🐉 CMRA Language (Chimera)

"Where code breathes fire and flows like flame..."

CMRA (Chimera) is an esoteric programming language exploring reversible execution and direction control through a dragon-inspired syntax. Programs can soar up or dive down through code at runtime.

🔥 GitHub: Chimera418/cmra
🌐 Playground: cmra-esolang.vercel.app/playground.html
📚 Docs: cmra-esolang.vercel.app
📖 User Guide: GUIDE.md

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🙌 Origin

CMRA began as a workshop project I attended by Tushar Sadhwani during a college multifest. The prototype we built is in prototype.py. For a non‑aliased baseline, see Tushar's esolangs repository. You can also read his blog at tush.ar.

This is a tiny side project made for fun and learning. If you build something cool or want to improve the interpreter, feel free to reach out on GitHub (@Chimera418) or Discord gamingchimera.

✨ Try it Online

🔥 Launch the Interactive Playground

Write and run CMRA code directly in your browser — no installation needed. Powered by Pyodide.

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⚡ Installation & Quick Start

CMRA Esoteric Language Extension (VS Code / Cursor)

For the best developer experience, install the official IDE extension:

• Marketplace: Install directly from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX Registry. Works on both VS Code and Cursor!
• Manual Install: Download the .vsix from GitHub Releases.
• Reliable Run command: Extension run uses python -m cmra "<file>" by default (avoids global PATH issues).
• Config override: Set cmra.executablePath if you need a custom interpreter/command.
• Diagnostics: Randomized dragon-themed diagnostics for .cmra, concise =-style diagnostics for .cmrash.

Diagnostic message examples (extension)

Fire Dragon (.cmra)

• Line 4: 'x' is but a myth in this realm. Hint: Bind it before you attempt to command it. 🐉
• Line 5: Fire Dragon rejects '=' in this chant. Hint: Use 'bind' for assignments in .cmra files.

Shadow Dragon (.cmrash)

• Line 4: Undefined variable 'x'. Hint: Initialize it with '=' before using it.
• Line 5: Unexpected 'bind' in .cmrash. Hint: Use '=' for assignments.

Full catalog: cmra-vscode-extension/ERROR_MESSAGES.md

Standalone Windows Executable

Don't have Python installed? No problem! Download the standalone cmra.exe from the latest GitHub Releases and add it to your PATH to run CMRA programs natively.

pip install (recommended)

# Install from PyPI:
pip install cmra

# Or install from source (development):
pip install -e .

# Now use `cmra` and `cmrash` from anywhere inside the venv:
cmra "test cases\test.cmra"
cmrash "test cases\test.cmrash"

No-install PowerShell wrapper

.\cmra.ps1 "test cases\test.cmra"

Run with Python directly

python -m cmra.cli "test cases\test.cmra"
python cmra.py "test cases cmra\test.cmra"          # legacy single-file
python cmrash.py "test cases cmrash\test.cmrash"

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🔱 The Twin Dragons

Dragon	Entry point	Keywords
🐲 Fire Dragon	cmra.py / src/cmra/fire.py	bind roar sniff dive soar murmur
🌑 Shadow Dragon	cmrash.py / src/cmra/shadow.py	= print check reverse ;
🐉 Ancient Wyrm	prototype.py	Compact baseline, inline sniff only

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🐲 Language at a Glance

murmur Fire Dragon — count 0 to 5
i bind 0
flag bind 1
sniff i <= 5 : sniff flag == 0 : dive
flag bind 0
sniff flag == 0 : roar i
sniff flag == 0 : i bind i + 1
flag bind 1
sniff i <= 5 : sniff flag == 1 : soar

• bind — assign variable
• roar — print
• sniff … : action — conditional (inline or block)
• dive / soar — set execution direction forward / reverse
• No loop keyword — direction reversal + flag guards make loops

→ See GUIDE.md for the full walkthrough.

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⚡ Execution Model

A global DIRECTION (1 or -1) steps through lines. soar reverses it; dive restores forward. When direction goes past the first or last line, the program ends. Block sniff/check enters at the first (forward) or last (reverse) line of the block.

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🎮 Test Cases & Projects

# Test cases (pip-installed cmra)
cmra "test cases\test.cmra"
cmra "test cases\test_strings.cmra"
cmra "test cases\test_arith.cmra"

# Projects
cmra projects\calculator.cmra
cmra projects\countdown.cmra
cmra projects\fizzbuzz.cmra
cmra projects\story_adventure.cmra

Test cases live in test cases/ (.cmra) and test cases cmrash/ (.cmrash).
Projects live in projects/: calculator, countdown, fizzbuzz, story_adventure.

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📦 File Inventory

Path	Purpose
src/cmra/	Installable Python package
src/cmra/cli.py	Entry point for the cmra command
src/cmra/fire.py	Fire Dragon interpreter
src/cmra/shadow.py	Shadow Dragon interpreter
src/cmra/runner.py	Shared dispatch logic
cmra.py	Legacy Fire Dragon single-file
cmrash.py	Legacy Shadow Dragon single-file
prototype.py	Original workshop prototype
cmra.ps1 / cmra.bat	No-install launchers
pyproject.toml	Package metadata (pip install)
index.html + styles.css	Static docs site
playground.html	Browser REPL (Pyodide)
GUIDE.md	Full user guide
keybind.txt	Fire ↔ Shadow keyword cheatsheet
projects/	Showcase programs
test cases/	Regression tests (.cmra)
test cases cmrash/	Regression tests (.cmrash)

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📜 License

CMRA is a learning project. Use freely, learn deeply, code fiercely! 🔥

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May your code burn bright and your loops reverse true! 🐉🔥