Cut the comments the README already records, and record the cycle-fence and exit-code rules there

README.md

@@ -386,6 +386,15 @@ tokens add cost in proportion to the output.
   instead of a leading-position special case. The JSON string is what makes the
   library's own advice reachable: the error for an object holding only a format
   names `"…"`, and that spelling has to work where it is printed.
+- **An inline template skips the cycle fence, and only that one.** `New` proves the
+  loaded tree acyclic, an inline node is a finite tree of its own, and nothing in
+  the tree can reference it, so no render of it reaches itself. Every other fence
+  runs over both, from one `checkScope`.
+- **An inline template that does not compile is misuse (exit 2), including a
+  reference that resolves to nothing** — the whole argument is the spelling under
+  test, and `NewTemplate` compiles, links and validates as one step. An unknown
+  *path* stays a runtime error (exit 1): there the argument is well-formed and only
+  the data is absent.
 - **A padded JSON argument is rejected, not trimmed.** Padding is the one place the
   two readings disagree — a format string renders it, JSON drops it — so the
   spelling that renders is named rather than silently chosen.

cmd/fejkdata/main.go

@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ const usage = `Usage: fejkdata [flags] <path|template>
 An argument containing a { token, or a JSON object, array or string, is a
 template; any other argument is a path (a path never contains a brace, a bracket
 or a quote). Templates reach the data by reference from the root —
-{/sv_SE.person.first} — whether the data is shipped or layered with --data-path. A
-bracket that is not valid JSON names no template and no path.
+{/sv_SE.person.last} — whether the data is shipped or layered with --data-path. An
+argument carrying one of those characters but no valid JSON names neither.
 
   -d, --data-path D      a data directory to layer over the shipped data (repeatable; last wins on a clash)
   -h, --help             print this help, then exit
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ func (in invocation) check() (argKind, error) {
 		return argPath, nil
 	}
 	if len(in.paths) != 1 {
-		return argPath, fmt.Errorf("expected one path, got %d", len(in.paths))
+		return argPath, fmt.Errorf("expected one path or template, got %d", len(in.paths))
 	}
 	return classify(in.paths[0])
 }
@@ -270,16 +270,13 @@ const (
 	argTemplate
 )
 
-// classify reads what a positional argument names by its shape: a format string
-// carrying a { token, or a JSON object, array or string, is an inline template;
-// anything else is a path. A name may hold neither a brace nor a bracket nor a
-// quote, so no path collides with any of those spellings, and the JSON gate is
-// valid-JSON so a copied bracket names nothing rather than swallowing an argument.
+// classify reads what a positional argument names by its shape: a { token, or a
+// JSON object, array or string, is an inline template; anything else is a path.
 func classify(arg string) (argKind, error) {
-	if strings.ContainsRune(arg, '{') || (isJSONStart(arg) && json.Valid([]byte(arg))) {
+	if strings.ContainsRune(arg, '{') || (isJSONStart(strings.TrimSpace(arg)) && json.Valid([]byte(arg))) {
 		return argTemplate, nil
 	}
-	if i := strings.IndexAny(arg, `[]"`); i >= 0 {
+	if i := strings.IndexAny(arg, `[]}"`); i >= 0 {
 		return argPath, fmt.Errorf("%q holds a %q, which no path may, and it is not valid JSON, so it names no template either", arg, arg[i:i+1])
 	}
 	return argPath, nil

