CLI Reference

The chemical command-line tool is a versatile entry point for compilation, translation, and project management.

Project Setup

Configures the compiler for the current OS. It sets CHEMICAL_HOME and adds the compiler to the system PATH.

chemical configure

chemical main.ch -o main.exe

-o <path>, --output <path>: Specify the output file. The output type is determined by the extension (.exe, .o, .c, .ch).
--ignore-extension: Ignore the output file's extension and use default behavior.
-g: Include debug information (automatically enabled in debug modes).

Chemical supports several pre-configured compilation modes:

Mode	Description
`debug`	Standard debug build (default).
`debug_quick`	Fast compilation, minimal optimizations.
`debug_complete`	Full debug info, exhaustive checks.
`release_fast`	Optimized for execution speed.
`release_small`	Optimized for binary size.

chemical main.ch -m release_fast -o production_app

Running a .lab or .mod file triggers the build system.

chemical build.lab

You can pass custom arguments to your build scripts using the --arg- prefix.

chemical build.lab --arg-target=wasm

--mod <name>=<path>: Manually define a module mapping.
--cbi-m <name>:<path>: Register a CBI module (like html_cbi) by pointing to its source directory.

You can output specific compilation stages:

Run Chemical code immediately without permanent binary generation.

chemical --jit main.ch

Chemical acts as a driver for several underlying tools:

Examples:

chemical cc main.c -o main.o

chemical ar rc libtest.a test1.o test2.o