diff --git a/lib/std/system.nim b/lib/std/system.nim
index 70c52ca8..b3039bde 100644
--- a/lib/std/system.nim
+++ b/lib/std/system.nim
@@ -371,3 +371,39 @@ proc addr*[T](x: T): ptr T {.magic: "Addr", noSideEffect.}
 
 proc sizeof*[T](x: T): int {.magic: "SizeOf", noSideEffect.}
 proc sizeof*(x: typedesc): int {.magic: "SizeOf", noSideEffect.}
+
+proc instantiationInfo*(index = -1, fullPaths = false): tuple[
+  filename: string, line: int, column: int] {.magic: "InstantiationInfo", noSideEffect.}
+  ## Provides access to the compiler's instantiation stack line information
+  ## of a template.
+  ##
+  ## While similar to the `caller info`:idx: of other languages, it is determined
+  ## at compile time.
+  ##
+  ## This proc is mostly useful for meta programming (eg. `assert` template)
+  ## to retrieve information about the current filename and line number.
+  ## Example:
+  ##
+  ##   ```nim
+  ##   import std/strutils
+  ##
+  ##   template testException(exception, code: untyped): typed =
+  ##     try:
+  ##       let pos = instantiationInfo()
+  ##       discard(code)
+  ##       echo "Test failure at $1:$2 with '$3'" % [pos.filename,
+  ##         $pos.line, astToStr(code)]
+  ##       assert false, "A test expecting failure succeeded?"
+  ##     except exception:
+  ##       discard
+  ##
+  ##   proc tester(pos: int): int =
+  ##     let
+  ##       a = @[1, 2, 3]
+  ##     result = a[pos]
+  ##
+  ##   when isMainModule:
+  ##     testException(IndexDefect, tester(30))
+  ##     testException(IndexDefect, tester(1))
+  ##     # --> Test failure at example.nim:20 with 'tester(1)'
+  ##   ```
diff --git a/src/hexer/duplifier.nim b/src/hexer/duplifier.nim
index 5152a3d2..7bbe0221 100644
--- a/src/hexer/duplifier.nim
+++ b/src/hexer/duplifier.nim
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ proc tr(c: var Context; n: var Cursor; e: Expects) =
        DefinedX, HighX, LowX, TypeofX, UnpackX, EnumToStrX, IsMainModuleX, QuotedX,
        DerefX, HderefX, AddrX, HaddrX:
       trSons c, n, WantNonOwner
-    of DefaultObjX, DefaultTupX:
+    of DefaultObjX, DefaultTupX, InstantiationInfoX:
       raiseAssert "nodekind should have been eliminated in sem.nim"
     of NoExpr:
       case n.stmtKind
diff --git a/src/nimony/magics.nim b/src/nimony/magics.nim
index addf969b..ffce164a 100644
--- a/src/nimony/magics.nim
+++ b/src/nimony/magics.nim
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ proc magicToTag*(m: TMagic): (string, int) =
   of mDefaultTup: res DefaultTupX
   of mOpenArray: res OpenArrayT
   of mEnsureMove: res EnsureMoveX
+  of mInstantiationInfo: res InstantiationInfoX
   else: ("", 0)
 
 when isMainModule:
diff --git a/src/nimony/nimony_model.nim b/src/nimony/nimony_model.nim
index b56c52f9..e49892d4 100644
--- a/src/nimony/nimony_model.nim
+++ b/src/nimony/nimony_model.nim
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ type
     ArrAtX = "arrat"
     TupAtX = "tupat" # tup[0] syntax
     EnsureMoveX = "emove" # note that `move` can be written in standard Nim
+    InstantiationInfoX = "instantiationinfo"
 
   TypeKind* = enum
     NoType
diff --git a/src/nimony/sem.nim b/src/nimony/sem.nim
index f4eca06e..db88e87c 100644
--- a/src/nimony/sem.nim
+++ b/src/nimony/sem.nim
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 ## Most important task is to turn identifiers into symbols and to perform
 ## type checking.
 
