@kite-lang/cli

The Kite compiler, as an npm dependency.

npm install --save-dev @kite-lang/cli

{
  "scripts": {
    "check": "kitec check src/main.kite",
    "fmt": "kitec fmt src/main.kite"
  }
}

It is kitec, not a copy of it. There is no reimplementation here and nothing compiled to WebAssembly — node_modules/.bin/kitec is the same binary a terminal runs, so a script and a terminal cannot answer differently. Every argument, both streams and the exit code pass straight through.

How the binary gets there

One package per platform, each holding the compiler for it, listed as optionalDependencies with os and cpu set. npm installs the one that matches and skips the rest. That is how esbuild and swc do it, and the reason is the same: no postinstall script and no download at install time, so adding the compiler to a project runs no code and fetches nothing beyond the package itself.

| | | |---|---| | @kite-lang/cli-darwin-arm64 | macOS, Apple silicon | | @kite-lang/cli-darwin-x64 | macOS, Intel | | @kite-lang/cli-linux-arm64 | Linux, statically linked | | @kite-lang/cli-linux-x64 | Linux, statically linked | | @kite-lang/cli-win32-x64 | Windows |

kite-lsp comes with it, so an editor can find the language server the same way.

npm enforces the pairing rather than trusting it. Installing the macOS package on Linux is refused before anything is unpacked:

npm error code EBADPLATFORM
npm error notsup Unsupported platform for @kite-lang/[email protected]:
  wanted {"os":"darwin","cpu":"arm64"} (current: {"os":"linux","cpu":"x64"})

Building the platform packages

./build.sh                    # the platform you are on, from target/release
./build.sh path/to/release/   # every archive of a tagged release

Nothing is published yet, and the order matters:

1. git push and tag a release, so CI builds all five targets reproducibly and signs the checksums. A compiler published from a laptop, built from source nobody can check out, is the trusting trust problem this project's release workflow goes to trouble to avoid.
2. ./build.sh path/to/release/ to make the platform packages from those artefacts.
3. npm login, then publish each platform package before this one — npm resolves optionalDependencies at install time, and a meta-package whose platform packages do not exist installs cleanly and then cannot find a compiler.

The name kite-cli was taken on npm by an unrelated project, which is why this is scoped.