Cli: headless 6502 frontend (assemble/run/disasm/hexdump) - #166
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A command-line frontend for Learn6502 — the "fourth frontend" alongside the
GNOME, web and Android apps, built on the SAME shared libraries rather than
sitting underneath them: `@learn6502/core` (assembler + simulator) and
`@learn6502/common-ui` (the `DisplayWidget` contract, `createSimulatorStack`,
`DEFAULT_COLOR_PALETTE`). It doubles as an executable proof that the core is
genuinely UI-independent.
Commands (`packages/cli/src/`):
- `assemble <file.asm>` — assemble and print the assembler's own result message
- `run <file.asm>` — assemble, run to completion (via `debugExecStep`, with
a step cap for programs that loop/await input), and
render the display
- `hexdump <file.asm>` — assemble and print a hexdump
- `disasm <file.asm>` — assemble and print the disassembly
`AnsiDisplay` implements the shared `DisplayWidget` interface — the terminal is
just another platform. The 32×32 grid of memory `$0200-$05FF` prints as
truecolor ANSI using the upper half-block `▀` (foreground = top pixel,
background = bottom), so the screen stays roughly square. Built node-free-ready
via `gjsify build --app node`.
The batch commands (assemble/disasm/hexdump) are thin wrappers over core; only
`run` reaches for common-ui — an honest split between batch and interactive use.
The GUIs remain library consumers; nothing depends on this CLI.
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A command-line frontend for Learn6502 — the "fourth frontend" alongside the GNOME, web and Android apps. The key idea (per discussion): it is built on the same shared libraries rather than sitting underneath them —
@learn6502/core(assembler + simulator) and@learn6502/common-ui(theDisplayWidgetcontract,createSimulatorStack,DEFAULT_COLOR_PALETTE). The GUIs remain library consumers; nothing depends on this CLI. It doubles as an executable proof that the core is genuinely UI-independent.Commands
The display is just another platform
AnsiDisplayimplements the sameDisplayWidgetinterface the GTK (Gtk.DrawingArea+cairo), web (<canvas>) and Android displays implement. The 32×32 grid of memory$0200-$05FFprints as truecolor ANSI using the upper half-block▀(foreground = top pixel, background = bottom), so the screen stays roughly square in a terminal.rundrives the simulator synchronously viadebugExecStep()(with a step cap for programs that loop or await input) rather than the GUI'ssetIntervalloop.Verified
Built with
gjsify build --app node(node-free-ready) and exercised end-to-end:assemble→ "Code assembled successfully, 11 bytes."runon a colour-chart program → renders all 16 palette colours as vertical bands, "Program completed after 1026 steps."hexdump→0600: a2 00 a5 fe 9d 00 02 e8 d0 f8 00disasm→ full annotated disassembly tableThe batch commands (assemble/disasm/hexdump) are thin wrappers over core; only
runreaches for common-ui — an honest split between batch and interactive use. This is a spike: it validates the decoupling and the ANSI-display approach. Natural follow-ups: an interactivedebugREPL (readline stepper over the existingdebuggerController), stdin gamepad input, binary I/O (-o out.bin), and a--app gjsbuild.