Aura

Aura is a compiled, statically typed programming language for reliable software. It pairs Python-inspired syntax with deterministic ownership, structured concurrency, typed failure, and native executables. It has no garbage collector.

def scale(values: mut list[int64], factor: int64):
    for value in mut values:
        value *= factor

def total(values: list[int64]) -> int64:
    mut sum = 0
    for value in values:
        sum += value
    return sum

mut scores = [10, 20, 30]
scale(scores, 3)

print(f"scores: {scores}")
print(f"total: {total(scores)}")

Save this as scores.au and run it with aura run scores.au. It prints scores: [30, 60, 90] and total: 180. The signatures state what each function does to its argument: scale asks for mut access, and total only reads. The compiler enforces both.

Install

Install the Aura 0.9 technical preview on Linux x64, macOS x64, or macOS arm64:

curl -fsSL https://johnolafenwa.github.io/Aura/install.sh | sh

To upgrade the compiler and bundled runtime of an existing install, run:

aura upgrade

Step-by-step guides cover macOS, Linux, and Windows through WSL 2. The VS Code guide covers Marketplace, Open VSX, VSIX, and WSL remote installation. SUPPORTED_PLATFORMS.md lists supported hosts and pinned tools.

What Aura Is For

Aura 0.9 targets applications for agents, ML infrastructure, and the control planes around models. Before a program runs, the compiler checks types, access, mutation, ownership transfer, resource cleanup, and task boundaries.

The long-term goal is a general-purpose systems language for every kind of software: applications, services, databases, language runtimes, embedded software, operating systems, and device drivers. Freestanding targets, low-level memory facilities, hardware interfaces, and the platform controls that scope needs are not implemented yet. Why Aura explains the project direction.

Documentation

• The Aura book: the guided Learn track plus the normative language and API reference.
• Tutorials and examples: the tutorial track and the categorized library of runnable programs.
• Language Specification and complete grammar: the implemented contract, together with the rest of the Manual.
• CLI and Tooling: every aura command, backend, and output format.
• Concurrency: tasks, queues, the scheduler, and its environment settings.
• Performance: current measurements and the optimization roadmap.
• ML systems roadmap: planned support for ML systems work.

Monorepo layout

Path	Contents
crates/	Rust compiler, runtime, and CLI
tools/	Editor integrations and other developer tools
package.json	npm workspace manifest for the repository's tools
examples/	Categorized sample Aura programs
tutorials/	Markdown tutorials for the implemented language
docs/	VitePress book, language proposal, and supporting documents
architecture_docs/	Architecture guides and component deep dives for the current implementation
work/	Task board and implementation notes

Each component has its own README:

• crates/aura: building the compiler and using the binary directly.
• crates/aura-compiler: compiler library tests.
• crates/aura-core: semantic types, diagnostics, and integer helpers shared by the compiler and the native runtime.
• crates/aura-runtime: the native runtime that executables link, with runtime values, the scheduler, host builtins, codecs, and FFI.
• tools/vscode-aura: the VS Code extension for syntax highlighting and the language client.
• tools/aura-language-server: the Aura Language Server Protocol implementation.

Contributing

CONTRIBUTING.md covers the test-first workflow, the local gate, and the development commands. The testing strategy explains how the repository is tested. The architecture guide describes how the implementation fits together. Report vulnerabilities as described in SECURITY.md.

VS Code install

Install the extension from the Marketplace or Open VSX as the VS Code guide describes. The extension starts the compiler's aura lsp service, so aura must be on PATH, or AURA_LSP_AURA_PATH must name it. To build and install the extension from this checkout, follow tools/vscode-aura/INSTALL.md.