ATON - Adaptive Token-Oriented Notation

ATON is a token-efficient data serialization format designed specifically for LLM applications. It reduces token usage by up to 55% compared to JSON while maintaining perfect data fidelity.

V2 Features

• Compression Modes: FAST, BALANCED, ULTRA, ADAPTIVE
• Query Language: SQL-like syntax with full AST parser
• Streaming Encoder: Process large datasets in chunks
• Dictionary Compression: Automatic string deduplication
• Full TypeScript Support: Complete type definitions
• Dual Module: Works with both ESM and CommonJS
• Zero Dependencies: Lightweight and fast

Installation

npm install aton-format

yarn add aton-format

pnpm add aton-format

Quick Start

ESM (Recommended)

import { ATONEncoder, ATONDecoder, CompressionMode } from 'aton-format';

// Create encoder with compression
const encoder = new ATONEncoder({
    compression: CompressionMode.BALANCED,
    optimize: true
});

const data = {
    employees: [
        { id: 1, name: "Alice", role: "Engineer", active: true },
        { id: 2, name: "Bob", role: "Designer", active: true },
        { id: 3, name: "Carol", role: "Manager", active: true }
    ]
};

const atonText = encoder.encode(data);
console.log(atonText);
// Output:
// @schema[id:int, name:str, role:str, active:bool]
// @defaults[active:true]
//
// employees(3):
//   1, "Alice", "Engineer"
//   2, "Bob", "Designer"
//   3, "Carol", "Manager"

// Decode back
const decoder = new ATONDecoder();
const original = decoder.decode(atonText);

CommonJS

const { ATONEncoder, ATONDecoder, CompressionMode } = require('aton-format');

const encoder = new ATONEncoder({ compression: CompressionMode.FAST });
const atonText = encoder.encode(data);

Compression Modes

import { ATONEncoder, CompressionMode } from 'aton-format';

// Fast: No dictionary compression, fastest encoding
const fast = new ATONEncoder({ compression: CompressionMode.FAST });

// Balanced: Good compression with reasonable speed (default)
const balanced = new ATONEncoder({ compression: CompressionMode.BALANCED });

// Ultra: Maximum compression, best for large datasets
const ultra = new ATONEncoder({ compression: CompressionMode.ULTRA });

// Adaptive: Automatically selects mode based on data size
const adaptive = new ATONEncoder({ compression: CompressionMode.ADAPTIVE });

Query Language

ATON supports SQL-like queries for filtering data:

import { ATONEncoder, ATONQueryEngine } from 'aton-format';

const encoder = new ATONEncoder();
const queryEngine = new ATONQueryEngine();

const data = {
    products: [
        { id: 1, name: "Laptop", price: 999, category: "Electronics" },
        { id: 2, name: "Mouse", price: 29, category: "Electronics" },
        { id: 3, name: "Desk", price: 299, category: "Furniture" }
    ]
};

// Parse and execute query
const query = queryEngine.parse("products WHERE price > 100 ORDER BY price DESC LIMIT 10");
const results = queryEngine.execute(data, query);

// Or encode with query directly
const filteredAton = encoder.encodeWithQuery(data, "products WHERE category = 'Electronics'");

Query Syntax

-- Basic filtering
products WHERE price > 100

-- Multiple conditions
products WHERE price > 100 AND category = 'Electronics'

-- OR conditions
products WHERE category = 'Electronics' OR category = 'Furniture'

-- IN operator
products WHERE category IN ('Electronics', 'Furniture')

-- LIKE operator (pattern matching)
products WHERE name LIKE '%Laptop%'

-- BETWEEN
products WHERE price BETWEEN 100 AND 500

-- Sorting and pagination
products WHERE active = true ORDER BY price DESC LIMIT 10 OFFSET 5

-- Select specific fields
products SELECT id, name WHERE price > 100

Streaming Encoder

For large datasets, use the streaming encoder:

import { ATONStreamEncoder, CompressionMode } from 'aton-format';

const streamEncoder = new ATONStreamEncoder({
    chunkSize: 100,
    compression: CompressionMode.BALANCED
});

const largeData = {
    records: Array.from({ length: 10000 }, (_, i) => ({
        id: i,
        name: `Record ${i}`,
        value: Math.random()
    }))
};

// Process in chunks
for (const chunk of streamEncoder.streamEncode(largeData)) {
    console.log(`Chunk ${chunk.chunkId + 1}/${chunk.totalChunks}`);
    console.log(`Progress: ${(chunk.metadata.progress * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);

    // Process chunk.data
    sendToAPI(chunk.data);
}

API Reference

ATONEncoder

const encoder = new ATONEncoder(options?: ATONEncoderOptions);

Options:

• optimize (boolean, default: true): Enable schema and defaults optimization
• compression (CompressionMode, default: BALANCED): Compression mode
• queryable (boolean, default: false): Add queryable markers
• validate (boolean, default: true): Validate input data

Methods:

• encode(data, compress?): Encode object to ATON
• encodeWithQuery(data, queryString): Encode with query filtering
• estimateTokens(text): Estimate token count
• getCompressionStats(data): Get compression statistics

ATONDecoder

const decoder = new ATONDecoder(options?: ATONDecoderOptions);

Options:

• validate (boolean, default: true): Validate decoded data

Methods:

• decode(atonStr): Decode ATON string to object

ATONQueryEngine

const queryEngine = new ATONQueryEngine();

Methods:

• parse(queryString): Parse query to AST
• execute(data, parsedQuery): Execute query on data

ATONStreamEncoder

const streamEncoder = new ATONStreamEncoder(options?: StreamEncoderOptions);

Options:

• chunkSize (number, default: 100): Records per chunk
• compression (CompressionMode, default: BALANCED): Compression mode

Methods:

• streamEncode(data, tableName?): Generator yielding chunks

ATON Format Specification

Basic Structure

@dict[#0:"repeated string", #1:"another string"]
@schema[field1:type1, field2:type2, ...]
@defaults[field1:value1, field2:value2, ...]

entityName(count):
  value1, value2, ...
  value1, value2, ...

Supported Types

Type	Description	Example
int	Integer	42
float	Floating point	3.14
str	String	"hello"
bool	Boolean	true, false
null	Null value	null
array	Array	[1,2,3]
object	Object	{key:value}

Performance

Dataset	JSON Tokens	ATON Tokens	Reduction
Employee Records (1K)	12,450	5,280	57.6%
Product Catalog (10K)	145,200	64,800	55.4%
Transaction Log (100K)	1,856,000	815,000	56.1%

Browser Usage

<script type="module">
import { ATONEncoder, ATONDecoder, CompressionMode } from 'aton-format';

const encoder = new ATONEncoder({ compression: CompressionMode.FAST });
// ...
</script>

Links

• GitHub Repository
• npm Package
• Python Package (PyPI)
• PHP Package (Packagist)

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Author

Stefano D'Agostino

• GitHub: @dagoSte
• Email: dago.stefano@gmail.com