# teal-language/tl

The compiler for Teal, a typed dialect of Lua

Repository: https://github.com/teal-language/tl
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/tl
Homepage: https://teal-language.org
Language: Lua
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: teal, lua, compiler, type-checking
Last push: 2026-08-26T16:10:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 78/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 39, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2769, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 324, "gap_med": 38.0, "n_releases_24m": 9}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2814, forks 160 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:23.801365+00:00)

## What it is
tl is the compiler and type checker for Teal, a statically-typed dialect of Lua that adds type annotations, generics, and records while compiling back to plain Lua. It ships as a dependency-free tl.lua module, a CLI with run/check/gen subcommands, and a browser playground.

## Use cases
- add static types to a Lua codebase
- type-check Lua projects
- compile Teal to plain Lua
- run typed Lua scripts
- gradually migrate Lua to a typed dialect

## When to choose
- you write Lua and want TypeScript-like static typing
- you need a zero-dependency type checker embeddable in Lua projects
- you target Lua 5.1-5.4 or LuaJIT

## When to avoid
- you need a standalone typed language with its own runtime
- you want runtime type enforcement rather than compile-time checking
- you need full IDE support outside Lua tooling ecosystems

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: compiler, type-system, linter, interpreter, programming-language
- domain: programming-languages, compilers, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cli, browser
- tags: lua, teal, typed-lua, static-typing, luarocks, transpiler, compiler, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- teal-language/tl (main) score 78

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:23.801365+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 2026-08-30T08:31:37.090485+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/teal-language/tl (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:23.801365+00:00, sha 7094772fece6)
  - homepage: https://teal-language.org (fetched 2026-08-29T09:53:54.084924+00:00, sha 55fcb1fefb41)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.