diff --git a/examples/cmatrix/Makefile b/examples/cmatrix/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..048a2994
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmatrix/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# examples/cmatrix — Matrix-style falling glyphs, built with the ww
+# toolchain. Links against libncurses.so via w6l's dynamic linker.
+
+WW := $(shell cd ../..; pwd)/out/bin/ww
+
+cmatrix: cmatrix.ww
+	$(WW) build cmatrix.ww -L /usr/lib -l ncurses
+
+clean:
+	rm -f cmatrix cmatrix.o cmatrix.s cmatrix.combined.ww
+
+.PHONY: clean
diff --git a/examples/cmatrix/cmatrix.ww b/examples/cmatrix/cmatrix.ww
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..85b484b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cmatrix/cmatrix.ww
@@ -0,0 +1,488 @@
+// cmatrix — Matrix-style falling glyphs in the terminal via libncurses.
+//
+// Exercises a broad slice of ww:
+//   - @symbol FFI to libncurses (functions + struct-ptr params)
+//   - struct types + struct literals (incl. `aerr{}` to tag a named
+//     `!void` variant)
+//   - alloc/free via os.alloc / os.free (page allocator, no GC)
+//   - slice indexing — `str` palette is (*u8, len); rng_glyph uses [i]
+//   - enum types (theme, action)
+//   - tagged-union return types with two and three variants
+//   - `?` to propagate the error variant up the stack
+//   - `!` to unwrap the success variant or abort on the error variant
+//   - `match` (incl. nested match) to dispatch over (T | E1 | …)
+//   - `yield` to turn `match` into an expression (single-return funcs)
+//   - `switch` over a key code
+//   - `let` type inference — annotations only where the RHS is ambiguous
+//     (uninitialised decls) or carries a load-bearing narrowing cast
+//
+// Build:
+//   ww build cmatrix.ww -L /usr/lib -l ncurses
+//
+// Keys while running:
+//   q / Q       quit
+//   space       pause / resume
+//   1 2 3 4     change speed (1 = slowest, 4 = fastest)
+//   0           invalid speed — flashes an error overlay
+//   r g b       switch trail colour to red / green / blue
+
+use os;
+use time;
+use fmt;
+
+// ---- libncurses FFI ----------------------------------------------------
+
+@symbol("initscr")            fn nc_initscr() *void;
+@symbol("endwin")             fn nc_endwin() i32;
+@symbol("noecho")             fn nc_noecho() i32;
+@symbol("cbreak")             fn nc_cbreak() i32;
+@symbol("curs_set")           fn nc_curs_set(v: i32) i32;
+@symbol("start_color")        fn nc_start_color() i32;
+@symbol("use_default_colors") fn nc_use_default_colors() i32;
+@symbol("init_pair")          fn nc_init_pair(pair: i16, fg: i16, bg: i16) i32;
+@symbol("COLOR_PAIR")         fn nc_color_pair(n: i32) i32;
+@symbol("attron")             fn nc_attron(attrs: i32) i32;
+@symbol("attroff")            fn nc_attroff(attrs: i32) i32;
+@symbol("mvaddch")            fn nc_mvaddch(y: i32, x: i32, c: u32) i32;
+@symbol("mvaddstr")           fn nc_mvaddstr(y: i32, x: i32, s: *u8) i32;
+@symbol("erase")              fn nc_erase() i32;
+@symbol("refresh")            fn nc_refresh() i32;
+@symbol("getch")              fn nc_getch() i32;
+@symbol("nodelay")            fn nc_nodelay(win: *void, flag: i32) i32;
+@symbol("keypad")             fn nc_keypad(win: *void, flag: i32) i32;
+@symbol("napms")              fn nc_napms(ms: i32) i32;
+@symbol("getmaxx")            fn nc_getmaxx(win: *void) i32;
+@symbol("getmaxy")            fn nc_getmaxy(win: *void) i32;
+
+// ncurses palette indices (from <ncurses.h>).
