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Cookbook

Embedded binaries

Standalone executables

You can embed your Rye scripts into a single standalone binary. This lets you distribute your whole Rye program as one executable - no additional script files needed (and it can’t invoke custom scripts).

Benefits:

  • Simpler deployment: Single file to distribute
  • Security: AppArmor rules can be set per binary
  • No dependencies: Scripts are bundled in the executable

Setup

You need:

  1. Rye source code on your computer
  2. Go(lang) installed
  3. RYE_HOME environment variable set
# Define RYE_HOME environment variable pointing to Rye source
export RYE_HOME=/home/user/rye

# Get help and setup instructions
$RYE_HOME/bin/l.rye help
$RYE_HOME/bin/l.rye setup

Embedding a single file

For a simple project with just main.rye:

# Build binary with main.rye embedded
$RYE_HOME/bin/l.rye build embed_main

# The resulting binary is called 'main' and can be run directly
./main

The script is embedded into the binary. You can move it anywhere or delete the source .rye files and it will still work.

Embedding multiple files

For projects with multiple Rye files (main.rye plus libraries), create a lrye.files file listing all files to embed:

%main.rye
%lib.rye
%utils.rye

Each file path should be prefixed with %. When you build with embed_main, all listed files will be embedded into the binary.

Your main.rye can then import the embedded files normally:

; main.rye - imports embedded lib.rye
Import %lib.rye
hello-lib   ; call function from lib.rye

Import %utils.rye
do-something

Combining with modules (lrye.mod)

You can combine embedding with custom modules. Create both lrye.mod and lrye.files:

# lrye.mod - modules to include
cat > lrye.mod << EOF
http
sqlite
contrib
EOF

# lrye.files - files to embed
cat > lrye.files << EOF
%main.rye
%lib.rye
EOF

# Build with modules AND embedded files
$RYE_HOME/bin/l.rye build embed_main

Reading local files at runtime

Even with embedded scripts, you can still read non-embedded local files at runtime:

; This file is embedded
Import %lib.rye

; But we can still read external files
config: Read %config.txt
data: Read %data.json

This is useful for configuration files or data that needs to be changeable without rebuilding.

Complete workflow example

# 1. Create your project files
echo 'print "Hello from embedded Rye!"' > main.rye
echo 'hello-lib: fn { } { print "Hello from lib!" }' > lib.rye

# 2. Create lrye.mod with desired modules (can be empty)
echo 'http' > lrye.mod

# 3. Create lrye.files listing files to embed
cat > lrye.files << EOF
%main.rye
%lib.rye
EOF

# 4. Build the embedded binary
$RYE_HOME/bin/l.rye build embed_main

# 5. Run the standalone binary
./main

# 6. Test it works without source files
rm main.rye lib.rye
./main  # Still works!

GUI applications (Rye-Fyne)

You can create embedded binaries with Rye-Fyne also. This gives you an executable that directly opens the GUI without needing script files.

Support for Rye-Fyne, Rye-Gio, and other extensions is being added.

Building apk from Rye app

Documentation coming soon for building Android APKs.

Security benefits

Embedded binaries have some security advantages:

  1. AppArmor/SELinux: Rules can be set per binary. A generic Rye binary that runs any script makes rules harder to define.
  2. Tamper resistance: Users can’t easily modify the embedded scripts
  3. Distribution: No risk of scripts being modified in transit

See also