AZM

AZM is a Z80 assembler in the ASM80 tradition: plain assembly input, predictable object output, and modern safety tooling for projects that still want to see the machine.

The project goal is a good assembler, not a high-level language. AZM keeps labels, directives, instructions, branches, data bytes, register effects, and generated metadata visible in source and artifacts.

Product boundary

AZM keeps:

• ASM80-style .asm / .z80 source as the input baseline
• .asmi external interface files for register-care contracts
• textual .include
• directive aliases for importing common assembler spellings
• register-care analysis, compact AZMDoc comments, and .asmi external contracts
• AST-level op extensions
• enums as constant namespaces
• .type / .union layout metadata
• compile-time layout constants such as sizeof(...), offset(...), scalar layout sizes, and constant-only layout casts
• assembler data directives including .db, .dw, .ds, .cstr, .pstr, and .istr

AZM .asm and .z80 source rejects old ZAX high-level features such as modules/imports, func, formal arguments, locals, typed assignment/storage lowering, structured control, generated frames, typed storage blocks, and named section blocks. Those inherited paths are removal work, not product compatibility.

Install

Requires Node.js 20+.

npm install -g @jhlagado/azm
azm path/to/program.z80

From a checkout, use the local CLI after building:

npm ci
npm run build
npm run azm -- examples/hello.asm

Output files for each compiled source:

Extension	Contents
.hex	Intel HEX
.bin	Flat binary
.lst	Byte dump plus symbols
.z80	Plain Z80 source emission
.d8.json	Debug80 map

Small input example:

        ORG 0100H
START:
        LD A,42
        RET

Compile a binary and listing:

azm --type bin --output build/start.bin start.asm

azm [options] <entry.asm|entry.z80>

Options:
  -o, --output <file>   Primary output path (must match --type extension)
  -t, --type <type>     Primary output type: hex|bin (default: hex)
  -n, --nolist          Suppress .lst
      --nobin           Suppress .bin
      --nohex           Suppress .hex
      --nod8m           Suppress .d8.json
      --asm80           Emit assembler-valid lowered source (.z80)
      --source-root <d> Normalize D8 source paths relative to this directory
      --case-style <m>  Case-style lint mode: off|upper|lower|consistent
      --rc <m>            Register-care mode: off|audit|warn|error|strict
      --reg-report       Emit .regcare.txt report
      --reg-interface    Emit inferred register-care interface (.asmi)
      --fix             Apply conservative register-care source fixes
      --contracts       Update source AZM contract blocks in place
      --accept-out <r:c> Promote inferred output candidate while annotating
      --interface <file> Load register-care interface contracts
      --reg-profile <p> Register-care profile: mon3
      --aliases <file>  Load project directive alias JSON (repeatable)
  -I, --include <dir>   Add include search path (repeatable)
  -V, --version         Print version
  -h, --help            Show help

Programmatic API

@jhlagado/azm exposes Node entry points for tools:

• @jhlagado/azm
• @jhlagado/azm/tooling
• @jhlagado/azm/compile

Minimal compile example:

import { compile, defaultFormatWriters } from '@jhlagado/azm/compile';

const result = await compile(
  '/abs/path/to/main.asm',
  {
    outputType: 'hex',
    sourceRoot: '/abs/path/to/project',
    d8mInputs: {
      hex: '/abs/path/to/project/build/main.hex',
      listing: '/abs/path/to/project/build/main.lst',
    },
  },
  { formats: defaultFormatWriters },
);

console.log(result.diagnostics);

See docs/reference/cli.md for the full CLI reference and docs/reference/tooling-api.md for the current API notes.

Verification

Useful local verification lanes:

npm run build
npm run test:azm:alpha
npm run test:azm:corpus
npm test

License

GPL-3.0-only. See LICENSE.