Playground
(Lispex)
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Installing Lispex

Three ways to run Lispex — the in-browser Playground, the npm package, and a standalone native binary. The same reference interpreter in every case.

There are three ways to run Lispex, all backed by the same reference interpreter.

1. Playground (nothing to install)

The fastest way is the in-site Playground: the interpreter compiled to WebAssembly, running entirely in your browser. Write code, see results instantly, no install.

2. npm (cross-platform, needs Node)

With Node 18+ installed, get the CLI from npm:

BASH
npm install -g lispex

Then run a file, or pipe source in:

BASH
lispex run hello.lispx
echo '(+ 1 2 3)' | lispex
lispex --version

This is the same WebAssembly core as the Playground, wrapped for Node — it runs on any OS Node supports.

3. Native binary (standalone, no Node)

A single self-contained executable. Use a one-liner, or download manually.

One-line install

BASH
# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://www.lispex.com/install.sh | sh
POWERSHELL
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://www.lispex.com/install.ps1 | iex

The script downloads the right binary for your OS and architecture, verifies its SHA-256 checksum, and installs it to ~/.lispex/bin (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Lispex\bin on Windows). Add that folder to your PATH if it is not already, then run lispex --version.

Manual download

Grab a binary from the Downloads page. Builds cover Linux x86_64/aarch64, macOS Apple-silicon/Intel, and Windows x86_64.

BASH
# macOS / Linux: make it executable and put it on PATH
chmod +x lispex-macos-aarch64
mkdir -p ~/.lispex/bin
mv lispex-macos-aarch64 ~/.lispex/bin/lispex
export PATH="$HOME/.lispex/bin:$PATH"   # add this to your shell profile
lispex --version

Verify the checksum

Each binary ships a .sha256 sidecar.

BASH
# macOS / Linux
shasum -a 256 lispex-macos-aarch64
# compare the output with the contents of lispex-macos-aarch64.sha256
POWERSHELL
# Windows
Get-FileHash lispex-windows-x86_64.exe -Algorithm SHA256
# compare with lispex-windows-x86_64.exe.sha256

Unsigned binaries (first run)

The v1 binaries are not yet code-signed, so the OS may warn the first time you run one.

BASH
# macOS: clear the quarantine flag that the browser or curl set
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/.lispex/bin/lispex

On Windows, SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC" — choose More info, then Run anyway. Code signing is planned.

Which should I use?

Use the Playground to try snippets, npm if you already work in Node, and the native binary for a dependency-free CLI on a server or in scripts. All three evaluate identically, because all three are the same interpreter.