BlockML

Everything is a Block.

BlockML is a language for ideas. You write them as Blocks in .bml files — readable by people, writable by LLMs, precise enough for machines.

Lamp.bml blockml

<ex:Lamp xmlns="http://blockml.org/bml"
  xmlns:core="org.blockml.bml.core"
  xmlns:ex="com.example.bml">

  <baseType>
    core:Block
  </baseType>
  <is>
    A lamp with a brightness
  </is>
  <properties>
    <brightness type="Integer">
      <value>80</value>
    </brightness>
  </properties>
</ex:Lamp>

A Block is a file

This is what you write.

The snippet above is a complete Block, not a sketch of one. The root tag is the type. Then come baseType, is, and the members that belong to it.

ex:Lamp

The root tag is the type.

baseType

What it extends.

is

One sentence of meaning.

properties

The values that belong to it.

Blocks contain Blocks

Larger Ideas are nested Blocks.

A Lamp is not a bag of fields. It is made of other Blocks — a shade, a bulb — in the same language.

Lamp.bml composition

<ex:Lamp xmlns="http://blockml.org/bml"
  xmlns:core="org.blockml.bml.core"
  xmlns:ex="com.example.bml">

  <baseType>
    core:Block
  </baseType>
  <is>
    A lamp made of nested parts
  </is>
  <aggregations>
    <parts type="ex:Part">
      <composition>
        <ex:Shade />
        <ex:Bulb />
      </composition>
    </parts>
  </aggregations>
</ex:Lamp>

Same shape, every domain

A brick and a screen use the same grammar.

Worlds add domain types. They do not invent a new language.

Brick2x4.bml MachineBlocks

<mb:Brick2x4 xmlns="http://blockml.org/bml"
  xmlns:core="org.blockml.bml.core"
  xmlns:mb="com.machineblocks.bml">

  <baseType>
    core:Block
  </baseType>
  <is>
    A 2×4 building brick
  </is>
  <properties>
    <color type="Text">
      <value>Red</value>
    </color>
  </properties>
</mb:Brick2x4>

HomeScreen.bml MetaPhone

<app:HomeScreen xmlns="http://blockml.org/bml"
  xmlns:core="org.blockml.bml.core"
  xmlns:app="com.metaphone.bml">

  <baseType>
    core:Block
  </baseType>
  <is>
    The app home screen
  </is>
  <properties>
    <title type="Text">
      <value>Inbox</value>
    </title>
  </properties>
</app:HomeScreen>

Then it becomes real

A Renderer turns the same Block into a native form.

The Idea stays one Block. HTML, STL or firmware is an implementation detail.

HTML Screens and documents

STL Parts you can print

Firmware Modules that run

A Renderer turns the same Block into a native form.

Write your first Block.

Run npx @blockml/cli init with a package FQN, then install and validate. Open the folder in Cursor or Claude Code.

Get Started Documentation