Melker - Run text with meaning

Key Features

Apps are readable documents, not opaque binaries. View source, inspect handlers, understand before you run.

Explicit Policy

Permissions declared in metadata, visible before execution. No hidden capabilities.

Run from URL

Share apps via URL. Remote apps require policy and user approval.

Flexbox Layout

Modern layout with flex, gap, padding. CSS-like styling with 16 million colors.

Rich Components

Tables, dialogs, forms, canvas graphics, video playback, OAuth flows.

Dev Tools

Press F12 to inspect source, policy, and system info at runtime.

No Build Step

Write markup, run immediately. No compilation, no bundling, no waiting.

Examples

htop.melker

markdown_viewer.melker

analog-clock.melker

video_demo.melker

Quick Start

Create a hello.melker file:

hello.melker

<melker>
  <policy>
  {
    "name": "Hello App",
    "permissions": {}
  }
  </policy>

  <container style="border: thin; padding: 1;">
    <text style="font-weight: bold;">Hello, Terminal!</text>
    <button label="Exit" onClick="$melker.exit()" />
  </container>
</melker>

Run it:

./melker.ts hello.melker

Installation

Clone the repository

Melker is distributed via git. No package managers required.

git clone https://github.com/wistrand/melker.git
cd melker

Run an example

Requires Deno 2.5+. Node.js and Bun are not supported.

./melker.ts examples/melker/hello.melker

Optional: Install globally

Create a symlink to run from anywhere.

ln -s $(pwd)/melker.ts ~/.local/bin/melker

Releases

Melker uses CalVer (YYYY.MM.PATCH). Releases are git tags.

# List available releases
git tag --list 'v*' | sort -V

# Checkout a specific release
git checkout v2026.01.1