Borkdude Skill: ClojureScript Runtime Selection

Status: ✅ Production Ready Trit: 0 (ERGODIC - runtime neutral) Principle: Right tool for context Author: Michiel Borkent (@borkdude)

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Overview

Borkdude provides guidance for selecting the appropriate ClojureScript runtime based on execution context. Named after Michiel Borkent, creator of Babashka, SCI, Cherry, Squint, and other Clojure tools.

Runtime Matrix

Runtime	Context	JVM	Node	Browser	REPL
Babashka	Scripting	✗	✗	✗	✓
SCI	Embedded	✓	✓	✓	✓
Cherry	Compiler	✗	✓	✓	✓
Squint	Compiler	✗	✓	✓	✓
Scittle	Browser	✗	✗	✓	✓
nbb	Node	✗	✓	✗	✓

Decision Tree

Start
  │
  ├── Need fast startup? ─────────► Babashka (bb)
  │
  ├── Browser target?
  │     ├── Minimal bundle? ──────► Squint
  │     ├── Full ClojureScript? ──► Cherry  
  │     └── Script tag? ──────────► Scittle
  │
  ├── Node scripting? ────────────► nbb
  │
  └── Embedded interpreter? ──────► SCI

Commands

# Babashka (scripting)
bb script.clj

# nbb (Node)
npx nbb script.cljs

# Squint (compile to JS)
npx squint compile src/main.cljs

# Cherry (compile with macros)
npx cherry compile src/main.cljs

# Scittle (browser)
# <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/scittle@0.6.15/dist/scittle.js"></script>

SCI (Small Clojure Interpreter)

Embedded interpreter for sandboxed evaluation:

(require '[sci.core :as sci])

(def ctx (sci/init {:namespaces {'user {'foo (fn [] "bar")}}}))

(sci/eval-string* ctx "(user/foo)")
;; => "bar"

Cherry vs Squint

Feature	Cherry	Squint
ClojureScript compat	High	Medium
Bundle size	Larger	Smaller
Macros	Full support	Limited
Interop	CLJS-style	JS-native
Target audience	CLJS developers	JS developers

Babashka Pods

Extend Babashka with pods:

(require '[babashka.pods :as pods])

(pods/load-pod 'org.babashka/go-sqlite3 "0.1.0")
(require '[pod.babashka.go-sqlite3 :as sqlite])

(sqlite/execute! "test.db" ["CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)"])

Integration with Music Topos

;; Use Babashka for scripts
(ns ruler.propagate
  (:require [babashka.fs :as fs]))

;; Use SCI for embedded color evaluation
(def color-ctx
  (sci/init {:namespaces 
             {'gay {'color-at (fn [idx] (gay/color-at idx))}}}))

When to Use Each

Babashka

• Shell scripts
• Build automation
• CLI tools
• Data processing

SCI

• Sandboxed evaluation
• Plugin systems
• Configuration DSLs
• Interactive REPLs

Cherry

• Full CLJS features in browser
• Macro-heavy code
• CLJS library compat

Squint

• Minimal JS output
• JS-first interop
• Small bundles

Scittle

• Browser scripting
• No build step
• Quick prototypes

nbb

• Node.js scripting
• npm library access
• Server scripts

Example: Skill Propagation

#!/usr/bin/env bb
;; .ruler/propagate.clj

(require '[babashka.fs :as fs]
         '[clojure.string :as str])

(defn propagate-skill! [skill-name]
  (let [source (str ".ruler/skills/" skill-name "/SKILL.md")
        content (slurp source)]
    (doseq [agent ["codex" "claude" "cursor"]]
      (let [target (str "." agent "/skills/" skill-name "/SKILL.md")]
        (fs/create-dirs (fs/parent target))
        (spit target content)))))

(propagate-skill! "unworld")

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Skill Name: borkdude Type: Runtime Selection / ClojureScript Tooling Trit: 0 (ERGODIC) Runtimes: Babashka, SCI, Cherry, Squint, Scittle, nbb