+def COLOR_RED:   i16 = 1;
+def COLOR_GREEN: i16 = 2;
+def COLOR_BLUE:  i16 = 4;
+def COLOR_WHITE: i16 = 7;
+def A_BOLD:      i32 = 2097152;	// (1 << 21) from <ncurses.h>
+
+// Local color-pair ids.
+def CP_DIM:    i32 = 1;
+def CP_BODY:   i32 = 2;
+def CP_BRIGHT: i32 = 3;
+def CP_HEAD:   i32 = 4;
+
+// Per-column trail buffer width. The head pushes glyphs down through
+// MAX_TRAIL slots; cells past the tail are erased to space.
+def MAX_TRAIL: i32 = 24;
+
+// Number of frames the '0' error overlay stays on screen.
+def FLASH_FRAMES: i32 = 25;
+
+// Glyph palette — printable ASCII. `str` is the canonical ww slice
+// shape (*u8 + len); rng_glyph treats it as one.
+def GLYPHS: str =
+	"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789@#$%&*+=-_;:.<>?/";
+
+// ---- xorshift64 prng ---------------------------------------------------
+
+type rng = struct { state: u64 };
+
+fn rng_next(r: *rng) u64 = {
+	let x = r.state;
+	x ^= x << 13u64;
+	x ^= x >> 7u64;
+	x ^= x << 17u64;
+	r.state = x;
+	return x;
+};
+
+fn rng_range(r: *rng, lo: i32, hi: i32) i32 = {
+	if (hi <= lo) { return lo; };
+	let span = (hi - lo): u64;
+	return lo + ((rng_next(r) % span): i32);
+};
+
+fn rng_glyph(r: *rng) u8 = {
+	let pool = GLYPHS;
+	let i = (rng_next(r) % (pool.len: u64)): i32;
+	return pool[i];
+};
+
+// ---- theme — enum picked by 'r' / 'g' / 'b' ---------------------------
+
+type theme = enum i32 {
+	GREEN = 0,
+	RED   = 1,
+	BLUE  = 2,
+};
+
+fn theme_color(t: theme) i16 = {
+	if (t == theme.RED)  { return COLOR_RED; };
+	if (t == theme.BLUE) { return COLOR_BLUE; };
+	return COLOR_GREEN;
+};
+
+// apply_theme — re-init the three trail color pairs against `t`. The
+// HEAD pair stays white. Subsequent paint_col calls pick up the new
+// colours automatically because ncurses indirects through pair-id.
+fn apply_theme(t: theme) void = {
+	let base = theme_color(t);
+	nc_init_pair(CP_DIM:    i16, base, -1: i16);
+	nc_init_pair(CP_BODY:   i16, base, -1: i16);
+	nc_init_pair(CP_BRIGHT: i16, base, -1: i16);
+};
+
+// ---- cmat — column state as parallel arrays ---------------------------
+//
+// w6c's element-size analysis returns 8 for any non-primitive slice
+// element, so an array of `column` structs can't be indexed correctly.
+// We hold each per-column field in its own primitive-typed buffer plus
+// one rectangular u8 buffer of glyphs (column-major: glyphs[c*MAX_TRAIL
+// + i] is the glyph at row head[c]-i in column c).
+
+type cmat = struct {
+	w: i32,
+	h: i32,
+	head:    *i32,
+	length:  *i32,
+	speed:   *i32,
+	counter: *i32,
+	glyphs:  *u8,
+	gspeed:  i32,	// uniform speed override, -1 = random per column
+	gtheme:  i32,	// current theme.* value
+	flash:   i32,	// frames remaining for the '0' error overlay
+};
+
+// 56 bytes by natural alignment; rounded to 64 to avoid trap #1 in
+// selfhost/CLAUDE.md (amalloc < struct size silently corrupts).
