Tokens

Overview

Intuitively, a token value is a pointer to an operation (via an OpResult) or a pointer to a region (via an entry block argument). A token cannot be forwarded: a token def-use chain cannot be obscured by ops with forwarding semantics such as arith.select or cf.br. This allows you to always walk back from a use and say “this token came from that specific op”. The exact structural contract is specified in the LangRef section on tokens.

A token is an SSA value that has the builtin token type. The token type is parameterless, opaque and carries no runtime data. Apart from the structural contract specified in the LangRef, tokens are like any other SSA values.

Design Rationale

The token type allows operations to refer to another operation without a new parallel def-use system for operations. It reuses the existing def-use machinery for SSA. It introduces no changes to the generic op syntax, the bytecode infrastructure or core C++ APIs around Operation.

As with regular def-use chains, a token def-use chain is unidirectional. A token use points to the token's definition and not the other way around. Transformations can remove the use of a token without having to touch or inspect the definition of the token.

Because tokens are SSA values, they cannot cross IsolatedFromAbove region boundaries. This is intentional: it allows passes to process isolated regions concurrently without racing on def-use chains. When a token-like dependency must cross such a boundary, another mechanism must be used (e.g. a symbolic reference using an attribute).

ODS Integration

Tokens are excluded from the default AnyType predicate, so an op that has not opted in cannot accept a token as an arbitrary operand or result. This restriction prevents tokens from being accidentally passed as operands with forwarding semantics.

Two predicates are provided in CommonTypeConstraints.td:

Predicate	Accepts	Use when …
AnyType	any non-token type	the default; matches the historical meaning of “any type” pre-tokens.
Token	only the builtin TokenType	the op specifically takes a token operand/result.

Example:

def MyProduceOp : MyDialect_Op<"produce"> {
  let results = (outs Token:$token);
}

def MyConsumeOp : MyDialect_Op<"consume"> {
  let arguments = (ins Token:$scope, AnyType:$value);
}

ODS automatically adds TokenProducerTrait when an op declares a Token-typed result, and TokenConsumerTrait when it declares a Token-typed operand. The traits must be listed manually when tokens appear as entry block arguments and for ops that are not defined in ODS.

Region entry block arguments of token type are also token producers and require the parent operation to define TokenProducerTrait. Token block arguments in non-entry blocks are rejected.

Examples

Non-forwarding Semantics

The LangRef requires that a token never appears as a forwarded value. For example, you cannot use a token like this:

• a forwarded result or operand of a CallOpInterface op;
• an argument or result type of a FunctionOpInterface op;
• a successor operand of a BranchOpInterface op;
• a block argument of a non-entry block;
• a forwarded operand to or from any region of a RegionBranchOpInterface op (iter-args, region results, or yielded values); or
• the result of any op that selects or merges values it does not understand (e.g. arith.select).

ODS-based Verification: Tokens Rejected in AnyType Positions

scf.yield operands have forwarding semantics. A token cannot be yielded from a branch or a loop.

// error: 'scf.if' op result #0 must be variadic of any non-token type,
//        but got 'token'
%t = scf.if %cond -> token {
  %a = my.token.produce : token
  scf.yield %a : token
} else {
  %b = my.token.produce : token
  scf.yield %b : token
}

scf.if's results are declared with Variadic<AnyType> and scf.yield's operands likewise use AnyType. Because AnyType excludes tokens, both scf.if and scf.yield fail verification.