cmd/fejkdata/main_test.go

@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ func TestClassify(t *testing.T) {
 		`{"format":"x"}`: argTemplate,
 		`["a","b"]`:      argTemplate, // a JSON array carries no brace
 		`[1, 2]`:         argTemplate,
+		` ["a","b"]`:     argTemplate, // padding is the template's own error, not a shape verdict
 		`"hello"`:        argTemplate, // a JSON string, the spelling a format-only object names
 	} {
 		got, err := classify(arg)
@@ -321,6 +322,7 @@ func TestClassify(t *testing.T) {
 		"[abc].field": `holds a "["`,
 		"x[1]":        `holds a "["`,
 		"a]b":         `holds a "]"`,
+		"a}b":         `holds a "}"`,
 		`"abc`:        `holds a "\""`,
 		`"a]b`:        `holds a "\""`, // the opener the reader typed, not the bracket behind it
 	} {
@@ -358,16 +360,17 @@ func TestRunInlineTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRunTemplateMisuse(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, arg := range []string{
-		"{bad",            // unterminated brace
-		"[red,green]",     // a near-miss JSON array (unquoted strings)
-		`{"format":"x"}`,  // an object holding only a format
-		"{/no.such.path}", // a reference into nothing
-		"x[1]",            // a bracket no path may hold
+	for arg, want := range map[string]string{
+		"{bad":            "unterminated",
+		"[red,green]":     "names no template either",
+		`{"format":"x"}`:  "is a string",
+		"{/no.such.path}": "no entry",
+		"x[1]":            "names no template either",
+		` ["a","b"] `:     "may not be padded",
 	} {
 		code, out, errb := runOut("--seed", "1", arg)
-		if code != 2 || out != "" || !strings.Contains(errb, "try 'fejkdata --help'") {
-			t.Errorf("run(%q) = %d, %q, %q; want misuse naming --help", arg, code, out, errb)
+		if code != 2 || out != "" || !strings.Contains(errb, "try 'fejkdata --help'") || !strings.Contains(errb, want) {
+			t.Errorf("run(%q) = %d, %q, %q; want misuse naming %q and --help", arg, code, out, errb, want)
 		}
 		if strings.Contains(errb, "fejkdata: fejkdata:") {
 			t.Errorf("run(%q) doubled the program prefix: %q", arg, errb)

graph.go

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func walkNodes(root map[string]node, fn func(path string, n node) error) error {
 
 // eachNode visits n and every node contained within it once, passing the dot path
 // that reaches each. It never crosses a reference edge — a bound {/path} field is
-// skipped, as in walkNodes — so a single inline node is walked on its own.
+// skipped — so a single inline node is walked on its own.
 func eachNode(n node, path string, fn func(path string, n node) error) error {
 	seen := map[node]bool{}
 	var visit func(string, node) error

inline.go

@@ -27,10 +27,6 @@ func (t *Template) Fake() string {
 // binds its references against the loaded tree, so repeated renders pay the
 // compile and validation once. It shares [New]'s guarantees: a bad template errors
 // here, and rendering cannot fail.
-//
-// checkNoCycles is the one fence loadData runs that an inline node does not need:
-// the loaded tree is proven acyclic at [New], the node is a finite tree, and no
-// tree node can reference it, so nothing it renders can reach itself.
 func (f *Generator) NewTemplate(input string) (*Template, error) {
 	n, err := compileInput(input)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -58,12 +54,7 @@ func (f *Generator) FakeTemplate(input string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 // compileInput compiles an inline template: a JSON value, or a bare format string
-// when the input is not JSON. A JSON string literal and a bare string compile
-// alike (both are a template with no fields); the other JSON scalars — a number,
-// bool or null — are no template, so they are rejected here, as a data file that
-// was one would be at load. Padding is where the two readings would disagree — a
-// format string renders it, JSON drops it — so a padded JSON value is rejected
-// naming the one that renders.
+// when the input is not JSON.
 func compileInput(input string) (node, error) {
 	var raw any
 	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(input), &raw); err != nil {
@@ -76,8 +67,7 @@ func compileInput(input string) (node, error) {
 }
 