-import std / [tables, sets, syncio, formatfloat, assertions, packedsets, strutils]
+import std / [os, tables, sets, syncio, formatfloat, assertions, packedsets, strutils]
 include nifprelude
 import nimony_model, symtabs, builtintypes, decls, symparser, asthelpers,
   programs, sigmatch, magics, reporters, nifconfig, nifindexes,
@@ -787,7 +787,7 @@ proc addFn(c: var SemContext; fn: FnCandidate; fnOrig: Cursor; args: openArray[I
         if n.kind == ParLe:
           if n.exprKind in {DefinedX, DeclaredX, CompilesX, TypeofX,
               LowX, HighX, AddrX, EnumToStrX, DefaultObjX, DefaultTupX,
-              ArrAtX, DerefX, TupAtX}:
+              ArrAtX, DerefX, TupAtX, InstantiationInfoX}:
             # magic needs semchecking after overloading
             result = MagicCallNeedsSemcheck
           else:
@@ -3930,6 +3930,48 @@ proc semTupAt(c: var SemContext; it: var Item) =
     wantParRi c, it.n
     commonType c, it, exprStart, expected
 
+proc semInstantiationInfo(c: var SemContext, it: var Item) =
+  let info = it.n.info
+  let expected = it.typ
+  let exprStart = c.dest.len
+
+  c.dest.addParLe(TupleConstrX, info)
+  inc it.n
+
+  # TODO: info stack
+  let idx: xint = evalOrdinal(c, it.n)
+  if idx.isNaN:
+    c.buildErr it.n.info, "cannot evaluate at compile time: " & toString(it.n)
+  skip it.n
+  let useFullPaths = evalOrdinal(c, it.n)
+  if useFullPaths.isNaN:
+    c.buildErr it.n.info, "cannot evaluate at compile time: " & toString(it.n)
+  skip it.n
+
+  let (file, line, col) = unpack(pool.man, info)
+
+  let filename: string
+  if useFullPaths == createXint(1'i64):
+    filename = absolutePath(pool.files[file])
+  else:
+    filename = pool.files[file]
+  c.dest.addStrLit filename, info
+  c.dest.addIntLit line, info
+  c.dest.addIntLit col, info
+
+  wantParRi c, it.n
+
+  let typeStart = c.dest.len
+
+  c.dest.buildTree TupleT, info:
+    c.dest.addSubtree c.types.stringType
+    c.dest.addSubtree c.types.intType
+    c.dest.addSubtree c.types.intType
+
+  it.typ = typeToCursor(c, typeStart)
+  c.dest.shrink typeStart
+  commonType c, it, exprStart, expected
+
 proc getDottedIdent(n: var Cursor): string =
   let isError = n.kind == ParLe and n.tagId == ErrT
   if isError:
@@ -4738,6 +4780,8 @@ proc semExpr(c: var SemContext; it: var Item; flags: set[SemFlag] = {}) =
       semObjDefault c, it
     of DefaultTupX:
       semTupleDefault c, it
+    of InstantiationInfoX:
+      semInstantiationInfo c, it
     of LowX:
       semLow c, it
     of HighX:
diff --git a/src/nimony/typenav.nim b/src/nimony/typenav.nim
index 243c0c39..449b820f 100644
--- a/src/nimony/typenav.nim
+++ b/src/nimony/typenav.nim
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ proc getTypeImpl(c: var TypeCache; n: Cursor): Cursor =
     result = c.builtins.boolType
   of NegX, NegInfX, NanX, InfX:
     result = c.builtins.floatType
-  of EnumToStrX, DefaultObjX, DefaultTupX:
+  of EnumToStrX, DefaultObjX, DefaultTupX, InstantiationInfoX:
     result = c.builtins.stringType
   of SizeofX:
     result = c.builtins.intType
diff --git a/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nif b/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nif
index 7033ee39..fc7bef7d 100644
--- a/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nif
+++ b/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nif
@@ -114,4 +114,10 @@
     (pointer) 5
     (cast 5
      (pointer) 14 m.3)) 4,4
-   (call ~4 foo3.0.tbawx6nu81 1 m2.0))))
\ No newline at end of file
+   (call ~4 foo3.0.tbawx6nu81 1 m2.0))) 4,35
+ (let :sInfo.0.tbawx6nu81 . . 25
+  (tuple
+   (string)
+   (i -1)
+   (i -1)) 25
+  (tup "tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nim" +36 +29)))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nim b/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nim
index b1493532..7823dee7 100644
--- a/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nim
+++ b/tests/nimony/sysbasics/tbasics.nim
@@ -31,3 +31,6 @@ block:
   foo3(m)
   let m2 = cast[pointer](m)
   foo3(m2)
+
+
+let sInfo = instantiationInfo(-1, false)