| name | add-tree-sitter-language |
| description | End-to-end workflow for adding a new tree-sitter-backed language module (grammar selection with ABI accept-window check, submodule add, Gradle wiring, Language object, golden tests, demo wiring, CI updates). Run only when invoked explicitly via slash command. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Write","Edit","Glob","Grep","Bash(git submodule:*)","Bash(git -C *)","Bash(./gradlew:*)","Bash(bash scripts/verify-notice.sh:*)","Bash(grep:*)","Bash(ls:*)","Bash(unzip -p:*)","Skill(git-commit)","Skill(superpowers:brainstorming)","Skill(superpowers:writing-plans)","Skill(superpowers:executing-plans)","Skill(superpowers:test-driven-development)","Skill(superpowers:verification-before-completion)"] |
Adding a new tree-sitter language module
This skill encodes the workflow for adding a new :languages:<lang> module.
Canonical worked examples already on develop:
- Single grammar: commits
9bbe87d..c54e2b3 (Ruby + Rust).
- Multi-grammar (one module bundling 2+ grammars): the markdown module (commit history under
languages/markdown/) and the typescript module (which also depends on the javascript module for shared queries).
The workflow is rigid — follow the order. Most steps are obvious, but several have non-obvious traps that the order avoids.
1. Pick the upstream grammar and the right pin
Search order for grammar repos:
https://github.com/tree-sitter — the official org maintains canonical grammars for many languages (tree-sitter-ruby, tree-sitter-rust, tree-sitter-python, tree-sitter-go, tree-sitter-javascript, tree-sitter-typescript, …). Prefer these when they exist.https://github.com/tree-sitter-grammars — community-maintained grammars curated by the tree-sitter project. Use when (1) has nothing.- Well-known forks (e.g.
fwcd/tree-sitter-kotlin, alex-pinkus/tree-sitter-swift) — only when neither org has a usable grammar. Document why in the commit message.
License: All grammars in the repo today are MIT. If you pick something non-MIT, stop and ask the user before going further — it changes how the NOTICE bundling looks and the licenseSpdx / licenseSource DSL values.
Pin selection — keep the bundled parser.c inside the accept window:
gradle/libs.versions.toml is the single source of truth: it pins treesitterAbi (currently 15) and the ktreesitter loader, whose accept window for a parser's LANGUAGE_VERSION is currently 13..15 on every target (including Kotlin/Native). Re-read the catalog rather than trusting these numbers — they move when ktreesitter is bumped. generateParserSource (in build-logic/src/main/kotlin/compose-syntax-highlight-language.gradle.kts) only regenerates src/parser.c when it is missing — it does not detect ABI mismatch. An upstream parser.c whose ABI falls outside the window reaches Language(...) and throws IllegalArgumentException: Incompatible language version <N> at runtime.
Verification happens after git submodule add (step 2) but before you record the gitlink in a commit. Inspect the default-checked-out parser.c: if its LANGUAGE_VERSION is inside 13..15, the pin is fine — prefer the newest such tag so you ride the latest grammar. If it is outside the window (e.g. a future ABI 16), walk back tags with git -C <submodule> checkout <older-tag> until the bundled parser.c reads a LANGUAGE_VERSION within the window, then commit that gitlink. As of this writing every released upstream grammar ships ABI ≤ 15, so default HEAD is normally fine. Some bundled modules sit at ABI 15 and others remain at ABI 14 purely because their upstream has not yet cut an ABI-15 release — ABI 14 is in-window and perfectly fine; do not downgrade a working pin to chase a particular ABI.
If the grammar ships no parser.c at all (e.g. tree-sitter-swift at the pinned commit), that's fine — generateParserSource's !parserC.exists() branch regenerates it at the configured treesitterAbi (currently 15) on every fresh checkout.
If a grammar's only in-window tags are unacceptably old, stop and tell the user — widening the accept window (bumping ktreesitter, and treesitterAbi for regenerated grammars) is a separate, repo-wide change that has to land first.
