chadscript

name	chadscript
description	Use when writing ChadScript applications, compiling TypeScript to native binaries, or working with the chad CLI. Triggers on ChadScript projects (chadscript.d.ts present), chad CLI usage, or native compilation tasks.

ChadScript

ChadScript compiles TypeScript to native binaries via LLVM IR. It produces fast, single-file executables with no runtime dependency on Node.js.

CLI

chad build app.ts           # compile to .build/app
chad build app.ts -o myapp  # compile with custom output
chad run app.ts             # compile and run
chad run app.ts -- arg1     # pass args to the binary
chad watch app.ts           # recompile+run on file changes
chad init                   # scaffold a new project
chad ir app.ts              # emit LLVM IR only

Project Setup

Run chad init to generate chadscript.d.ts (type definitions), tsconfig.json, and hello.ts.

The chadscript.d.ts file provides type definitions for ChadScript-specific APIs. Keep it in your project root.

Supported TypeScript Features

ChadScript supports a practical subset of TypeScript:

• Classes with inheritance, interfaces, generics (type-erased)
• Arrays (number[], string[], object[]), Maps, Sets
• String/array methods: map, filter, find, reduce, push, pop, split, trim, replace, indexOf, includes, slice, substring, startsWith, endsWith, padStart, padEnd, etc.
• Template literals, destructuring, spread operator
• for...of, for loops, while, if/else, ternary, switch
• async/await with fetch(), setTimeout, setInterval
• Closures (capture by value — mutations after capture won't be seen)
• Enums (numeric and string)
• Type assertions (as), optional chaining (?.), nullish coalescing (??)

Built-in Modules

import * as fs from "fs"; // readFileSync, writeFileSync, existsSync, etc.
import * as path from "path"; // join, resolve, dirname, basename, extname
import * as os from "os"; // platform, arch, cpus, totalmem, homedir
import * as child_process from "child_process"; // execSync

Also available globally: console, process, JSON, Math, Date, setTimeout, setInterval.

Embedding Files (Single-Binary Deploys)

Embed files at compile time — they're baked into the binary:

ChadScript.embedFile("./config.json");
ChadScript.embedDir("./public");

const config = ChadScript.getEmbeddedFile("config.json");
const binary = ChadScript.getEmbeddedFileAsUint8Array("image.png");

HTTP Server

function handler(req: HttpRequest): HttpResponse {
  return { status: 200, body: "hello", headers: "" };
}
httpServe(3000, handler);

Combine with ChadScript.embedDir("./public") and ChadScript.serveEmbedded(req.path) for static file serving from a single binary.

Key Differences from Node.js TypeScript

• No node_modules imports — only built-in modules and local files
• No any type — all values must have a concrete type
• Closures capture by value — mutating a variable after it's captured in a closure won't update the closure's copy
• Programs exit implicitly — process.exit() is only needed to exit early with a specific code
• Generics use type erasure — T becomes i8* (opaque pointer), numeric type params not supported
• Union types limited to members with the same LLVM representation

Cross-Compilation

chad target add linux-x64
chad build app.ts --target linux-x64