Fix: ignore blank lines in parser (Resolves #32)

ballerina-interpreter/parser.bal

@@ -20,9 +20,18 @@ import ballerina/os;
 function parseAfm(string content) returns AFMRecord|error {
     string resolvedContent = check resolveVariables(content);
 
+    string[] resolvedLines = splitLines(resolvedContent);
+    int firstNonBlank = 0;
+    while firstNonBlank < resolvedLines.length() && resolvedLines[firstNonBlank].trim() == "" {
+        firstNonBlank += 1;
+    }
+    if firstNonBlank > 0 {
+        resolvedContent = string:'join("\n", ...resolvedLines.slice(firstNonBlank));
+        resolvedLines = splitLines(resolvedContent);
+    }
+
     AgentMetadata? metadata = ();
     string body;
-    string[] resolvedLines = splitLines(resolvedContent);
     if resolvedLines.length() > 0 && resolvedLines[0].trim() == FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER {
         map<json> frontmatterMap;
         [frontmatterMap, body] = check extractFrontMatter(resolvedContent);

ballerina-interpreter/tests/agent_test.bal

@@ -339,6 +339,29 @@ function testGetModelUnsupportedProvider() returns error? {
     test:assertTrue((<error>result).message().includes("not yet supported"));
 }
 
+@test:Config
+function testParseAfmIgnoresLeadingBlankLines() returns error? {
+    string content = "\n\n---\n" +
+        "model:\n" +
+        "  provider: \"ollama\"\n" +
+        "  name: \"llama3\"\n" +
+        "---\n\n" +
+        "# Role\n" +
+        "You are a helpful assistant.\n\n" +
+        "# Instructions\n" +
+        "Be concise.\n";
+
+    AFMRecord afm = check parseAfm(content);
+
+    AgentMetadata? metadata = afm.metadata;
+    test:assertTrue(metadata is AgentMetadata);
+    Model? model = (<AgentMetadata>metadata).model;
+    test:assertTrue(model is Model);
+    test:assertEquals((<Model>model).provider, "ollama");
+    test:assertEquals((<Model>model).name, "llama3");
+    test:assertEquals(afm.role, "You are a helpful assistant.");
+}
+
 function extractJsonFromCodeBlockDataProvider() returns [string, string, string][] {
     return [
         ["json marker", "Here is the result:\n```json\n{\"name\": \"Alice\"}\n```\nDone.", "{\"name\": \"Alice\"}"],

python-interpreter/packages/afm-core/src/afm/parser.py

@@ -36,19 +36,23 @@ def extract_raw_frontmatter(content: str) -> tuple[dict | None, str]:
     """
     lines = content.splitlines()
 
-    if not lines or lines[0].strip() != FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER:
+    start = 0
+    while start < len(lines) and not lines[start].strip():
+        start += 1
+
+    if start >= len(lines) or lines[start].strip() != FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER:
         return None, content
 
     end_index = None
-    for i in range(1, len(lines)):
+    for i in range(start + 1, len(lines)):
         if lines[i].strip() == FRONTMATTER_DELIMITER:
             end_index = i
             break
 
     if end_index is None:
         raise ValueError("Unclosed frontmatter - missing closing '---'")
 
-    yaml_content = "\n".join(lines[1:end_index])
+    yaml_content = "\n".join(lines[start + 1 : end_index])
     body = "\n".join(lines[end_index + 1 :])
 
     if not yaml_content.strip():

python-interpreter/packages/afm-core/tests/test_parser.py

@@ -141,6 +141,31 @@ def test_parse_no_frontmatter(self, sample_no_frontmatter_path: Path) -> None:
         assert result.role == "This is the role without frontmatter."
         assert result.instructions == "These are instructions without frontmatter."
 
+    def test_parse_frontmatter_with_leading_blank_lines(self) -> None:
+        content = """
+
+---
+spec_version: "0.3.0"
+model:
+  provider: "ollama"
+  name: "llama3"
+---
+
+# Role
+The role.
+
+# Instructions
+The instructions.
+"""
+        result = parse_afm(content)
+
+        assert result.metadata.spec_version == "0.3.0"
+        assert result.metadata.model is not None
+        assert result.metadata.model.provider == "ollama"
+        assert result.metadata.model.name == "llama3"
+        assert result.role == "The role."
+        assert result.instructions == "The instructions."
+
     def test_parse_unclosed_frontmatter(self) -> None:
         content = """---
 spec_version: "0.3.0"