+def CMAT_SZ: u64 = 64u64;
+
+// ---- error variants ---------------------------------------------------
+
+// initerr — non-recoverable setup failure. `!` flags this as an error
+// variant — `?`-propagation picks it as the failure half of any
+// (T | initerr) shape.
+type initerr = !str;
+
+// speederr — the user pressed '0', which is "no speed at all". We track
+// it separately from "this wasn't a digit" (the void variant of the
+// same union) so the key handler can distinguish "show error overlay"
+// from "ignore this key". Constructed via the `speederr{}` struct-lit
+// form; for `!void` aliases there's no payload to pass.
+type speederr = !void;
+
+// ---- ncurses bring-up + tear-down -------------------------------------
+
+fn setup() (*void | initerr) = {
+	let scr = nc_initscr();
+	if (scr == nil) { return "initscr failed": initerr; };
+	nc_noecho();
+	nc_cbreak();
+	nc_curs_set(0);
+	nc_nodelay(scr, 1);
+	nc_keypad(scr, 1);
+	if (nc_start_color() != 0) {
+		nc_endwin();
+		return "start_color failed": initerr;
+	};
+	nc_use_default_colors();
+	nc_init_pair(CP_HEAD: i16, COLOR_WHITE, -1: i16);
+	apply_theme(theme.GREEN);
+	return scr;
+};
+
+// ---- clock helper -----------------------------------------------------
+
+fn now_ns() (u64 | initerr) = {
+	let ts: time.timespec;	// uninitialised — keep the type for the shape
+	if (time.monotonic(&ts) != 0) {
+		return "clock_gettime failed": initerr;
+	};
+	let v = ts.sec * 1000000000i64 + ts.nsec;
+	return v: u64;
+};
+
+// ---- cmat allocate / free ---------------------------------------------
+
+fn cmat_alloc(w: i32, h: i32, r: *rng) *cmat = {
+	let m = os.alloc(CMAT_SZ): *cmat;
+	m.w = w;
+	m.h = h;
+	m.gspeed = -1;
+	m.gtheme = theme.GREEN: i32;
+	m.flash  = 0;
+	let n4 = (w: u64) * 4u64;
+	m.head    = os.alloc(n4): *i32;
+	m.length  = os.alloc(n4): *i32;
+	m.speed   = os.alloc(n4): *i32;
+	m.counter = os.alloc(n4): *i32;
+	m.glyphs  = os.alloc((w: u64) * (MAX_TRAIL: u64)): *u8;
+	let c = 0;
+	for (c < w) {
+		m.head[c]    = -rng_range(r, 0, h);
+		m.length[c]  = rng_range(r, 4, MAX_TRAIL);
+		m.speed[c]   = rng_range(r, 0, 4);
+		m.counter[c] = 0;
+		let i = 0;
+		for (i < MAX_TRAIL) {
+			m.glyphs[c * MAX_TRAIL + i] = rng_glyph(r);
+			i += 1;
+		};
+		c += 1;
+	};
+	return m;
+};
+
+fn cmat_free(m: *cmat) void = {
+	let n4 = (m.w: u64) * 4u64;
+	os.free(m.head:    *void, n4);
+	os.free(m.length:  *void, n4);
+	os.free(m.speed:   *void, n4);
+	os.free(m.counter: *void, n4);
+	os.free(m.glyphs:  *void, (m.w: u64) * (MAX_TRAIL: u64));
+	os.free(m: *void, CMAT_SZ);
+};
+
+// ---- per-column tick + paint ------------------------------------------
+
+// fresh_speed — pick a per-column speed honouring the global override.
