srp enhances the stock Scala 3 REPL with pretty rendering, dependency handling, better scripting, runBefore code etc., makes it more customizable and let's you embed it into your project as a regular library dependency.
When you read srp think "syrup" - full of goodness, glues things together 🙂

Comparing srp and regular scala REPL side by side - srp uses pprint for pretty structured rendering including product labels.

Either download a binary...

curl -fL https://github.com/mpollmeier/scala-repl-pp/releases/latest/download/srp.zip > srp.zip
unzip srp.zip
srp/bin/srp

... or add it as a library to your project, empowering it with a customizable REPL and scripting functionality.
There's a demo project to get you started.

libraryDependencies += "com.michaelpollmeier" % "scala-repl-pp_3.7.0" % "0.5.5"

• Basic usage
• REPL, scripting and server mode features
  • runBefore: execute code at startup
  • predef: add source files to the classpath
  • using file directive: import additional files
  • verbose mode
  • #>, #>> and #| operators: redirect to file, pipe to external command
  • dep: add dependencies via maven coordinates
  • repo: add dependency resolvers
  • classpathEntry: additional classpath entries
• REPL-only features
  • Rendering of output
  • Exiting the REPL
  • customize prompt, greeting and exit code
  • Looking up the current terminal width
• Scripting-only features
  • @main entrypoints
  • multiple @main entrypoints
  • named parameters
  • using resolver directive: add dependency resolvers
  • Attach a debugger for remote jvm debugging
• Server mode
  • Server mode for your project
• Showcase: integrate into a project
• FAQ
  • Is this an extension of the stock REPL or a fork?
  • Why is srp published with the full scala version suffix (e.g. _3.6.4 instead of just _3)?
  • Why do we ship a shaded copy of other libraries and not use dependencies?
  • Where's the cache located on disk?
  • Why am I getting an AssertionError re class module-info$ on first tab completion?
• Comparison / alternatives
  • Stock Scala REPL
  • scala-cli
  • Ammonite
• Contribution guidelines
  • How can I build/stage a local version?
  • How can I get a new binary (bootstrapped) release?
  • Adding support for a new Scala version
  • Updating the shaded libraries
• Fineprint

Start the REPL...

./srp

or run a script:

echo 'println("Hello!")' > test-simple.sc
./srp --script test-simple.sc

This section demonstrates features with the REPL, but these also work when running scripts as well as in server mode.

./srp --runBefore "import Byte.MaxValue"

scala> MaxValue
val res0: Int = 127

To run code before every session, write it to ~/.scala-repl-pp.sc

echo 'import Short.MaxValue' > ~/.scala-repl-pp.sc
./srp

scala> MaxValue
val res0: Int = 32767

If the code you want to execute on startup is in a file, you can use your shell tooling:

echo 'import Int.MaxValue' > /tmp/runBeforeFile.sc
./srp --runBefore "$(cat /tmp/runBeforeFile.sc)"

scala> MaxValue
val res0: Int = 2147483647

echo 'def foo = 42' > foo.sc
./srp --predef foo.sc
scala> foo
val res0: Int = 42

echo 'val bar = "foo"' > myScript.sc
./srp

//> using file myScript.sc
println(bar) //foo

You can specify the filename with relative or absolute paths:

//> using file scripts/myScript.sc
//> using file ../myScript.sc
//> using file /path/to/myScript.sc

If verbose mode is enabled, you'll get additional information about classpaths and complete scripts etc. To enable it, you can either pass --verbose or set the environment variable SCALA_REPL_PP_VERBOSE=true.

Inspired by unix pipe and redirection, you can redirect output into files with #> (write output to file) and #>> (create or append to file), and use #| to pipe the output to an external command:

./srp

scala> "hey there" #>  "out.txt"
scala> "hey again" #>> "out.txt"
scala> Seq("a", "b", "c") #>> "out.txt"

// pipe results to external command
scala> Seq("a", "b", "c") #| "cat"
val res0: String = """a
b
c"""

// pipe results to external command with arguments
scala> Seq("foo", "bar", "foobar") #| ("grep", "foo")
val res1: String = """foo
foobar"""

// pipe results to external command and let it inherit stdin/stdout
scala> Seq("a", "b", "c") #|^ "less"

// pipe results to external command with arguments and let it inherit stdin/stdout
scala> Seq("a", "b", "c") #|^ ("less", "-N")

All operators use the same pretty-printing that's used within the REPL, i.e. you get structured rendering including product labels etc.

scala> case class PrettyPrintable(s: String, i: Int)
scala> PrettyPrintable("two", 2) #> "out.txt"
// out.txt now contains `PrettyPrintable(s = "two", i = 2)` - in pretty colors

The operators have a special handling for two common use cases that are applied at the root level of the object you hand them: list- or iterator-type objects are unwrapped and their elements are rendered in separate lines, and Strings are rendered without the surrounding "". Examples:

scala> "a string" #> "out.txt"
// rendered as `a string` without quotes

scala> Seq("one", "two") #> "out.txt"
// rendered as two lines without quotes:
// one
// two

scala> Seq("one", Seq("two"), Seq("three", 4), 5) #> "out.txt"
// top-level list-types are unwrapped
// resulting top-level strings are rendered without quotes:
// one
// List("two")
// List("three", 4)
// 5

All operators are prefixed with # in order to avoid naming clashes with more basic operators like > for greater-than-comparisons. This naming convention is inspired by scala.sys.process.

