Appendix B: Tooling

glisp CLI

glisp <command> [args]

Command	Description
`run file.glsp [args]`	Compile and run, no output files
`run --watch file.glsp`	Re-run on every save
`file.glsp [args]`	Run directly (also via a `#!/usr/bin/env glisp` shebang)
`build file.glsp`	Compile to binary
`build dir/`	Compile all `.glsp` files in directory
`compile file.glsp`	Write generated `.go` file to disk
`print file.glsp`	Print generated Go to stdout
`macroexpand file.glsp`	Print the file with macros expanded
`fmt file.glsp`	Format file in-place
`fmt --check file.glsp`	Check formatting, exit 1 if needed
`test file.glsp`	Run `deftest` blocks
`test dir/`	Run all tests in directory
`doc [name]`	Show built-in documentation
`mod init [module-path]`	Initialize a `glisp.mod`
`get module[@version]`	Add GoLisp dependency
`get -go module[@version]`	Add Go dependency
`version`	Show compiler version

Formatter

glisp fmt formats .glsp files in place. It:

Preserves comments (;, ;;)
Preserves docstrings (;;;)
Keeps trailing inline comments on let/loop/with-open bindings in place
Aligns map values
Breaks long collections across lines
Is round-trip safe — formatting is idempotent

Run as a pre-commit step:

glisp fmt --check .

Language Server (LSP)

The install.sh script installs glisp-lsp alongside glisp. To build it from source instead:

go install github.com/leinonen/golisp-language/cmd/glisp-lsp@latest

Features:

Hover: function signatures and type info
Jump to definition
Completions: built-ins, user functions, web types
Find all references
Rename symbol
Document outline
Diagnostics on parse errors

Neovim Setup

Install via Mason or manually. Add to your Neovim config:

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("FileType", {
  pattern = "glsp",
  callback = function()
    vim.lsp.start({
      name = "glisp-lsp",
      cmd = { "glisp-lsp" },
      root_dir = vim.fn.getcwd(),
    })
  end,
})

Set the file type for .glsp files:

vim.filetype.add({ extension = { glsp = "clojure" } })

Clojure syntax highlighting works well for GoLisp.

VS Code

There is no dedicated GoLisp extension yet. Configure manually using Clojure syntax highlighting and the language server:

{
  "files.associations": { "*.glsp": "clojure" },
  "lsp.servers": {
    "glisp-lsp": {
      "command": ["glisp-lsp"],
      "filetypes": ["clojure"],
      "rootPatterns": ["glisp.mod"]
    }
  }
}

Inspecting Generated Go

When something behaves unexpectedly, look at what the compiler emits:

glisp print myfile.glsp

This prints the Go source. It's often the fastest way to understand a type error or an unexpected result.

Docker Deployment

GoLisp produces static binaries. A minimal Dockerfile:

FROM golang:1.25-alpine AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN go install github.com/leinonen/golisp-language/cmd/glisp@latest
RUN glisp build main.glsp

FROM alpine:latest
COPY --from=build /app/main /app/main
ENTRYPOINT ["/app/main"]

The final image contains only the binary — no Go runtime, no interpreter.

The GoLisp Book