paragram
Edition04 / 2026 VolumeI

paragram.dev

paragraph+ gram prose→ structure

A composition system for developers. Paragram parses ordinary paragraphs into typed diagrams, treating structure as a first-class artefact of writing. Every sentence has a shape; every shape has an address on the grid.

AuthorParagram Working Group DisciplineStructural Composition FormatEditorial / IDE
01
Premise

Prose has architecture.

Engineers already write in structures — protocols, schemas, requirements, change-logs — yet they encode them as flat text. Paragram reads the paragraphs you would write anyway and renders the latent diagram beneath them.

The argument is editorial: a clear structure is a clear claim. A blurry paragraph is a blurry diagram. Paragram makes the second visible so the first becomes correctable.

  • InputMarkdown, plain text
  • OutputTyped diagrams (SVG, DOT)
  • Grammar12-token Swiss schema
  • ModeEditor · CLI · Library
  • LicenseMIT, source-available
02
System

A 12-column grammar.

Paragram lays sentences on a fixed 12-column reading grid. Subjects, predicates, and modifiers are placed by column; the grid does double duty as parser and as page.

  1. G.01 Subject cols 1–3 Anchors the clause; left-aligned, weight 700.
  2. G.02 Predicate cols 4–8 The verb of the diagram; the through-line.
  3. G.03 Object cols 9–12 Resolves the clause; right-aligned mass.
  4. G.04 Modifier cols 2–11 Spans secondary; smaller scale, caption gray.
  5. G.05 Aside col 1 / col 12 Marginalia in the gutter, never centered.
03
Notation

Read like prose, parse like protocol.

A paragram source file is ordinary text. Annotations are terse: a colon binds a label, an arrow asserts a relation, a dotted leader expresses correspondence between terms.

The notation is intentionally austere. There are five marks, no more. Anything that cannot be said in five marks is, by policy, not yet a structure. 

01subject : Paragram
02claim   : prose has architecture
03
04paragraph --> diagram
05diagram   --> decision
06
07note. [!] the gutter is reserved.
Fileexample.pgm Marks: . --> [ ]
04
Diagrams

Four shapes, exhaustively.

D.01 Sequence Ordered prose, monotonic time.
D.02 Network Names that refer to other names.
D.03 Hierarchy Nested clauses, taxonomic prose.
D.04 Pipeline Stages with fixed boundaries.
05
Index

Where to look.

  1. 01 Premisep. 002
  2. 02 Systemp. 006
  3. 03 Notationp. 011
  4. 04 Diagramsp. 017
  5. 05 Indexp. 024
  1. A1 Grammar Tableapp. A
  2. A2 Diagram Atlasapp. B
  3. A3 Reserved Marksapp. C
  4. A4 Editor Bindingsapp. D
  5. A5 Bibliographyapp. E