2. Add the submodule, verify ABI, and create the module skeleton
git submodule add https://github.com/<owner>/tree-sitter-<lang>.git languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>
git submodule add defaults to upstream main HEAD. Inspect the bundled parser.c immediately:
grep '#define LANGUAGE_VERSION' languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>/src/parser.c
If it reports a value in 13..15, you're done with verification. If it reports something outside the window (e.g. 16), list available tags and pick the newest tag whose tree contains parser.c inside 13..15:
git -C languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang> tag --sort=-version:refname
git -C languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang> show <candidate-tag>:src/parser.c | grep LANGUAGE_VERSION
git -C languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang> checkout <chosen-tag>
git add languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>
If the grep for the existing parser.c returns no output, that means the file is missing entirely (the case for tree-sitter-swift). That's fine — generateParserSource will produce it at build time with the configured ABI.
Verify the layout. The convention plugin requires src/parser.c (or none, if you'll regenerate), src/scanner.c if the grammar uses an external scanner, and queries/highlights.scm:
ls languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>/grammar.js \
languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>/queries/highlights.scm \
languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>/src/parser.c \
languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>/src/scanner.c
ls exits non-zero if any path is missing; that's the signal. If src/scanner.c is the only missing file, drop it from sources in the build script (most grammars need it; check the grammar's README). If src/parser.c is missing, that's fine — generateParserSource will materialize it on first build with the configured ABI.
Create languages/<lang>/build.gradle.kts:
plugins {
id("compose-syntax-highlight-language")
}
composeSyntaxHighlightLanguage {
languageName.set("<lang>")
grammars {
create("<lang>") {
submodulePath.set("tree-sitter-<lang>")
parserClassName.set("TreeSitter<Lang>")
sources.set(listOf("src/parser.c", "src/scanner.c"))
queries.set(listOf("queries/highlights.scm"))
}
}
licenseSpdx.set("MIT")
licenseSource.set("<owner>/tree-sitter-<lang> (MIT)")
licenseCopyright.set("Copyright (c) <year> <holder>")
}
The grammar's name (here "<lang>") must equal languageName for single-grammar modules. Both are used in the package path io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.<name> and in the native library / header naming, and the convention plugin only matches them up when they're identical.
licenseCopyright is required by the convention plugin — generateNotice fails the build if it is not set. Copy the upstream copyright line verbatim from the submodule's LICENSE file (e.g. grep -m1 'Copyright' languages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang>/LICENSE); do not paraphrase, abbreviate, or substitute a year range. The string is reproduced in the published META-INF/NOTICE to satisfy MIT's requirement that the original copyright notice travel with redistributed binaries.
For modules deriving from multiple upstream repos (e.g. typescript bundles tree-sitter-typescript parser code plus tree-sitter-javascript queries), semicolon-separate the copyrights with a parenthesised repo tag, mirroring the licenseSource convention:
licenseCopyright.set("Copyright (c) 2017 Max Brunsfeld (tree-sitter-typescript); Copyright (c) 2014 Max Brunsfeld (tree-sitter-javascript)")
Append to settings.gradle.kts after the existing :languages:<...> includes:
include(":languages:<lang>")
Exclude the generated parser object from the public ABI. The ktreesitter plugin generates TreeSitter<Lang> (exposing fun language(): Any) into io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.<name>.internal. It is public, carries no @InternalSyntaxHighlightApi, and is consumed only from within its own module — so unless it is excluded, BCV records it in the module's jvm and klib dumps and the 1.0 stability guarantee pins that untyped accessor forever. The generator belongs to ktreesitter, so its visibility cannot be changed here; the exclusion is a BCV setting.
Add the new package to ignoredPackages in the root build.gradle.kts:
apiValidation {
ignoredPackages += listOf(
…,
"<name>",
).map { "io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.$it.internal" }
}
For multi-grammar modules add one entry per grammar key, not one per module — the package follows the grammar's create("<name>") key. That is why typescript contributes both typescript and tsx, and markdown contributes both markdown and markdownInline.