 // linkNodeRefs binds the references in an inline node's templates against the
-// loaded tree. An inline template sits in no folder, so . and .. name nothing and
-// are rejected for the root spelling they would otherwise silently mean.
+// loaded tree.
 func linkNodeRefs(scope nodeScope, root map[string]node) error {
 	return scope(func(path string, m node) error {
 		t, ok := m.(*template)

inline_test.go

@@ -76,12 +76,20 @@ func TestFakeTemplateDeterministic(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestBareStringReferenceHint(t *testing.T) {
+func TestFieldlessTokenHint(t *testing.T) {
 	f := shipped(t)
 	_, err := f.FakeTemplate(`{sv_SE.person.last}`)
 	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "write {/sv_SE.person.last}") {
 		t.Fatalf("FakeTemplate(bare token) = %v, want a hint naming {/sv_SE.person.last}", err)
 	}
+	_, err = f.FakeTemplate(`{"format":"{x}","repeat":2}`)
+	if err == nil || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "bare string") {
+		t.Errorf("FakeTemplate(fieldless object) = %v, want an error that does not call it a bare string", err)
+	}
+	_, err = f.FakeTemplate(`{ /sv_SE.person.last }`)
+	if err == nil || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "write {") {
+		t.Errorf("FakeTemplate(malformed token) = %v, want no hint naming a spelling that fails too", err)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestFakeTemplateErrors(t *testing.T) {
@@ -97,6 +105,7 @@ func TestFakeTemplateErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		{`name: {..nope}`, "write {/nope}"},
 		{`{"format":"x"}`, "is a string"},
 		{`{/misc.country} {/misc.country.alpha2}`, "renders a level"},
+		{`{"format":"{/misc.country.alpha2} {x}","x":"{/misc.country}"}`, "renders"},
 	} {
 		_, err := f.FakeTemplate(c.input)
 		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), c.want) {
@@ -124,13 +133,13 @@ func TestPaddedJSONIsRejected(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestNewTemplateReusable(t *testing.T) {
 	f := shipped(t)
-	tmpl, err := f.NewTemplate(`{digits(2)}`)
+	reusable, err := f.NewTemplate(`{digits(2)}`)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("NewTemplate: %v", err)
 	}
 	seen := map[string]bool{}
 	for i := 0; i < 50; i++ {
-		seen[tmpl.Fake()] = true
+		seen[reusable.Fake()] = true
 	}
 	if len(seen) < 2 {
 		t.Fatalf("Template.Fake() repeated %v, want varied draws from one compile", seen)

node.go

@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ func repeatOf(m map[string]any) (int, error) {
 	if r == 1 {
 		return 0, fmt.Errorf("repeat 1 is the default, so it has no effect; drop it")
 	}
-	if r > MaxRepeat { // caps the renders one repeat asks for; checkRepeatReach bounds what nested ones multiply to
+	if r > MaxRepeat { // caps the renders one repeat asks for; repeatCheck bounds what nested ones multiply to
 		return 0, fmt.Errorf("repeat %v exceeds the maximum %d", rv, MaxRepeat)
 	}
 	return int(r), nil

shipped_data_test.go

@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ func TestFakeIsSafeForConcurrentUse(t *testing.T) {
 					return
 				}
 				f.List()
+				tmpl, err := f.NewTemplate("{/sv_SE.person.last}")
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Error(err)
+					return
+				}
+				tmpl.Fake()
 			}
 		}()
 	}

template.go

@@ -165,7 +165,11 @@ func checkArm(name string, fields map[string]node) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%q is an option and can never be a field", a.key)
 		}
 		if len(fields) == 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("no field %q; a token names a sibling field, and a bare string has none — write {/%s} to reference the data", a.key, name)
+			hint := ""
+			if hintableRef(name) {
+				hint = fmt.Sprintf(" — write {/%s} to reference the data", name)
+			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("no field %q; a token names a sibling field, and this template has none%s", a.key, hint)
 		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("no field %q", a.key)
 	}
@@ -175,6 +179,17 @@ func checkArm(name string, fields map[string]node) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// hintableRef reports whether {/name} is a reference the grammar accepts, so the
+// hint never names a spelling that fails too.
+func hintableRef(name string) bool {
+	for _, seg := range strings.Split(name, ".") {
+		if checkName(seg) != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 // tokenOperands lists the fields one {token} body reads as operands, empty for a
 // field token or a builtin that reads none.
 func tokenOperands(body string) []string {