D016 - The census lists are fenced off from clang-format

decided · 2026-08-19

surface.h wraps its X-macro lists in clang-format off / on, and writes one symbol per line.

clang-format reads X(name) X(name) X(name) as a chain of function calls and reflows it into a staircase of ever-deeper continuation indents. Two things make that unacceptable rather than merely ugly:

• It is not idempotent. Formatting the file and then checking it still reported violations, so the format gate could never pass. That is a broken gate, not a style disagreement.
• It destroys the diff. Re-wrapped lists mean adding one symbol rewrites twenty lines, and the census is expected to keep growing.

One symbol per line makes adding or removing one a one-line diff, which is worth more than the horizontal density it costs. tools/gen-surface.py regenerates the file, so the mechanical part stays mechanical - but the header remains the committed source of truth and editing it by hand is fine, as long as the fences stay.