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README - Elide Docs

Welcome to Elide

Elide is a high-performance multi-language software runtime powered by GraalVM. Here you can find reference docs, guides, code samples, and more.

By Language

Highlights

Elide is a multi-lang toolchain →

Like the JDK, or Bun, or uv.

You can install dependencies, build your code, and ship your code.

You install Elide on your machine as a standalone binary with minimal runtime dependencies.

You can install it on macOS or Linux with this one-liner:

bash

 curl -sSL --tlsv1.2 elide.sh | bash -s -

Elide is designed to be drop-in, or opt-in for additional functionality. For example:

bash

 javac -d target some/java/src/File.java
 elide javac -- -d target some/java/src/File.java

👆 These commands are identical, except elide javac is up to 20x faster.

Beyond drop-in tools, Elide is a complete development platform:

bash

 elide build          # Build your project
 elide run app.ts     # Run a script

Elide is a multi-lang runtime

Like the JVM, or Bun, or Node.

Elide runs JavaScript and TypeScript natively, with Python support under development.

Run TypeScript directly — no transpilation step needed:

typescript

// app.ts — TypeScript with embedded SQLite
const { Database } = require("sqlite")
const db = new Database(":memory:")

db.exec("CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT)")
db.exec("INSERT INTO users VALUES (1, 'Elide')")

const user = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = 1").get()
console.log(`Hello from ${user.name}!`)

console

> elide app.ts
Hello from Elide!

Serve static assets and develop with live reload:

bash

 elide serve          # Start an HTTP server
 elide dev            # Dev server with live reload

Python and polyglot cross-language imports are coming soon. Python support is currently disabled in release builds.

Elide is fast

  • JS: Elide runs your TypeScript code faster than Node can run JavaScript.
  • Serving: Elide runs your HTTP endpoints at up to 800k RPS. That's really fast.

Note

Elide is independently benchmarked by TechEmpower. Latest results

Elide is compatible

Elide supports the tools and APIs you already know and love.

  • Powered by GraalVM's JavaScript engine with broad ECMAScript compliance
  • Supports CJS and ESM modules natively
  • Embedded database drivers: SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL built-in
  • Fast JVM dependency resolution compatible with Maven
  • Growing Node.js API compatibility

Elide has great developer tools

  • Built-in debugger (Chrome DevTools Protocol, DAP)
  • CPU profiler and code coverage out of the box

Elide is secure

Elide provides strong security boundaries and memory safety by default.

  • Written in memory-safe Kotlin and Rust
  • Strong filesystem and environment isolation
  • Extensively tested: thousands of unit and conformance tests across Rust and JavaScript

See also

Next: Installation