+fn fresh_speed(m: *cmat, r: *rng) i32 = {
+	if (m.gspeed >= 0) { return m.gspeed; };
+	return rng_range(r, 0, 4);
+};
+
+fn step_col(m: *cmat, c: i32, r: *rng) void = {
+	if (m.counter[c] < m.speed[c]) {
+		m.counter[c] = m.counter[c] + 1;
+		return;
+	};
+	m.counter[c] = 0;
+
+	let base = c * MAX_TRAIL;
+	let i = m.length[c] - 1;
+	for (i > 0) {
+		m.glyphs[base + i] = m.glyphs[base + i - 1];
+		i -= 1;
+	};
+	m.glyphs[base + 0] = rng_glyph(r);
+	m.head[c] = m.head[c] + 1;
+
+	let off = m.head[c] - m.length[c];
+	if (off >= 0) {
+		if (off < m.h) {
+			nc_mvaddch(off, c, 32u32);	// ' '
+		};
+	};
+
+	if (m.head[c] - m.length[c] >= m.h) {
+		m.head[c]    = -rng_range(r, 0, m.h / 2);
+		m.length[c]  = rng_range(r, 4, MAX_TRAIL);
+		m.speed[c]   = fresh_speed(m, r);
+		m.counter[c] = 0;
+	};
+};
+
+fn paint_col(m: *cmat, c: i32) void = {
+	let base = c * MAX_TRAIL;
+	let len  = m.length[c];
+	let head = m.head[c];
+	let i = 0;
+	for (i < len) {
+		let y = head - i;
+		if (y < 0)    { break; };
+		if (y >= m.h) { i += 1; continue; };
+		let pair = CP_BODY;
+		let attr = 0;
+		if (i == 0) {
+			pair = CP_HEAD;
+			attr = A_BOLD;
+		} else if (i == 1) {
+			pair = CP_BRIGHT;
+			attr = A_BOLD;
+		} else if (i > len - 4) {
+			pair = CP_DIM;
+		};
+		let mask = nc_color_pair(pair) | attr;
+		nc_attron(mask);
+		nc_mvaddch(y, c, m.glyphs[base + i]: u32);
+		nc_attroff(mask);
+		i += 1;
+	};
+};
+
+// paint_flash — error overlay shown while m.flash > 0.
+fn paint_flash(m: *cmat) void = {
+	if (m.flash <= 0) { return; };
+	let msg = " [error] '0' is not a valid speed — use 1..4 ";
+	let attr = nc_color_pair(CP_HEAD) | A_BOLD;
+	nc_attron(attr);
+	nc_mvaddstr(m.h - 1, 0, msg.ptr);
+	nc_attroff(attr);
+	m.flash -= 1;
+};
+
+// ---- keyboard ---------------------------------------------------------
+
+type action = enum i32 {
+	NONE  = 0,
+	QUIT  = 1,
+	PAUSE = 2,
+};
+
+// poll_key — non-blocking. (i32 | void) is the Hare-shaped optional
+// shape; match handles both.
+fn poll_key() (i32 | void) = {
+	let c = nc_getch();
+	if (c == -1) { return; };
+	return c;
+};
+
+// classify — uses `switch` to fold the 'top-level' control keys into
+// the action enum. Other digits and letters fall through to NONE and
+// are dispatched by the more specific parsers below.
+fn classify(c: i32) action = {
+	switch (c) {
+	case 113, 81: return action.QUIT;	// 'q' / 'Q'
+	case 32:      return action.PAUSE;	// space
+	};
+	return action.NONE;
+};
+
+// digit_to_delay — three-variant tagged union:
+//   i32       — successful parse; the value is a frame-delay (0..6)
+//   speederr  — the user pressed '0', a known-invalid speed
+//   void      — the key wasn't a digit at all (caller can ignore)
+fn digit_to_delay(c: i32) (i32 | speederr | void) = {
+	if (c == 48) { return speederr{}; };	// '0' invalid
+	if (c == 49) { return 6; };		// '1' slowest
+	if (c == 50) { return 3; };		// '2'
+	if (c == 51) { return 1; };		// '3'
+	if (c == 52) { return 0; };		// '4' fastest
+	return;					// not a digit
+};
+
+// key_to_theme — 'r'/'g'/'b' map to a theme variant; everything else
+// yields void.