./srp --dep com.michaelpollmeier:versionsort:1.0.7
scala> versionsort.VersionHelper.compare("1.0", "0.9")
val res0: Int = 1

For Scala dependencies use :::

./srp --dep com.michaelpollmeier::colordiff:0.36

colordiff.ColorDiff(List("a", "b"), List("a", "bb"))
// color coded diff

If you use a file that's read on startup (e.g. a script or a file passed via --predef), you can also use the //> using dep directive:

echo '//> using dep com.michaelpollmeier:versionsort:1.0.7' > predef.sc

./srp --predef predef.sc

scala> versionsort.VersionHelper.compare("1.0", "0.9")
val res0: Int = 1

./srp --repo "https://repo.gradle.org/gradle/libs-releases" --dep org.gradle:gradle-tooling-api:7.6.1
scala> org.gradle.tooling.GradleConnector.newConnector()

If any of your resolvers require authentication, you can configure your username/passwords in a credentials.properties file, (~/.config/coursier/credentials.properties on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/Coursier/credentials.properties on OS X):

mycorp.realm=Artifactory Realm
mycorp.host=shiftleft.jfrog.io
mycorp.username=michael
mycorp.password=secret

otherone.username=j
otherone.password=imj
otherone.host=nexus.other.com

If you have some random class files, e.g. like so:

mkdir foo
cd foo
echo 'class Foo { def foo = 42 } ' > Foo.scala
scalac Foo.scala
cd ..

You can add those as follows:

./srp --classpathEntry foo

scala> new Foo().foo
val res0: Int = 42

For scripts you can use the //> using classpath directive as well.

echo '//> using classpath foo
println(new Foo().foo)' > myScript.sc

./srp --script myScript.sc

Unlike the stock Scala REPL, srp does not truncate the output by default. You can optionally specify the maxHeight parameter though:

./srp --maxHeight 5
scala> (1 to 100000).toSeq
val res0: scala.collection.immutable.Range.Inclusive = Range(
  1,
  2,
  3,
...

Famously one of the most popular question on stackoverflow is about how to exit vim - fortunately you can apply the answer as-is to exit srp 🙂

// all of the following exit the REPL
:exit
:quit
:q

When the REPL is waiting for input we capture Ctrl-c and don't exit. If there's currently a long-running execution that you really might want to cancel you can press Ctrl-c again immediately which will kill the entire repl:

scala> Thread.sleep(50000)
// press Ctrl-c
Captured interrupt signal `INT` - if you want to kill the REPL, press Ctrl-c again within three seconds

// press Ctrl-c again will exit the repl
$

Context: we'd prefer to cancel the long-running operation, but that's not so easy on the JVM.

./srp --prompt myprompt --greeting 'hey there!' --runAfter 'println("see ya!")'

hey there!
myprompt> :exit
see ya!

In case you want to adjust your output rendering to the available terminal size, you can look it up:

scala> replpp.util.terminalWidth
val res0: util.Try[Int] = Success(value = 202)

The following additional features work in scripting mode only.

echo '@main def main() = println("Hello, world!")' > test-main.sc

./srp --script test-main.sc

echo '
@main def foo() = println("foo!")
@main def bar() = println("bar!")
' > test-main-multiple.sc

./srp --script test-main-multiple.sc --command foo

echo '
@main def main(first: String, last: String) = {
  println(s"Hello, $first $last!")
} ' > test-main-withargs.sc

./srp --script test-main-withargs.sc --param first=Michael --param last=Pollmeier

If your parameter value contains whitespace, just wrap it quotes so that your shell doesn't split it up, e.g. --param "text=value with whitespace"

On windows the parameters need to be triple-quoted in any case: srp.bat --script test-main-withargs.sc --param """first=Michael""" --param """last=Pollmeier"""

If your script depends on external libraries, you'd need to specify the --repo parameter every time. Better: declare your dependency in your script or predef files with the //> using resolver:

echo '
//> using resolver https://repo.gradle.org/gradle/libs-releases
//> using dep org.gradle:gradle-tooling-api:7.6.1
println(org.gradle.tooling.GradleConnector.newConnector())
' > script-with-resolver.sc

./srp --script script-with-resolver.sc

For the REPL itself:

export JAVA_OPTS='-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=5005,server=y,suspend=y'
./srp
unset JAVA_OPTS

Then attach your favorite IDE / debugger on port 5005.