Verify after the first apiDump (step 7) that nothing leaked:
grep -rl 'TreeSitter' --include='*.api' --include='*.klib.api' languages/<lang>/api
Run ./gradlew :languages:<lang>:tasks --quiet. The plugin's afterEvaluate writes languages/<lang>/CMakeLists.txt and languages/<lang>/host-cmake/CMakeLists.txt. These files are gitignored (languages/*/CMakeLists.txt and languages/*/host-cmake/) — the plugin regenerates them on every configuration. Do not add them to the commit.
Commit (one atomic commit per the repo's git-commit skill):
.gitmoduleslanguages/<lang>/tree-sitter-<lang> (the gitlink)languages/<lang>/build.gradle.ktssettings.gradle.ktsbuild.gradle.kts (the ignoredPackages entry)
3. Implement Languages.<Lang> with golden tests (TDD)
Write the failing test first. Use the template in references/highlight-test-template.md and substitute language-specific keywords/comment syntax. Run ./gradlew :languages:<lang>:jvmTest and confirm the failure is an unresolved reference on Languages.<Lang> (compile failure) — that proves the test exercises the right code path.
The test goes in languages/<lang>/src/sharedTest/, not src/jvmTest/. The convention plugin wires sharedTest to the jvmTest, iosArm64Test, and iosSimulatorArm64Test compilations (and deliberately not to androidUnitTest), so a single test file covers JVM and iOS. Keep it portable — kotlin.test + Compose Multiplatform types, no JVM-only APIs.
Then create languages/<lang>/src/commonMain/kotlin/io/github/mataku/compose/highlight/<lang>/<Lang>Language.kt:
package io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.<lang>
import io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.api.Language
import io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.api.Languages
import io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.api.kTreeSitterLanguage
import io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.<lang>.internal.TreeSitter<Lang>
import io.github.treesitter.ktreesitter.Language as TsLanguage
private val instance: Language by lazy {
kTreeSitterLanguage(TsLanguage(TreeSitter<Lang>.language()), HIGHLIGHTS_QUERY)
}
val Languages.<Lang>: Language get() = instance
The public surface is the Languages.<Lang> extension property only. The private val instance is just a backing holder for the lazy parser/query construction — extension properties cannot have backing fields, so the lazy delegate has to live in a sibling private val.
Re-run ./gradlew :languages:<lang>:jvmTest. Expect all 5 tests to pass.
If a test fails at runtime (not at compile time), inspect the actual spans printed in the failure message before changing anything. Common shapes:
- Capture-name mismatch: upstream
highlights.scm uses a name your test theme doesn't map. Example: Rust integer literals are tagged @constant.builtin, not @number. Keep the test logic, add the upstream capture key to the test theme. SyntaxTheme.resolve() does dotted-prefix fallback, so constant.builtin will fall back to constant — but the most precise key is the most predictable. resolve() also carries a CAPTURE_ALIASES table for nvim-treesitter-era names that are exact synonyms of a typed field but share no dotted prefix with it (escape, float, conditional, repeat, include, exception, parameter, character). If the new grammar emits a further such synonym, extend that table rather than papering over it in the test theme — an unmapped top-level capture renders unstyled for every consumer, not just the test.
- ABI mismatch: failure says
Incompatible language version <N>. Must be between 13 and 15. Stop. Go back to step 1 and pick a different submodule pin. Do not patch build-logic for this; the project policy is to fix the pin instead.
QueryError$Predicate: ... must be a string literal: ktreesitter's predicate parser miscounts arguments for patterns containing more than one predicate (#match? ... #is-not? local). It accepts single-predicate (#is-not? local) (ruby uses this) but fails on multi-predicate combinations (the JS scm hits this for @variable.builtin / @function.builtin). Still reproducible on the pinned ktreesitter (see the version catalog). Workaround: ship a hand-curated languages/<lang>/queries/highlights.scm (outside the submodule) and point queries.set(listOf("../queries/highlights.scm")) at that — the javascript module is the precedent. Add a header comment documenting the deviation from upstream.
