MRPGI/docs/CONTROL.md

# Driving MRPGI programmatically

The engine core (`mrpgi-core`) is fully headless: a `GameState` driven by
JSON `Command`s in and `Event`s out, over your choice of surface. The GUI is
just one more consumer of the same bus.

```
GUI (macroquad) ─┐
CLI / stdio ─────┤
HTTP ────────────┼──▶  Command ▶ GameState ▶ Event
MCP (Claude) ────┤
Python ──────────┘
```

Everything below uses one binary:

```sh
cargo build -p mrpgi-core            # builds target/debug/mrpgi-headless
mrpgi-headless --help
```

`--game DIR` points any mode at a game folder (default: the current dir).

## Game = a folder

```
games/mygame/
  game.json          # manifest: name, start_room, intro_text, verbs, flags
  rooms/room0.json   # RoomDoc: strokes, spawn, exits [N,E,S,W], objects, music
  sprites/*.png      # auto-quantized to EGA; filename = sprite name
  sfx/door.ogg       # optional: overrides the built-in chiptune per cue
  music/calm.ogg     # optional: overrides a music mood (by name or index 1-5)
```

Every manifest field defaults, so a bare `rooms/` folder is already a valid
game. Write starter content with `--sample` (3-room robot party) or `--kit`
(fantasy world + object archetype catalog).

## 1. JSONL stdio (the substrate)

```sh
mrpgi-headless --game games/mygame
```

One JSON command per line on stdin, events stream back on stdout:

```jsonl
{"cmd":"parse","text":"take key"}
{"cmd":"walk_to","x":150,"y":90}
{"cmd":"tick","n":20}
{"cmd":"choose","n":1}
{"cmd":"query"}
{"cmd":"new_game"}
{"cmd":"goto_room","n":2}
{"cmd":"set_flag","name":"power_on","value":true}
{"cmd":"paint_stroke","stroke":{"Rect":{"x":0,"y":0,"w":160,"h":16,"color":0,"meaning":"Wall"}}}
{"cmd":"upsert_object","obj":{"name":"gem","sprite":"potion","x":90,"y":120,"look":"Shiny.","takeable":true}}
{"cmd":"upsert_room","n":7,"doc":{"strokes":[],"spawn":[80,140]},"persist":true}
{"cmd":"save_room"}
{"cmd":"load_game","dir":"games/other"}
```

Notes:
- The engine only advances when told: `tick` runs fixed 1/20s cycles
  (movement, room transitions, AI results). `walk_to` ticks until arrival.
- `upsert_room` validates before committing (walkable spawn, exits must point
  at rooms that exist) and rejects bad lore with an `error` event.
- Events look like `{"event":"transcript","line":"You take the key."}`,
  `{"event":"room_changed","room":1,"music":4}`, `{"event":"won"}`,
  `{"event":"audio","cue":"pickup"}`, `{"event":"state","state":{...}}`.

### Script replay (deterministic)

```sh
mrpgi-headless --script play.jsonl --game games/mygame > events.log
```

Replays a command log through the fixed-step engine. The AI lane defaults to
**off** under `--script`, so the same script always produces byte-identical
events — that's the golden-test workflow for CI.

### Render a room to PNG (no window)

```sh
mrpgi-headless --render-room games/mygame/rooms/room0.json out.png --game games/mygame
```

## 2. HTTP

```sh
mrpgi-headless --serve 127.0.0.1:7777 --game games/mygame
```

| Route | Does |
|---|---|
| `POST /command` | body = one Command JSON → JSON array of resulting Events |
| `GET /state` | full snapshot: room, ego, inventory, flags, objects, exits |
| `GET /frame.png` | the current frame, headless-rendered |
| `GET /events?since=N` | event log from cursor N → `{"next":M,"events":[...]}` |
| `POST /rooms/{n}` | body = RoomDoc JSON (add `?persist` to write to disk) |

Python needs no client library:

```python
import requests, json
E = "http://127.0.0.1:7777"
requests.post(f"{E}/command", data=json.dumps({"cmd": "parse", "text": "look"}))
state = requests.get(f"{E}/state").json()
open("frame.png", "wb").write(requests.get(f"{E}/frame.png").content)
```

## 3. MCP (Claude authors & plays)

```sh
claude mcp add mrpgi -- /path/to/target/debug/mrpgi-headless --mcp --game games/mygame
```

Tools: `mrpgi_parse`, `mrpgi_walk_to`, `mrpgi_choose`, `mrpgi_tick`,
`mrpgi_state`, `mrpgi_render_frame` (returns a real PNG image — the model
*sees* the frame it authored), `mrpgi_new_game`, `mrpgi_load_game`,
`mrpgi_upsert_room`, `mrpgi_upsert_object`, `mrpgi_paint_stroke`,
`mrpgi_save_room`, and `mrpgi_command` (raw bus escape hatch).

The loop that makes a whole game from prompts: upsert rooms/objects as JSON →
`mrpgi_render_frame` to look at them → play the game with `mrpgi_parse` /
`mrpgi_walk_to` to test the puzzle chain → `mrpgi_save_room` to commit.

## Authoring JSON reference

**RoomDoc** — `{"strokes":[...], "spawn":[x,y], "exits":[N,E,S,W], "objects":[...], "music":0-5}`
(exit entries are room numbers or `null`; music: 0 off, 1 calm, 2 eerie, 3 tense, 4 jolly, 5 spooky)

**Stroke** (paint ops; `meaning` is `"None" | "Floor" | "Wall" | "Water" | "Trigger"`, colors are EGA 0-15):

```json
{"Rect":    {"x":0,"y":0,"w":160,"h":16,"color":0,"meaning":"Wall"}}
{"Ellipse": {"x":10,"y":40,"w":30,"h":20,"color":2,"meaning":"None"}}
{"Fill":    {"x":80,"y":100,"color":7,"meaning":"Floor"}}
{"Line":    {"pts":[[0,80],[159,80]],"color":15}}
{"Brush":   {"pts":[[50,60],[52,61]],"color":4,"meaning":"None","size":2}}
{"Image":   {"name":"tree","x":60,"y":80,"meaning":"None"}}
```

**ObjDef** — `name, sprite, x, y` plus optional `look`, `takeable`, `synonyms`
(space-separated), `use_text`, `needs` (item that unlocks it), `wins`,
`requires_flag` / `sets_flag` (puzzle gating), `dialogue` (nodes of
`{"says":"...","choices":[{"text":"...","goto":1,"requires_flag":"","sets_flag":""}]}`,
`goto:-1` ends).

**game.json** — `{"name":"...", "start_room":0, "intro_text":"...", "verbs":[{"name":"take","words":["yoink"]}], "flags":{"met_wizard":false}}`
(manifest verbs merge extra synonyms into the built-in table; the AI parser's
whitelist is generated from the same table so they can never drift.)

## The AI parser lane

Free text the deterministic parser doesn't understand goes to a small LLM
that may only translate it into an *already-legal* command, which is then
re-run through the real logic — the AI can never invent state.

```
MRPGI_AI=ollama|openrouter|off   MRPGI_AI_MODEL=...   MRPGI_AI_URL=...
```