Geno

Install | Language Tour | Examples | Documentation | Maturity | Contributing

Geno is a statically typed, functional-first programming language for reliable small programs written with LLMs. You can write Geno directly or generate it with a model; executable examples, contracts, explicit block boundaries, and capability-gated effects make the result easier to check and repair. Geno runs directly and compiles to Python and JavaScript.

Project status: Preview. Geno is ready for evaluation, examples, and early tools, but its pre-1.0 language and tooling may change. Beta and Experimental below describe individual component readiness, not overall project stability. See the preview program and maturity matrix.

Here is the core idea. Save this as score.geno:

func score_label(score: Int) -> String
    requires score >= 0
    example 95 -> "excellent"
    example 70 -> "passing"
    example 40 -> "needs work"

    if score >= 90 then
        return "excellent"
    else if score >= 60 then
        return "passing"
    else
        return "needs work"
    end if
end func

func main() -> String
    return score_label(95)
end func

$ geno test score.geno
3 passed, 0 failed

$ geno run score.geno
=> excellent

• example clauses are executable specifications.
• requires states a checked precondition.
• Explicit end tokens make generated block boundaries unambiguous.

Quickstart

Geno requires Python 3.10-3.13. Install the published CLI, create a project, then test and run it:

pip install geno-lang
geno --version
geno init hello --template cli
cd hello
geno test Main.geno
geno run Main.geno

The generated program finishes with:

>>> Hello, World! <<<

Continue with Getting Started, or jump to the Language Tour.

Why Geno?

LLMs are good at producing plausible code. Geno is designed to make plausible code easier to constrain, validate, and ship.

Common failure mode	Geno design choice	What you get
Bracket and indentation drift	end func, end if, end match	Clear parse boundaries in generated code
Untested behavior	Required example clauses	Inline executable specs for most functions
Type confusion	Explicit function signatures plus local inference	Stable interfaces without noisy locals
Accidental effects	Capability-gated filesystem, network, process, env, clock, random, print, regex	Effects are visible at the command line
Edge-case misses	Exhaustive pattern matching and requires / ensures contracts	Better compiler feedback before runtime
Runtime escape risk	Capability gates and surface-specific sandboxing	Safer execution of generated programs

Where Geno Runs

Surface	Start here	Status	Boundary
Python CLI	geno run, geno test, geno compile -o app.py	Beta	Effectful builtins require explicit capabilities
Node.js CLI	geno compile --target js -o app.js	Beta	Generated JavaScript is for trusted execution; capability flags do not confine Node.js APIs
Browser app	geno build -o dist/	Beta	Produces static HTML/JS artifacts with browser-specific capabilities
Hosted runtime	geno serve	Beta	Provides an HTTP API with isolated execution, auth, rate limiting, and metrics

Package management, the LSP and VS Code extension, the formatter, and the self-hosted frontend are experimental. See Supported Targets and the Maturity Matrix for the detailed contract.

Language At A Glance

Geno is immutable by default and includes:

• Static typing with local inference, generics, traits, and impl blocks
• Algebraic data types, exhaustive pattern matching, guards, and rest patterns
• Result / Option, try / catch, throw, and ? propagation
• Lists, arrays, vectors, maps, mutable maps, and sets
• Lambdas, pipelines with |>, async functions, and await
• F-strings plus CSV, TOML, and JSON helpers
• Python and JavaScript compilation

The Language Tour explains these features with runnable examples. Target-specific behavior is documented in Portable Runtime Semantics. The Language Specification defines the normative 0.4 contract.

Examples

Example	What it shows
examples/fibonacci.geno	Recursion, iteration, examples-as-tests
examples/safe_divide.geno	Result, Option, and pattern matching
examples/apps/geno-check	Multi-module CLI validation app
examples/apps/geno-dash	Browser dashboard with canvas widgets
examples/apps/geno-snap	Hosted API mock server

More release-gated applications are listed in Reference Apps.

Safety And Limits

Geno separates pure computation from effects. Builtins that touch the filesystem, network, process execution, environment, clock, random values, output, or regex require explicit capabilities.

The CLI and hosted runtime use sandboxed execution with process isolation. The in-process embedding API has cooperative limits, and generated JavaScript is not a security boundary. Before running untrusted programs, read the Security Policy, Execution Surface, and Capability Reference.

The package ecosystem and editor tooling are still young, and breaking changes remain possible before 1.0. For current limitations, consult the Maturity Matrix and Common Pitfalls.

Research

Geno tracks a reproducible runtime benchmark snapshot, whose committed run meets the suite target of <=2x for at least 80% of measured problems. The LLM correctness benchmark documents its methodology, but public frontier-model results are deferred and no Geno-vs-Python correctness advantage is currently claimed.

Develop Geno

This repository contains the language implementation, standard library, documentation, benchmarks, example applications, self-hosted frontend, and VS Code extension.

git clone https://github.com/davidiach/geno-lang.git
cd geno-lang
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Read CONTRIBUTING.md for the development workflow and local checks, GOVERNANCE.md for decision rights, and the design proposal process for substantial changes. Use GitHub Discussions for questions, the preview feedback template for early-user reports, and SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reporting. Release history is recorded in CHANGELOG.md.

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.