Commit the Language object and the test as one atomic commit.
4. Multi-grammar modules (one module, two or more grammars)
If a single submodule ships multiple grammars under one repo — markdown ships markdown + markdown-inline; tree-sitter-typescript ships typescript + tsx — use the multi-entry form. Otherwise skip this section.
Each create("<name>") { … } describes one grammar, with its own submodule subpath, parser class, sources, queries, and optionally cSymbol if the grammar's exported C symbol does not follow tree_sitter_<name>:
composeSyntaxHighlightLanguage {
languageName.set("typescript")
grammars {
create("typescript") {
submodulePath.set("tree-sitter-typescript/typescript")
parserClassName.set("TreeSitterTypescript")
sources.set(listOf("src/parser.c", "src/scanner.c"))
queries.set(listOf("../queries/highlights.scm"))
}
create("tsx") {
submodulePath.set("tree-sitter-typescript/tsx")
parserClassName.set("TreeSitterTsx")
sources.set(listOf("src/parser.c", "src/scanner.c"))
queries.set(listOf("../queries/highlights.scm"))
cSymbol.set("tree_sitter_tsx")
}
}
licenseSpdx.set("MIT")
licenseSource.set("tree-sitter/tree-sitter-typescript (MIT)")
}
Each grammar gets its own Languages.<Name> extension property in src/commonMain/.../<name>/<Name>Language.kt, just like the single-grammar pattern. The package and Language-object naming follow <name> (the grammar key), not languageName.
Primary-grammar trap. The plugin treats the alphabetically-first grammar as "primary" — that grammar's binding.c and TreeSitter.kt come from the ktreesitter-plugin; the others are emitted by the convention plugin's secondary path. For the typescript module, "tsx" sorts before "typescript", so tsx ends up primary. This is harmless in practice (the convention plugin aliases the native library and header names onto the primary's name so cinterop and CMake agree), but it shapes a few internals:
- The native library is
libktreesitter-<languageName>.{so,a} even though the primary grammar may be named differently. The convention plugin overrides ktreesitter-plugin's libraryName default to enforce this.
- The CMake alias header is named after the primary grammar (
tree-sitter-tsx.h in the typescript module). Secondary binding.c includes the same header. The iOS header and static lib follow the same rule.
You don't have to fight the ordering — just be aware when reading CMakeLists or grammar.def that "primary" means "alphabetically first," not the grammar you'd naively call canonical.
Cross-module query reuse. If one module's queries should also reach another (e.g. TypeScript's upstream highlights only cover TS-specific captures; JavaScript queries supply the keywords/strings/numbers/comments fall-through), point queries.set(listOf(...)) at the sibling module's curated scm via a relative path. The convention plugin reads every entry in the queries list and concatenates them with a blank-line separator before embedding into HIGHLIGHTS_QUERY, so you can mix files from different submodules and from languages/<lang>/queries/ (the curated-scm workaround) in one list. The typescript module reads "../../../javascript/queries/highlights.scm" followed by "../queries/highlights.scm".
5. Wire into the demo (composeApp)
samples/composeApp/build.gradle.kts — extend the existing commonMain.dependencies block, after the last projects.languages.* line:
implementation(projects.languages.<lang>)
samples/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/mataku/composesyntaxhighlighter/SampleCode.kt — add a val <lang>: String property containing a 15–20 line snippet that exercises the language's distinctive constructs (keywords, strings, comments, numbers, plus 1–2 idiomatic features so the highlight result is visibly different from base text).
samples/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/mataku/composesyntaxhighlighter/HighlighterDemo.kt:
- Add the import:
import io.github.mataku.compose.highlight.<lang>.<Lang> (the Languages.<Lang> extension property).
- Extend the
DemoLanguage enum with a new entry.
- Extend the
when (selectedLang) branch to map the new enum entry to SampleCode.<lang> to Languages.<Lang>.
