# rxi/fe

A tiny, embeddable language implemented in ANSI C

Repository: https://github.com/rxi/fe
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rxi-fe
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-07-04T01:56:15+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2703, "days_push": 791, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1512, forks 99 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:56.018528+00:00)

## What it is
A tiny embeddable Lisp-like scripting language implemented in under 800 lines of portable ANSI C. It offers a simple C API, lexical scoping, closures, macros, and a mark-and-sweep garbage collector with no mallocs.

## Use cases
- embed a scripting language in a C application
- add a lightweight plugin/scripting layer to an embedded project
- run user-defined scripts without dynamic memory allocation
- learn how a small language interpreter is implemented
- script game or tool logic from C

## When to choose
- you need a minimal, dependency-free scripting language in C
- memory usage must be bounded within a fixed region
- you want a simple C API for embedding
- portability across 32/64-bit platforms matters

## When to avoid
- you need a rich standard library or ecosystem
- you want a fast, high-performance scripting runtime
- you need active feature development or community contributions
- you prefer a mainstream language like Lua or Python for embedding

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: interpreter, programming-language, plugin-system
- domain: programming-languages, parsers, developer-tools, embedded-systems
- platform: cross-platform, c, embedded
- tags: lisp, embeddable-language, scripting-language, ansi-c, minimalist, garbage-collector

## Member repositories
- rxi/fe (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:56.018528+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:32:20.858690+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rxi/fe (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:56.018528+00:00, sha dc5d4c066e76)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.