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Getting Started with Frankie

Requirements

  • Python 3.10 or higher
  • No external dependencies — pure Python standard library

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

The easiest path if you're on a Mac or Linux box with Homebrew. Frankie ships as a third-party tap:

brew tap atejada/frankie
brew trust atejada/frankie     # Homebrew 6.0+: third-party taps need explicit trust
brew install frankie
frankiec version                # Frankie v1.21.0 🧟

One-liner alternative (auto-taps and trusts just this formula):

brew install atejada/frankie/frankie

Homebrew installs are pure Python stdlib too — the only dependency is python@3.12. Standard stitches resolve from the installed tree automatically, alongside project-local ./stitches and ~/.frankie/stitches (which still take precedence).

To upgrade later: brew upgrade frankie. To remove: brew uninstall frankie.

Git clone + installer

git clone https://github.com/atejada/Frankie.git
cd Frankie
python3 install.py

# Add frankie/bin to your PATH (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export PATH="/path/to/frankie/bin:$PATH"

To uninstall:

python3 install.py --uninstall

Without installing

python3 frankiec.py run examples/hello.fk

Where the Examples Live

Every install method ships the same bundle of examples and showcase projects (Hello World, Fizzbuzz, the full showcase, and playable projects like Snake and Zombie Chat). frankiec always knows where its own install lives, so you don't need to hunt for the source tree:

frankiec examples              # list everything bundled with this install
frankiec examples snake        # copy a project into the current directory
cd snake && frankiec run main.fk

This works identically whether you installed via Homebrew, git clone + install.py, or an unpacked zip.

  • Homebrew: examples live at $(brew --prefix frankie)/libexec/examples/ — typically /opt/homebrew/opt/frankie/libexec/examples/ on Apple Silicon, or /usr/local/opt/frankie/libexec/examples/ on Intel Macs. frankiec examples (no arguments) also prints this path directly, so you never have to work it out by hand.
  • Git clone / zip: examples are just examples/ in the repo root.

Single-file examples (like fizzbuzz.fk) copy as one .fk file; full projects (like snake or frankie_ledger) copy as a whole directory, including their pinned stitches/ and stitch.lock.

Quick Start

frankiec repl                              # interactive REPL
frankiec new myapp                         # scaffold a new project
frankiec new --game mygame                 # scaffold a playable starter game
frankiec run examples/hello.fk             # run a program