If you want to debug a script, it's slightly different. Scripts are executed in a separate subprocess - just specify the following parameter (and make sure JAVA_OPTS isn't also set).

./srp --script myScript.sc --remoteJvmDebug

./srp-server

curl http://localhost:8080/query-sync -X POST -d '{"query": "val foo = 42"}'
# {"success":true,"stdout":"val foo: Int = 42\n",...}

curl http://localhost:8080/query-sync -X POST -d '{"query": "val bar = foo + 1"}'
# {"success":true,"stdout":"val bar: Int = 43\n",...}

curl http://localhost:8080/query-sync -X POST -d '{"query":"println(\"OMG remote code execution!!1!\")"}'
# {"success":true,"stdout":"",...}%

For a nice user experience enable colors and create small wrapper function to interact with the server:

./srp-server --colors

function srp-remote() {
  QUERY="{\"query\": \"$@\"}"
  curl --silent http://localhost:8080/query-sync -X POST -d $QUERY | jq --raw-output .stdout
}

srp-remote 'val foo = 42'
> val foo: Int = 42

The same for windows and powershell:

./srp-server.bat

Invoke-WebRequest -Method 'Post' -Uri http://localhost:8080/query-sync -ContentType "application/json" -Body '{"query": "val foo = 42"}'
# Content           : {"success":true,"stdout":"val foo: Int = 42\r\n","uuid":"02f843ba-671d-4fb5-b345-91c1dcf5786d"}
Invoke-WebRequest -Method 'Post' -Uri http://localhost:8080/query-sync -ContentType "application/json" -Body '{"query": "foo + 1"}'
# Content           : {"success":true,"stdout":"val res0: Int = 43\r\n","uuid":"dc49df42-a390-4177-98d0-ac87a277c7d5"}

Predef code and runBefore work as well:

echo val foo = 99 > foo.sc
./srp-server --predef foo.sc --runBefore 'import Short.MaxValue'

curl -XPOST http://localhost:8080/query-sync -d '{"query":"val baz = foo + MaxValue"}'
# {"success":true,"stdout":"val baz: Int = 32866\n",...}

Adding dependencies:

echo '//> using dep com.michaelpollmeier:versionsort:1.0.7' > foo.sc
./srp-server --predef foo.sc

curl http://localhost:8080/query-sync -X POST -d '{"query": "versionsort.VersionHelper.compare(\"1.0\", \"0.9\")"}'
# {"success":true,"stdout":"val res0: Int = 1\n",...}%

srp-server can be used in an asynchronous mode:

./srp-server

curl http://localhost:8080/query -X POST -d '{"query": "val baz = 93"}'
# {"success":true,"uuid":"e2640fcb-3193-4386-8e05-914b639c3184"}%

curl http://localhost:8080/result/e2640fcb-3193-4386-8e05-914b639c3184
{"success":true,"uuid":"e2640fcb-3193-4386-8e05-914b639c3184","stdout":"val baz: Int = 93\n"}%

There's even a websocket channel that allows you to get notified when the query has finished. For more details and other use cases check out ReplServerTests.scala

Server-specific configuration options as per srp --help:

--server-host <value>    Hostname on which to expose the REPL server
--server-port <value>    Port on which to expose the REPL server
--server-auth-username <value> Basic auth username for the REPL server
--server-auth-password <value> Basic auth password for the REPL server

build.sbt:

libraryDependencies += "com.michaelpollmeier" % "scala-repl-pp-server_3.6.4" % "<version>"

Then in your project's sources, execute replpp.server.ReplServer.startHttpServer which takes a replpp.server.Config as input. For a full working example check out e.g. joern's server mode.

excerpt from build.sbt:

libraryDependencies += 
  "com.michaelpollmeier" % "scala-repl-pp" % srpVersion cross CrossVersion.full

excerpt from Main.scala:

replpp.Main.run(
  replpp.Config(
    scriptFile = config.scriptFile,
    prompt = Some("stringcalc"),
    greeting = Some("Welcome to the magical world of string calculation! \nType `help` for help"),
    verbose = config.verbose,
    runBefore = Seq(
      "import stringcalc.*",
      "import StringCalculator.*",
      """def help: Unit = println("try this: `add(One, Two)`")"""
    )
  )
)

Build it:

cd core/src/test/resources/demo-project
sbt stage

REPL usage:

./stringcalc

stringcalc> add(One, Two)
val res0: stringcalc.Number = Number(3)
stringcalc> :exit  // or press Ctrl-D

Script usage:

./stringcalc --script plus.sc
executing plus.sc
Number(3)

Technically it is a fork because we copied parts of the ReplDriver to make some adjustments.
However, semantically srp can be considered an extension of the stock repl. We don't want to create and maintain a competing REPL implementation, instead the idea is to provide a space for exploring new ideas and bringing them back into the dotty codebase. When we forked the stock ReplDriver, we made sure to separate the commits into bitesized chunks so we can easily rebase. The changes are clearly marked, and whenever there's a new dotty version we're bringing in the relevant changes here (for instructions see below).

