Spork

Spork is a Lisp hosted on CPython. It compiles to Python AST, interoperates directly with Python libraries, and adds macros, expression-oriented syntax, immutable collections, and project tooling.

Highlights

Direct access to Python modules and objects—no FFI layer or separate VM.
Lisp macros and homoiconic syntax.
A compiler-independent runtime and Python standard library from spork-runtime.
Persistent vectors, maps, sets, and related types from spork-pds.
Pattern matching, destructuring, async/await, protocols, decorators, and Python type annotations.
Source-mapped tracebacks that point back to .spork files.
A REPL, nREPL server, LSP server, and project commands in one CLI.

Spork supports CPython 3.10 through 3.14, including free-threaded CPython 3.14.

Installation

Install the CLI in an isolated environment with pipx:

pipx install spork-lang

Use pip when adding Spork to an existing Python environment:

python -m pip install spork-lang

On Linux, macOS, or WSL, the installer script is also available:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spork-it/spork-lang/refs/heads/main/install.sh | sh

Quick start

Start the REPL:

$ spork
Spork REPL - A Lisp for Python
user> (+ 1 2 3)
6
user> (doall (map inc [1 2 3]))
[2 3 4]

Or create hello.spork:

(defn greet [name]
  (fmt "Hello, {}!" name))

(print (greet "Spork"))

Run it with:

$ spork hello.spork
Hello, Spork!

Spork collections are immutable and structurally shared:

(def original {:name "Spork" :version 1})
(def updated (assoc original :version 2))

(print original) ; {:name 'Spork' :version 1}
(print updated)  ; {:name 'Spork' :version 2}

Python interoperability

Import Python modules and call them directly:

(ns example
  (:require [std.json :as json])
  (:import [pathlib :refer [Path]]))

(def path (Path "data.json"))
(print (json.dumps {:path (str path)}))

To import .spork modules from Python, import spork once to install its import hook:

import spork
from hello import greet

print(greet("Python"))

Spork exposes the separately distributed persistent collections under the spork.pds namespace:

from spork.pds import vec

original = vec(1, 2, 3)
updated = original.conj(4)

The compiler-independent runtime, generated-code helpers, prelude macros, and Python-backed std.* namespaces are distributed by spork-runtime. See the spork-pds documentation for the persistent collection Python API, design, and benchmarks.

Projects

Create and run a project:

spork new my-project
cd my-project
spork sync
spork check
spork run

A spork.it manifest defines metadata, dependencies, source paths, the compatible spork-lang range, and the entry point. spork sync installs a compatible toolchain into .venv; later project commands automatically delegate to that project-local version. Libraries can also declare a unified :api; Spork then generates idiomatic package-level Spork and Python APIs, version metadata, generic .pyi stubs, and py.typed from one annotated implementation namespace.

Common commands include:

Command	Purpose
`spork repl`	Start a project-aware REPL
`spork add` / `spork remove`	Edit dependencies in the nearest `spork.it`
`spork sync`	Install dependencies and a compatible project toolchain
`spork run`	Run the configured entry point
`spork test`	Discover and run Spork tests
`spork check`	Validate project namespaces, imports, exports, and compilation
`spork build`	Compile sources to Python in `.spork-out/`
`spork dist`	Build a wheel and source distribution
`spork lsp`	Start the language server

Run spork --help for the complete CLI reference.

Documentation

Development

git clone https://github.com/spork-it/spork-lang.git
cd spork-lang
make venv
make test
.venv/bin/python -m pytest

Use make help for development, packaging, and cleanup targets.

License

MIT

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