CLI Reference

Complete reference for all TinyLang CLI commands, options, and flags.

Usage

tinylang <command> [options] [arguments]

If no command is provided, the REPL starts automatically.

run

Execute a TinyLang source file using the tree-walk interpreter.

tinylang run <file.tiny>

Examples

tinylang run main.tiny
tinylang run examples/07-fibonacci.tiny

compile

Compile a source file to TinyLang bytecode (.tinyc).

tinylang compile <file.tiny> [options]

Options

Examples

# Compile with default output
tinylang compile app.tiny
# Creates: app.tinyc

# Custom output path
tinylang compile app.tiny -o build/app.tinyc

# View disassembly
tinylang compile app.tiny --disassemble

# Skip optimization
tinylang compile app.tiny --no-optimize

Output

Compiled: 24 instructions, 5 constants, optimized 3 bytes
Output: app.tinyc (128 bytes)

exec

Execute a compiled bytecode file on the virtual machine.

tinylang exec <file.tinyc>

Examples

tinylang exec app.tinyc
tinylang exec build/program.tinyc

debug

Start the interactive debugger for step-through execution.

tinylang debug <file.tiny>

Debugger Commands

Example Session

$ tinylang debug examples/03-functions.tiny

TinyLang Debugger
File: examples/03-functions.tiny

->    1 fn add(a, b) {

debug> b 5
Breakpoint set at line 5
debug> c
debug> locals
  a = 3
  b = 4
debug> eval a + b
7
debug> quit

fmt

Format TinyLang source files with consistent style.

Every result is re-parsed and compared against the AST it was produced from. If anything differs, the command reports the difference and exits 1 without writing, so --write cannot replace a file with code that means something else.

tinylang fmt <file.tiny> [files...] [options]

Options

Examples

# Preview formatted output (stdout)
tinylang fmt main.tiny

# Write changes to files
tinylang fmt --write main.tiny lib.tiny

# Check if files are formatted (CI mode)
tinylang fmt --check src/*.tiny

lint

Run static analysis to find potential issues.

tinylang lint <file.tiny> [files...] [options]

Options

Lint Rules

Examples

# Check for issues
tinylang lint main.tiny

# Auto-fix what's possible
tinylang lint --fix main.tiny

Output

warning [prefer-const] main.tiny:3:5: Variable 'x' is never reassigned, use 'const'
error [unreachable-code] main.tiny:12:3: Unreachable code after 'return'

test

Run test files containing test blocks.

tinylang test [files...]

If no files are specified, automatically finds all *.test.tiny files recursively.

Examples

# Run all tests
tinylang test

# Run specific test files
tinylang test main.test.tiny lib.test.tiny

Output

main.test.tiny
  ✓ addition works
  ✓ string concatenation
  ✗ division by zero handling
    Expected: "error" Got: null

Tests: 2 passed, 1 failed

doc

Generate documentation from source file comments.

tinylang doc <file.tiny> [options]

Options

Examples

# Print docs to stdout
tinylang doc lib.tiny

# Write to a markdown file
tinylang doc lib.tiny -o docs/api.md

init

Scaffold a new TinyLang project with standard files.

tinylang init [name]

Examples

# Create new project directory
tinylang init my-project

# Initialize in current directory
tinylang init .

Created Files

my-project/
  main.tiny         - Entry point
  lib.tiny          - Library module
  main.test.tiny    - Test file
  .tinylang.json    - Configuration
  README.md         - Documentation

bench

Benchmark program execution with detailed statistics.

tinylang bench <file.tiny> [options]

Options

Examples

# Basic benchmark
tinylang bench fib.tiny

# 1000 iterations, compare modes
tinylang bench fib.tiny -n 1000 --compare

Output

Benchmarking: fib.tiny
Iterations: 1000

  Interpreter:
    min:    0.12ms
    max:    1.45ms
    avg:    0.18ms
    median: 0.15ms

  Compiler+VM:
    min:    0.04ms
    max:    0.52ms
    avg:    0.06ms
    median: 0.05ms

VM is 3.00x faster than interpreter

repl

Start the interactive Read-Eval-Print Loop.

tinylang repl

The REPL maintains state between lines, so you can define variables and functions that persist throughout the session. Use Ctrl+C to exit.

wasm

Compile function declarations to WebAssembly Text Format (.wat).

tinylang wasm <file.tiny> [options]

Options

The target covers a deliberately narrow subset: integer functions, parameters, locals, if/else, while, direct calls and recursion, arithmetic, comparisons, and and/or. Every value is an i32.

A function that uses anything outside that subset is left out of the module entirely and is not exported. That is reported as an error, not a warning, and the command exits non-zero, because the export the caller asked for does not exist in the output.

Examples

$ tinylang wasm mixed.tiny
1 function(s) could not be compiled to WASM:
  - describe: unsupported expression type for WASM: StringLiteral
  These functions are absent from the module and are not exported.
Note: 1 top-level statement(s) were left out (the WASM target compiles function declarations only).
Compiled to WebAssembly: mixed.wat (181 bytes)
Compiled and exported: addUp
Incomplete: 1 function(s) compiled, 1 could not be.
$ echo $?
1

The .wat file is still written when at least one function compiled, so the functions that did translate remain usable; if no function is expressible in the subset, nothing is written at all. Top-level statements are not part of the WASM output and are reported as a note rather than an error. The compiler never emits a stand-in for an operation it cannot translate.

check

Check a file for syntax errors without executing it.

tinylang check <file.tiny>

Examples

tinylang check main.tiny
# Output: main.tiny: No errors found!

version

Display version and platform information.

tinylang version
# TinyLang v1.0.0
#   Runtime: Node.js v22.x.x
#   Platform: linux x64

help

Show the help message with all available commands.

tinylang help
tinylang --help

File Extensions

Configuration

Create a .tinylang.json in your project root to configure the formatter and linter:

{
  "formatter": {
    "indentSize": 2,
    "maxLineWidth": 80,
    "insertFinalNewline": true
  },
  "linter": {
    "rules": {
      "prefer-const": "warning",
      "no-unused-variables": "warning",
      "no-empty-blocks": "warning",
      "unreachable-code": "error",
      "no-shadow": "info"
    }
  }
}