The stock Scala REPL often has binary incompatible changes between minor version changes. Different Scala patch versions typically work though, e.g. if your build uses Scala 3.6.3 you can use scala-repl-pp_3.6.4.

srp includes some small libraries (e.g. most of the com-haoyili universe) that have been copied as-is, but then moved into the replpp.shaded namespace. We didn't include them as regular dependencies, because repl users may want to use a different version of them, which may be incompatible with the version the repl uses. Thankfully their license is very permissive - a big thanks to the original authors! The instructions of how to (re-) import then and which versions were used are available in import-instructions.md.

The cache? The caches you mean! :) There's ~/.cache/scala-repl-pp for the repl itself. Since we use coursier (via a subprocess) there's also ~/.cache/coursier.

exception caught when loading module class module-info$: java.lang.AssertionError: assertion failed: attempt to parse java.lang.Object from classfile

There's a Scala 3 compiler bug that triggers and prints this exception if one of your dependencies ships a module-info.class. Until that's fixed you can use this hacky workaround in your sbt build:

lazy val removeModuleInfoFromJars = taskKey[Unit]("remove module-info.class from dependency jars - a hacky workaround for a scala3 compiler bug https://github.com/scala/scala3/issues/20421")
removeModuleInfoFromJars := {
  import java.nio.file.{Files, FileSystems}
  val logger = streams.value.log
  val libDir = (Universal/stagingDirectory).value / "lib"

  // remove all `/module-info.class` from all jars
  Files.walk(libDir.toPath)
    .filter(_.toString.endsWith(".jar"))
    .forEach { jar =>
      val zipFs = FileSystems.newFileSystem(jar)
      zipFs.getRootDirectories.forEach { zipRootDir =>
        Files.list(zipRootDir).filter(_.toString == "/module-info.class").forEach { moduleInfoClass =>
          logger.info(s"workaround for scala completion bug: deleting $moduleInfoClass from $jar")
          Files.delete(moduleInfoClass)
        }
      }
      zipFs.close()
    }
}

If you use sbt-native-packager to package your application, you can automatically invoke the task, e.g. like so:

removeModuleInfoFromJars := removeModuleInfoFromJars.triggeredBy(Universal/stage).value

srp wouldn't exist if we could have just used scala-cli (which has now become the stock Scala REPL) or ammonite.

srp allows you to:

• use it as a library in your own build with minimal dependencies
• use #>, #>> and #| operators to redirect output to file and pipe to external command
• run custom code on startup as well as on shutdown
• import additional files, which may include using directives
• customize the greeting and prompt
• server mode
• structured rendering including product labels and type information

Ammonite's Scala 3 support is far from complete - e.g. autocompletion for extension methods has many shortcomings. In comparison: srp uses the regular Scala3 ReplDriver rather than re-implementing it.

srp allows you to use it as a library in your own build with minimal dependencies. Ammonite has some Scala2 dependencies intermixed, leading to downstream build problems like this. Therefor it's no longer easy to embed Ammonite into your own build (something we used to do when we used Scala 2.13).

Ammonite allows to add dependencies dynamically even in the middle of the REPL session which is nice. In srp you need to know which dependencies you want on startup.

sbt stage
./srp

While maven central jar releases are created for each commit on master (a new version tag is assigned automatically), the binary (bootstrapped) releases that end up in https://github.com/mpollmeier/scala-repl-pp/releases/latest are being triggered manually. Contributors can run the bootstrap action.

First, get relevant diff from dotty repo:

cd /path/to/dotty
git fetch

OLD=3.7.0 # set to version that was used before you bumped it
NEW=3.7.1 # set to version that you bumped it to
tig $OLD..$NEW compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl
git diff $OLD..$NEW compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl

Check if any of those changes need to be reapplied to this repo - some files have been copied and slightly adjusted, the majority of functionality is reused. If there's any binary incompatible changes (which is typically the case between minor versions), you need to add new projects for core and server in build.sbt, add new core/src/main/scala-3.x.y directories etc.

See import-instructions.md.

(*) To keep our codebase concise we do use libraries (mostly from the com.lihaoyi stack). We want to ensure that users can freely use their own dependencies without clashing with the srp classpath though, so we copied them into our build and changed the namespace to replpp.shaded. Many thanks to the original authors for permissive licensing!