LEX001

illegal character in source

error

verifiedverified on v3.7.0 categorylexer terminalstable code

What it means

The lexer's scanner has a fixed token set. Characters such as `^`, `|`, `&`, `~` have no meaning in Mozhi (there are no bitwise operators and no caret operator), so they cannot begin any token and are reported as illegal. Identifiers are ASCII (letters, digits, `_`).

Trigger condition

A byte appears where no Mozhi token can start — most often an operator borrowed from another language, or a non-ASCII character inside an identifier.

Minimal failing example

echo(string(5 ^ 3))

Verified fix

echo(string(5 ** 3))

`**` is the exponentiation operator (verified: `5 ** 3` prints `125`). For logical operations use the keywords `and` / `or` / `!`.

What the interpreter prints

error[LEX001]: illegal character in source
  --> app.mz:1:16
 1 | echo(string(5 ^ 3))
   |                 ^
   |
reason: (the exact problem, with positions)
help:   (a suggested fix appears here)
docs:   https://crossberry-in.github.io/mozhi-doc/errors/LEX001

Run mozhi --json run app.mz to get the same information as machine-readable JSON (schema mozhi.diagnostics.v1), or --verbose to also show grouped related diagnostics. See the CLI reference.

Suggested fix

Replace the character with the Mozhi equivalent: `^` → `**` for exponentiation, `||` → `or`, `&&` → `and`, `~x` → `!x`. For single quotes around strings, use double quotes. For non-ASCII names, rename using ASCII letters.

Related syntax

Operators, string literals

Related diagnostics

PARSE004

Reference links

Limitations

One diagnostic is emitted per illegal byte; all of them on the same line are grouped under the first one. Bitwise operations do not exist in Mozhi — this is a language property, not a parse failure.