gorepl

A REPL multiplexer that lets you spin up any REPL and send commands to it from multiple terminals in the same directory.

Start a Python, Node, or any interactive shell in one terminal, then pipe commands into it from others - all inputs are multiplexed into a single REPL session, and output is echoed back to the server terminal.

Installation

From source

1go install github.com/azr4e1/gorepl@latest

From releases

Download the latest binary from the releases page.

Quick start

Terminal 1 – start a Python REPL server:

1gorepl run python3

Terminal 2 – send commands to it (from the same directory):

1gorepl send "print('hello from another terminal')"

The output appears in Terminal 1.

You can also pipe input:

1echo "1 + 1" | gorepl send

Commands

`gorepl run <command>`

Start a REPL process and listen for incoming connections.

Usage:
  gorepl run [flags] <command>

Flags:
  -c, --connection <type>   Connection type: uds, tcp, namedpipe (default "uds")
  -p, --port <port>         Port for TCP connections (default 4501)
  -f, --force               Force start even if a connection already exists
  -l, --log <path>          Path to log file (default ~/.cache/gorepl/<timestamp>-logs)

Examples:

 1# Start with default Unix domain socket
 2gorepl run python3
 3
 4# Start with TCP on a specific port
 5gorepl run -c tcp -p 5000 python3
 6
 7# Start a Node.js REPL with named pipe
 8gorepl run -c namedpipe node
 9
10# Force restart, replacing an existing session
11gorepl run -f python3

`gorepl send [input]`

Send a command to a running REPL in the current directory.

Usage:
  gorepl send [flags] [input...]

Flags:
  -c, --connection <type>   Connection type: uds, tcp, namedpipe (default "uds")
  -p, --port <port>         Port for TCP connections (default -1, auto-detect)
  -a, --address <addr>      Address for UDS or named pipe connections

Examples:

 1# Send a single command
 2gorepl send "print('hello')"
 3
 4# Pipe a script
 5cat script.py | gorepl send
 6
 7# Send to a TCP REPL on a specific port
 8gorepl send -c tcp -p 5000 "console.log('hi')"
 9
10# Send to a specific UDS address
11gorepl send -a /tmp/gorepl_abc123_unix_socket "1 + 1"

`gorepl get`

Show active REPL connections.

Usage:
  gorepl get [flags]

Flags:
  -a, --all    Show all connections (not just current directory)
  -j, --json   Output in JSON format

Examples:

1# Show connections in the current directory
2gorepl get
3
4# Show all connections across the system
5gorepl get --all
6
7# Machine-readable output
8gorepl get --all --json

Connection types

gorepl supports three connection methods. All are directory-scoped by default – the REPL server and client must be in the same working directory to auto-discover each other.

Type	Flag	Description
UDS	`-c uds`	Unix domain socket (default). Fast, local-only.
TCP	`-c tcp`	TCP socket on localhost. Useful when UDS isn’t available.
Named Pipe	`-c namedpipe`	FIFO-based. Single writer at a time.

How it works

Terminal 2               Terminal 3
gorepl send "x = 1"     gorepl send "print(x)"
      |                        |
      +--- socket/pipe --------+
                |
          [ Multiplexer ]
                |
          [ REPL process ]  <-- Terminal 1: gorepl run python3
                |
           stdout/stderr  --> displayed in Terminal 1

gorepl run starts the target REPL process and opens a socket (or named pipe) in a well-known location derived from the current directory.
gorepl send connects to that socket and writes the input.
A multiplexer merges input from all connected clients and the server’s own stdin, forwarding everything to the REPL’s stdin.
REPL output (stdout/stderr) is displayed in the server terminal. Inputs from remote clients are echoed to the server terminal as well.

Connection addresses are stored in the system temp directory (/tmp) using a SHA-256 hash of the working directory path, so each directory gets its own isolated REPL session.

Shell completion

gorepl supports shell completions for connection types, ports, and addresses via cobra’s built-in completion system:

1# Bash
2gorepl completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/gorepl
3
4# Zsh
5gorepl completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_gorepl"
6
7# Fish
8gorepl completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/gorepl.fish

Logs

By default, logs are written to ~/.cache/gorepl/ with a timestamped filename. Use --log to specify a custom path:

1gorepl run --log /tmp/my-repl.log python3

Building

1git clone https://github.com/azr4e1/gorepl.git
2cd gorepl
3go build -o gorepl .

License

See LICENSE for details.