rocq-prover / rocq-prover/stdlib

btauto should not modify core HintDb

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Rocq Prover
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Description

Today I added a seemingly innocent Require Import Coq.btauto.Btauto. at the top of a file, and this change broke a proof script further down in that file.

It turns out this happened because btauto adds the following Hint to core:

https://github.com/coq/coq/blob/9193769161e1f06b371eed99dfe9e90fec9a14a6/theories/btauto/Algebra.v#L3-L13

This hint is certainly useful, but it's unfortunate that it's in a not-always-imported file, because it makes developments very brittle, as described in the scenario above.

Is there a "policy" regarding which files are "allowed" to add hints to core?

Coq version: 8.11.0, master

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by inspecting theories/btauto/Algebra.v at the linked hint declaration and the effects of importing Coq.btauto.Btauto. Reproduce the reported proof-script change in the stated Coq 8.11/master context, then determine the project policy for hints added to core and define the expected behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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