_extensions = ["llvm.base.v1", "llvm.runtime_import.v1"]
required_runtime_families = ["io"]
source = "features/Input/backend/routes/host.llvm/Emit.cpp"
component_class = "core.input.backend.hostllvm"

This is the “typed edge” idea from the framework chapters: provider + route id + artifact kind + requirements + emit source.

Why Artifacts Matter​

Artifact kinds stop route wiring from becoming vague.

Instead of saying "this backend somehow handles it," Morph can say:

  • which provider handles it
  • which artifact kind is produced
  • which later stage can consume it

This is essential for explicit discovery and package composition.

Provider Ownership Rule​

If a package needs a provider:

  • declare it through package imports
  • reference it in package feature metadata
  • keep the consuming route logic in the package

Do not hardcode provider selection in core source files.

Next Steps​