Elide documentation
Backend services on managed runtimes are limited by memory, and DRAM prices have more than tripled since 2024. Elide is designed around that: a memory-safe, high-performance runtime shipped as one binary that runs JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, Kotlin and WebAssembly, and builds, tests, formats and installs dependencies for your projects.
curl -sSL --tlsv1.2 elide.sh | bashPackages, release channels, Python and CI setup: Installation
On this page
Explore the docs
Languages
- JavaScript & TypeScriptRun .js and .ts files with no compile step; npm packages, Node and Web APIs.
- PythonRun Python 3.13 with CPython's arguments and call it from JavaScript.
- Java & KotlinRun, compile, test and package with the bundled JDK and Kotlin tools.
- WebAssemblyRun WASI modules and load WebAssembly libraries from JavaScript.
Integrations
- IDE integrationVS Code, IntelliJ IDEA and Zed extensions, and elide lsp for other editors.
- Build tool integrationCompile with Elide from Maven, Gradle and Bazel, or export a pom.xml.
Sections
- ToolchainProjects, Java and Kotlin, web and edge builds from one elide.pkl.
- GuidesBuild, run, debug and ship apps.
- Agentic engineeringMCP servers for your project and these docs; report problems from your editor.
- RuntimeElide, Node and Web APIs, and the SQLite, PostgreSQL and MySQL drivers, with what each module implements.
- ReferenceCLI commands, elide.pkl fields and environment variables.
- PerspectivesElide compared with Node, Bun, Deno, Python, Java and Kotlin.
- PerformanceBenchmarks against other runtimes, and the settings that tune speed and memory.
- CompatibilityPass rates on Test262, CPython, jtreg, WinterTC and Node-API suites.
- Code samplesRunnable samples by language and topic, each with its command and output.
- ChangelogWhat changed in each release, with the release archive.
Common commands
js ❯ const x = 5
js ❯ x
5
js ❯ /py
py ❯ import json; json.dumps({"x": x})
'{"x": 5}'
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
py ❯
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
session demo0001 • py • v1.6.0 seq 5
Elide CLI
- Run JavaScript or TypeScript
elide run app.ts - Run Python with Python CLI semantics
elide python script.py - Start a project from a template
elide init - Install the project's dependencies
elide install - Run the project's tests
elide test - Build the project
elide build - Serve static files
elide serve ./dist - Start the MCP server over stdio
elide mcp
Documentation, even offline
Run elide help to browse and search this manual without a network connection.
Get Started › Packages & Installers 0%
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\# Packages & Installers ┃
┃
Upgrade these installs through their package manager, not elide upgrade. Only ┃
Homebrew includes Python; see Installation. ✦ ┃
✧ │
Homebrew │
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│
bash │
brew install elide-dev/elide/elide │
brew upgrade elide │
│
│
The [elide-dev/homebrew-elide](https://github.com/elide-dev/homebrew-elide) tap │
tracks nightly on macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux (amd64, arm64). ✧ │
│
Debian and Ubuntu (apt) │
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✦ · │
bash │
↑↓ scroll ⇞⇟ page ⇥ snow esc topics q quit
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