Run ./gradlew :samples:androidApp:assembleDebug to verify the build (:samples:composeApp is the shared KMP library demo; :samples:androidApp is the launchable APK consuming it). Commit composeApp changes as one atomic commit.
6. Update the NOTICE module list and README license list
The CI workflow (.github/workflows/build.yml) runs project-wide ./gradlew jvmTest -x :benchmarks:jvm:jvmTest and ./gradlew apiCheck, so there is no hardcoded module list to update there.
scripts/verify-notice.sh does still have a hardcoded modules=( … ) array; append the new artifact name:
modules=(
…
compose-syntax-highlight-<lang>
)
README.md — append the new submodule to the bundled-grammar list inside the ## License section, matching the existing <owner>/tree-sitter-<repo> bullet format. For multi-grammar modules (e.g. typescript ships typescript + tsx, markdown ships markdown + markdown-inline), one bullet per upstream submodule is enough — they share the same repo. This list is documentation hygiene only; it is not enforced by verify-notice.sh, so an omission here will not fail CI but will silently drift from the published NOTICE.
Commit as ci(verify-notice): include <lang> module (fold the README edit into the same commit, or split as docs(readme): list <lang> grammar in license section — match the closest precedent).
7. End-to-end local verification
Run the full pipeline before declaring done:
./gradlew jvmTest -x :benchmarks:jvm:jvmTest
./gradlew apiCheck
./gradlew :samples:androidApp:assembleDebug
./gradlew publishToMavenLocal -PRELEASE_SIGNING_ENABLED=false --no-configuration-cache
bash scripts/verify-notice.sh
If apiCheck fails for the new module with a "missing api file" error, run ./gradlew :languages:<lang>:apiDump to record the baseline. Two files are produced, and both must be committed:
languages/<lang>/api/jvm/<lang>.apilanguages/<lang>/api/<lang>.klib.api — the iOS ABI (iosArm64 + iosSimulatorArm64)
There is no api/android/ dump: the migration to com.android.kotlin.multiplatform.library dropped Android from BCV, and the orphaned android dumps were deleted repo-wide. apiCheck runs jvmApiCheck + klibApiCheck only.
klib dumps can only be produced on macOS (Apple targets do not build elsewhere), which is why CI's api-check job runs on macos-latest. Running apiDump on Linux will not generate or update the .klib.api file.
Before committing the dumps, confirm the generated parser object was excluded (step 2):
grep -rl 'TreeSitter' --include='*.api' --include='*.klib.api' languages/<lang>/api
If it prints a file, the ignoredPackages entry is missing or misspelled — fix that rather than committing the leak.
The verify-notice run must print OK: ... contains META-INF/NOTICE for both the new <lang>-android AAR and <lang>-jvm JAR. Spot-check the NOTICE content:
version="$(grep '^VERSION_NAME=' gradle.properties | cut -d= -f2)"
unzip -p "$HOME/.m2/repository/io/github/mataku/compose-syntax-highlight-<lang>-jvm/${version}/compose-syntax-highlight-<lang>-jvm-${version}.jar" META-INF/NOTICE
It must end with a Bundled grammar: block naming the grammar and license source. Multi-grammar modules show one Bundled grammar: block per grammar.
8. Note on submodule "dirty" state
If your grammar pin is missing parser.c (case from step 1), generateParserSource regenerates it locally on every fresh checkout, leaving git status showing the submodule as -dirty. The parent gitlink SHA is unchanged, so this is cosmetic. Don't git add the submodule entry to record the regenerated parser.c — the regeneration is supposed to be a build-time, per-checkout step.
Reference
references/highlight-test-template.md — full golden-test source you can copy-paste and adjust.CLAUDE.md — repo-wide guide; the "Adding a new language" section cross-references this skill.- Single-grammar precedent: commits
9bbe87d..c54e2b3 on develop (Ruby + Rust).
- Multi-grammar precedent: the
languages/markdown/ module and the languages/javascript/ + languages/typescript/ pair (the latter demonstrates cross-module query reuse and the multi-predicate workaround).
