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Show HN: Run – a CLI universal code runner I built while learning Rust

(github.com)
96 points esubaalew | 1 comments | 04 Oct 25 18:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.221s | source

Hi HN — I’m learning Rust and decided to build a universal CLI for running code in many languages. The tool, Run, aims to be a single, minimal dependency utility for: running one-off snippets (from CLI flags), running files, reading and executing piped stdin, and providing language-specific REPLs that you can switch between interactively.

I designed it to support both interpreted languages (Python, JS, Ruby, etc.) and compiled languages (Rust, Go, C/C++). It detects languages from flags or file extensions, can compile temporary files for compiled languages, and exposes a unified REPL experience with commands like :help, :lang, and :quit.

Install: cargo install run-kit (or use the platform downloads on GitHub). Source & releases: https://github.com/Esubaalew/run

I used Rust while following the official learning resources and used AI to speed up development, so I expect there are bugs and rough edges. I’d love feedback on: usability and UX of the REPL, edge cases for piping input to language runtimes, security considerations (sandboxing/resource limits), packaging and cross-platform distribution.

Thanks — I’ll try to answer questions and share design notes.

1. westurner ◴[05 Oct 25 00:57 UTC] No.45478061[source]▶
> exposes a unified REPL experience with commands like :help, :lang, and :quit.

Those sound similar to "magic commands" in IPython and Jupyter?

There is not yet a Jupyter-xeus Rust kernel which would make it really easy to support Rust in JupyterLite in WASM on an .edu Chromebook and in JupyterLab: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43354177

> jupyter_console is the IPython REPL for non-ipykernel jupyter kernels. [like evcxr]

> This magic command logs IPython REPL input and output to a file:

  %logstart -o example.log.py
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25923123 ,

Here's how to support something like _repr_html_() and IPython.display.display() with evcxr_jupyter: https://github.com/evcxr/evcxr/blob/main/evcxr_jupyter/READM...

I'm not sure what the pros and cons of evcxr_repr, jupyter_console + evcxr_jupyter, and Run are?