+fn key_to_theme(c: i32) (theme | void) = {
+	if (c == 114) { return theme.RED;   };	// 'r'
+	if (c == 103) { return theme.GREEN; };	// 'g'
+	if (c == 98)  { return theme.BLUE;  };	// 'b'
+	return;
+};
+
+// apply_speed — set every column's per-advance delay to `d`. Also
+// records the global override so respawned columns adopt the new speed.
+fn apply_speed(m: *cmat, d: i32) void = {
+	m.gspeed = d;
+	let c = 0;
+	for (c < m.w) {
+		m.speed[c]   = d;
+		m.counter[c] = 0;
+		c += 1;
+	};
+};
+
+// dispatch_extra — handle key codes that aren't QUIT/PAUSE. Returns
+// `true` iff the caller should erase the screen (the trail re-colour
+// after a theme switch leaves stale cells behind otherwise).
+//
+// Both matches are *expressions* — every arm `yield`s the erase-flag,
+// and the whole `match (...)` is the function's single return value.
+// The outer void arm yields the inner match-expression, so dispatch
+// stays declarative even with three levels of dispatch.
+fn dispatch_extra(m: *cmat, k: i32) bool = {
+	return match (digit_to_delay(k)) {
+	case let d: i32 => {
+		apply_speed(m, d);
+		yield false;
+	};
+	case let e: speederr => {
+		m.flash = FLASH_FRAMES;
+		yield false;
+	};
+	case void => yield match (key_to_theme(k)) {
+		case let t: theme => {
+			m.gtheme = t: i32;
+			apply_theme(t);
+			yield true;
+		};
+		case void => yield false;
+		};
+	};
+};
+
+// ---- run --------------------------------------------------------------
+
+fn run(seed: u64) (i32 | initerr) = {
+	// `?` propagation — if setup returns initerr, run returns initerr.
+	let scr = setup()?;
+	let w = nc_getmaxx(scr);
+	let h = nc_getmaxy(scr);
+	if (w < 8 || h < 4) {
+		nc_endwin();
+		return "terminal too small": initerr;
+	};
+
+	let r = rng { state = seed };
+	if (r.state == 0u64) { r.state = 14695981039346656037u64; };
+
+	let m = cmat_alloc(w, h, &r);
+	nc_erase();
+
+	let running = true;
+	let paused  = false;
+	let frames  = 0;
+	for (running) {
+		let evt = poll_key();
+		// outer match — dispatch on the variant.
+		match (evt) {
+		case let k: i32 => {
+			let a = classify(k);
+			if (a == action.QUIT)  { running = false; };
+			if (a == action.PAUSE) { paused = !paused; };
+			if (a == action.NONE) {
+				if (dispatch_extra(m, k)) {
+					nc_erase();
+				};
+			};
+		};
+		case void => { };
+		};
+		if (running) {
+			if (!paused) {
+				let c = 0;
+				for (c < m.w) {
+					step_col(m, c, &r);
+					paint_col(m, c);
+					c += 1;
+				};
+			};
+			paint_flash(m);
+			nc_refresh();
+			frames += 1;
+			nc_napms(60);
+		};
+	};
+
+	cmat_free(m);
+	nc_endwin();
+	return frames;
+};
+
+// ---- entry ------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export fn main() i32 = {
+	// `!` — unwrap the success variant or abort. The clock is a
+	// pre-init dependency; if it fails there's nothing to tear down.
+	let seed = now_ns()!;
+
+	// match-as-expression: every arm `yield`s the exit code, and the
+	// whole match resolves to a single i32. One return site for the
+	// function — Hare-shaped, no early returns scattered across arms.
+	let r = run(seed);
+	let code = match (r) {
+	case let v: i32 => yield 0;
+	case let e: initerr => {
+		nc_endwin();
+		fmt.errorln("cmatrix: setup failed");
+		yield 1;
+	};
+	};
+	return code;
+};