PyCForge

PyCForge is a focused Python-to-C source transpiler with a complete desktop workspace, command-line tools, and a Python API. It converts its documented, typed Python subset into readable C11 source. Unsupported input is rejected with clear diagnostics instead of being guessed or silently changed.

Install, upgrade, and open

PyCForge requires Python 3.11 or newer. PySide6 and the complete desktop application are installed automatically.

On Windows, install PyCForge and open the workspace with:

py -m pip install pycforge
py -m pycforge.ide

To upgrade an existing Windows installation and open it immediately:

py -m pip install --upgrade pycforge
py -m pycforge.ide

On macOS or Linux:

python -m pip install pycforge
python -m pycforge.ide

To upgrade on macOS or Linux:

python -m pip install --upgrade pycforge
python -m pycforge.ide

py -m pycforge.ide is the easiest Windows launch command because it works immediately after either installation or upgrade. The installed pycforge-workspace command opens the same application.

What PyCForge provides

• A professional dark desktop workspace for opening, editing, organizing, and transpiling Python source bundles of up to 64 files.
• Side-by-side Python and generated C, with exact ForgeLens navigation between corresponding source locations.
• Tabs, split source view, function folding, outline, search and replace, command palette, conversion history, and remembered workspace sessions.
• Read-only generated C with diagnostics, mappings, conversion summaries, decision traces, and optional telemetry views.
• Cancellable background transpilation that keeps the interface responsive.
• Deterministic output for the same source bundle and settings.
• Clear rejection of Python outside the supported conversion boundary.
• A headless command-line interface and a structured Python API for automation.
• Independent Python and generated-C text sizing, accessible controls, and display-aware window sizing.
• Searchable documentation built directly into the application.

PyCForge supports typed functions, local declarations and assignments, module constants, selected string operations, conditionals, bounded loops, direct calls, fixed containers and records, set membership, multiple source files, and bounded UTF-8 file reading and writing. The in-app documentation gives working examples and explains the limits of each feature.

Ting agent integration

PyCForge includes six deterministic Ting agents that examine each completed or rejected conversion from different engineering perspectives:

• syntax admission;
• semantic preservation;
• ownership and lifetime;
• C lowering readiness;
• release verification; and
• capability and resource limits.

The Ting agents use authenticated local rulepacks and bounded work limits. They receive structural evidence rather than source text, run without a network connection, and report their evidence and gaps in a dedicated read-only feedback window. Its Flow Map shows the current evidence fan-out, all six agent decisions and bounded proof activity, and the advisory report fan-in.

Ting currently operates in shadow evaluation mode. Its feedback can help review a conversion, but it never changes, approves, blocks, or publishes the generated C.

Built-in help and documentation

Press F1 or choose Help → PyCForge Help… to open 14 searchable offline help pages. They include working variable and string examples, a supported-feature table, corrections for common errors, and a checklist for compiling and testing generated C. They also cover file operations, Ting feedback, shortcuts, the CLI, and the Python API. No browser or network connection is required.

Use the installed Help for the current conversion examples and supported forms.

Command line

Convert a Python file to C:

pycforge convert input.py --output generated.c

Return the structured conversion result as JSON:

pycforge --format json convert input.py

See every command and option:

pycforge --help

Python API

from pycforge import ConversionRequest, PythonToCConverter

source = """\
def add(left: int, right: int) -> int:
    return left + right
"""

result = PythonToCConverter().convert(
    ConversionRequest.from_source(source)
)

if result.generated_c is not None:
    print(result.generated_c)
else:
    for diagnostic in result.diagnostics:
        print(diagnostic)

The desktop workspace, CLI, and Python API use the same converter.

Safety boundary

PyCForge reads supplied Python as source data. It does not import or execute that Python, and it does not compile, link, load, or run the generated C. Review the built-in Conversion and input limits page before using generated code in another build system.

Current conversion support

Version 1.1.0 adds local type declarations with or without an initial value, chained assignment, flat unpacking and swaps, scalar augmented assignment, and module variables whose values can be calculated during conversion.

UTF-8 strings support runtime Unicode length, content comparisons, startswith, endswith, find, and in/not in. Constant strings also support concatenation, repetition, indexing/slicing, case conversion, trimming and replacement when their inputs are known during conversion.

BASE: int = 4
PREFIX = "hé"

def score(text: str, amount: int) -> int:
    total: int = amount
    total += BASE
    if text.startswith(PREFIX):
        total += len(text)
    return total

For accepted forms, examples, and limitations, open Help → PyCForge Help… in the application. Mutable global state and runtime string construction remain unsupported. The six TING agents review the new strategy, while external C compilation and execution remain outside the product. This release preserves the existing desktop presentation and screenshots.

License

PyCForge is free software released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only. The complete license text is included in LICENSE.