Goose Lang 101: Install the Compiler and Print One Line

A developer walkthrough shows how to install the Goose whole-program compiler from its prebuilt release archives and run a one-line program without a package manager or go.mod. The compiler emits a single C file and can execute it in-process via TinyCC, with `goose build` requiring a separate system C compiler and `goose lsp` providing language-server features. The guide warns that the compiler shares its name with the AI-agent Goose, so users should verify `which goose` points to the compiler.

Part 2 of Goose lang and Flisk.sh 101. The Flisk CLI stays closed. Goose is a whole-program compiler. It writes one C file and can run that C inside its own process through TinyCC. There is no package manager step and no go.mod . Prebuilt compilers are on the releases page https://github.com/aardappel/goose/releases . Unpack one and put that directory on PATH . The compiler finds its standard library beside itself. Build cache goes under ~/.goose , or GOOSE HOME if you set it. On macOS, a downloaded archive will not run until you clear quarantine on the unpacked directory: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /path/to/unpacked-goose Check you got the language, not the agent: which goose goose 2 &1 | head -n 20 You want a compiler that accepts a .goose file. If the help text is about LLM providers, rename or remove that binary from PATH and open a new shell. Linux, before the first run: sudo apt-get install -y libc6-dev or: sudo dnf install glibc-devel macOS: xcode-select --install goose build also needs a C compiler: gcc or clang on Linux and macOS, Visual Studio 2022 or clang on Windows. Threads cannot use the in-process TinyCC path. This part has no threads, so goose hello.goose is enough. mkdir -p ~/src/goose-flisk-101 && cd ~/src/goose-flisk-101 hello.goose : fn main { print "hello, goose" ; } Run it in-process. No verb, or goose run , does the same thing. goose check only typechecks. goose hello.goose goose check hello.goose Expected: hello, goose print takes any number of arguments, renders each, and writes one line. There is no format string. fn main { print "answer=", 42, " ratio=", 0.75, " yes=", 3 2 ; } The compiler is already called goose . Name the program something else or the next part will call the compiler by accident. goose build -o ./total hello.goose ./total goose build --dry-run hello.goose prints the C compile it would run. goose toolchain says which C compiler it found. Intermediates live under ~/.goose . If goose build cannot find a C compiler, stop and install one. Do not switch to the AI-agent Goose to "fix the build." The release archive includes a VS Code extension. With the compiler on PATH : code --install-extension vscode/goose-language.vsix goose lsp is the language server: diagnostics, hover, go to definition, completion, rename. Skip this if you are in a hurry. The terminal loop above is the 101. It did not listen on a port. It did not read PORT . It did not answer GET /health . Flisk cannot route a process that exits after one print. That is fine. Part 3 stays in the language. Part 4 starts a real HTTP service in a language Flisk already knows. Official tour, when you want the long version: docs/tutorial.md in the Goose repo https://github.com/aardappel/goose/blob/master/docs/tutorial.md , and samples/01 tour.goose .