keel build

Compile an Keel program to bytecode.

keel build <file.keel>

Produces a .keelc file (JSON-serialized bytecode) that can be cached for faster loading.

Example

keel build examples/minimal.keel
# ✓ Compiled examples/minimal.keel → examples/minimal.keelc (28 ops, 2 functions)

Bytecode format

The .keelc file contains:

• main chunk — top-level agent code
• function chunks — compiled tasks
• string pool — deduplicated string constants
• register count — per function/chunk

The bytecode is a register-based instruction set with 40+ opcodes covering arithmetic, comparison, control flow, function calls, data structures, and human interaction.