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Gengoscript Quickstart

Gengoscript is an embeddable language for applications that need scriptable logic without giving scripts ambient machine access. Use it when the host owns I/O, capabilities, and resource limits; it is not a replacement for an operating-system sandbox.

Choose how to try or install it

  • Use the playground: open playground.gengoscript.org to write and run a script without installing the CLI.
  • Use a released binary: download the artifact for your platform from the GitHub Releases page. Use the release notes and artifact checksums for that release; this main-branch page does not substitute for release-specific installation instructions.
  • Build from source: use the next section when developing Gengoscript, testing main-branch behaviour, or when no suitable release artifact exists.

Requirements and supported hosts

You need a normal shell, Git, and Zig 0.16.0. Native CLI development is tested on Linux in this checkout. The WASI CLI is run with Wasmtime in CI. Browser use loads the separate engine WASM artifact; see typescript-sdk.md.

Build from source

From the directory where you want the source checkout:

git clone https://github.com/gengoscript/gengo.git
cd gengo
zig build -Dpreset=1m cli
zig build -Dpreset=1m wasi

Every remaining command in the source-build route assumes the repository root (gengo) as its working directory. The native artifact is zig-out/bin/gengo; the WASI CLI is build/debug/gengo-cli.wasm.

Your first script

Create hello.gengo in the repository root:

std := import("std")
std.io.println("hello, Gengoscript")

Run it:

./zig-out/bin/gengo hello.gengo

Expected output:

hello, Gengoscript

Start the REPL with ./zig-out/bin/gengo; exit it with EOF (Ctrl-D on Unix). Run the same file through WASI:

wasmtime --dir . ./build/debug/gengo-cli.wasm -- hello.gengo

The --dir . mount lets the WASI process read hello.gengo; it does not grant a script cap:fs unless that capability and a mount are separately configured.

Browser and integration paths

Build the browser-oriented engine artifact with:

zig build -Dpreset=1m engine-build

It writes build/debug/gengo-engine.wasm. Load that artifact from a browser with the TypeScript SDK described in typescript-sdk.md. For Zig embedding, read embedding.md; for C and other native hosts, start with engine-api.md and host-abi.md.

Common failures

Symptom What to check
zig: command not found or build version errors Install Zig 0.16.0 and confirm zig version.
wasmtime: command not found Install Wasmtime or pass -Dwasmtime=/path/to/wasmtime to test builds.
gengo: compile error Check the file path, syntax, and imports; relative imports are restricted to the script directory unless --modules is supplied.
WASI cannot open the script Run from the repository root and include --dir ..
Capability import rejected The host/build has not enabled that capability; see capability-matrix.md.

For a progressive language tutorial, continue to tutorial-first-script.md.