Examples

CI checks each selected example in examples/. Each example also has a stable .ir snapshot. The purpose of this catalog is not a large quantity of examples. Each example is present because it shows a different capability of the language or a useful pattern of coordination.

An example with the @service tag becomes idle or recurs. It does not complete. This behavior is deliberate. Each example below checks with no credentials. By default, an agent turn uses the built-in owned brokered harness. In this harness, whip runs the tool-use loop itself. A fixture model client that needs no credentials drives the run command and CI. Two examples show the optional delegating providers instead. These examples are multi-agent-bounded-concurrency (Codex and Claude) and incident-router. The incident-router example routes across codex and claude AgentRef values at check time. The scripts/check-docs-examples.sh script verifies the commands in this catalog.

Start Here

Example	Check command	Why it exists
minimal-noop.whip	whip check examples/minimal-noop.whip	The smallest complete workflow. It uses started, record, complete, and an output contract.
triage-chain.whip	whip check examples/triage-chain.whip	A sequential then chain: an agent step, a coerced approval, a case branch, and a terminal output or failure.

Core Language Patterns

Example	Check command	Why it exists
coerce-branch.whip	whip check examples/coerce-branch.whip	A named typed model decision with a success fact. A failure files an issue into a review tracker. A person then works the issue with the whip issue command.
terminal-output-union.whip	whip check examples/terminal-output-union.whip	An exhaustive case over the terminal union of an effect: completed, failed, timed out, and cancelled.
incident-router.whip	whip check examples/incident-router.whip	Full guards and dynamic routing: arrays, maps, optionals, exists, in, assertions, and AgentRef. This example also shows the optional providers. It routes AgentRef values across codex and claude at check time. Codex and Claude are the delegating providers that you can use.
scheduled-escalation.whip	whip check examples/scheduled-escalation.whip	Time as effects: timeout, timer until, cancel, and the handling of a terminal union.
exec-json-ingest.whip	whip check examples/exec-json-ingest.whip	Local commands with a gate and typed JSON output: exec -> Type and exec -> each Type.
event-bridge.whip	whip check examples/event-bridge.whip	Ingress of an external signal with the whip signal command, and injection of a directed signal. The emit signal ... to <instance> statement relays an acknowledgement into a live peer instance. That instance reacts through a typed when clause. If the target is absent, the effect fails with target instance <id> not found.
reusable-review-pattern.whip	whip check examples/reusable-review-pattern.whip	Reuse at compile time with pattern and apply. There is no hidden subroutine at run time.
messaging-demo.whip	whip check examples/messaging-demo.whip	The std.messaging package: a channel, an inbound when message from <channel> clause that binds the generic Message, and an outbound send via <channel> statement. To inject inbound data, use the whip message command.
file-store-demo.whip	whip check examples/file-store-demo.whip	The std.files package: a file store policy boundary with allow read globs and allow write globs. The example does a durable write text ... mode upsert statement and then a read text ... as f statement. It completes with f.content.
owned-harness-demo.whip	whip check examples/owned-harness-demo.whip	The built-in owned brokered harness (DR-0024). Whip runs the tool-use loop of the agent itself. The when <agent> completed turn clause settles to the same agent.turn.<status> fact as a delegating provider. Run this example with --provider owned.

Coordination Recipes

Example	Check command	Why it exists
queue-worker-with-review.whip	whip check examples/queue-worker-with-review.whip	The canonical work loop: claim a queue item, run an agent, do a typed review, and then finish, release, or escalate.
multi-agent-bounded-concurrency.whip	whip check examples/multi-agent-bounded-concurrency.whip	Two agents that have different capacities, and a handoff to a reviewer. This example also shows the optional providers. It binds Codex and Claude.
circuit-breaker.whip	whip check examples/circuit-breaker.whip	A resilience pattern as facts, a counter with a limit, and an explicit policy for failure.
ralph.whip	whip check examples/ralph.whip	A small recurrent service. The completion of the agent supplies the next turn. Capacity limits the loop.

Showcase Workflows

Example	Check command	Why it exists
openclaw-lite.whip	whip check examples/openclaw-lite.whip	A composition of scheduled operations: a heartbeat, a memory.query recall before the planning turn, a file operation into a queue, a memory.write save, and a review by a person. The example imports the embedded std.memory package. It needs no lock.
autoresearch-lite.whip	whip check examples/autoresearch-lite.whip	A research loop with an objective: an experiment with a budget, typed ingestion of a metric, and a decision to keep or to stop.
gastown-lite.whip	whip check examples/gastown-lite.whip	Coordination of coding agents: a file operation into a queue, a lease on the workspace, work by an agent, a typed review, and a record in a ledger.

Runtime Operations

Example	Check command	Why it exists
revision-ticket-v1.whip / revision-ticket-v2.whip	whip check examples/revision-ticket-v1.whip / whip check examples/revision-ticket-v2.whip	A pair of source files for the whip revise command. The pair shows compatible changes to a workflow that runs now.
revision-parent-child.whip	whip check examples/revision-parent-child.whip --root ParentRevisionExample	Invocation of a child workflow from a parent workflow, and an explicit map of the success payload and the failure payload.
revision-validation-approval.whip	whip check examples/revision-validation-approval.whip --root RevisionValidation	A revision proposal that is safe for an operator. The child workflow drafts a candidate. A person reviews the candidate. The activation stays external to the source.
revision-running-cancel.whip	whip check examples/revision-running-cancel.whip	The behavior of a revision when provider work is already in operation.
revision-repair-planner.whip	whip check examples/revision-repair-planner.whip	A repair proposal that an agent drafts. The proposal returns a dry-run command. The proposal does not activate itself.

Test Fixtures

These files stay in examples/ because the runtime tests and the report tests use them. These files are not part of the learning path:

Fixture	Purpose
provider-language-e2e.whip	A fixture for the acceptance tests and the report tests. It covers routing across more than one provider, assertions with tags, and redaction of coerce evidence.
provider-language-e2e.accept.json	The expectations for the whip accept command. A machine checks these expectations.
Package capability fixture	This fixture uses the lowering of capability.call with a package lock. It also uses the validation of the output at the boundary of the runtime.
queue-gated-smoke.whip	A small smoke test for a queue dependency. To copy a pattern, use queue-worker-with-review.whip instead.

How to Run the Examples

whip check examples/triage-chain.whip

whip --store .whipplescript/examples.sqlite \
  run examples/triage-chain.whip \
  --provider fixture --until idle --json

These variations are useful:

# stream progress as NDJSON (openclaw-lite imports the embedded `std.memory` package — no lock needed)
whip --store .whipplescript/examples.sqlite \
  run examples/openclaw-lite.whip \
  --provider fixture --until idle --stream ndjson

# run an acceptance fixture end to end
whip --store .whipplescript/accept.sqlite --json \
  accept examples/provider-language-e2e.accept.json

# inspect the desugared rules for a then chain or pattern expansion
whip check examples/reusable-review-pattern.whip

Reading Order

1. minimal-noop.whip
2. triage-chain.whip
3. queue-worker-with-review.whip
4. incident-router.whip
5. scheduled-escalation.whip
6. openclaw-lite.whip
7. autoresearch-lite.whip or gastown-lite.whip