Process & OS (std.process, std.os, std.env)

Flame provides clean, native access to operating system metadata, process execution, and environment configuration without requiring boilerplate wrapper functions.

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Child Processes (std.process)

Execute shell commands, interact with background processes, and manage working directories directly at the script top level:

import std.process

// Execute a command synchronously and capture its standard output, error, and exit status
let output = process.exec("git", ["status", "--short"])
println($"Git status exit code: {output.status.code}")
println($"Git stdout:\n{output.stdout}")

// Spawn an asynchronous background process
let child = process.spawn("cargo", ["--version"])

// Inspect and change the current working directory
let current_path = process.cwd()
println($"CWD: {current_path}, Flame PID: {process.pid()}")

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Environment Variables (std.env)

Query and modify process environment variables or locate system temporary folders:

import std.env

// Read an environment variable (returns Nil if not found)
let port = env.get("PORT")
if port == Nil {
    port = "8080"
}

// Set or replace an environment variable for child processes
env.set("APP_ENV", "production")

// Retrieve the system temporary directory path
let tmp_dir = env.temp()
println($"Temporary Directory: {tmp_dir}")

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OS Introspection (std.os)

Inspect the host operating system platform and architecture:

import std.os

println($"Operating System Name: {os.name()}")   // e.g., "windows", "linux", "macos"
println($"Operating System Family: {os.family()}") // e.g., "windows", "unix"
println($"CPU Architecture: {os.arch()}")         // e.g., "x86_64", "aarch64"

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API Summary Tables

Process (std.process)

Method	Arguments	Returns	Description
process.exec	cmd: String, args: Tuple<String>	Formula	Runs command synchronously and returns { stdout, stderr, status: { code } }.
process.spawn	cmd: String, args: Tuple<String>	ChildProcess	Spawns an asynchronous background child process.
process.cmd	program: String	CommandBuilder	Returns a command builder for chained argument configuration and spawning.
process.cwd	None	String	Returns the current working directory path of the running process.
process.set_cwd	path: String	Nil	Changes the current working directory to the specified path.
process.pid	None	Int	Returns the operating system process ID of the running Flame process.

Environment (std.env)

Method	Arguments	Returns	Description
env.get	key: String	String | Nil	Retrieves the value of an environment variable, or Nil if unset.
env.set	key: String, value: String	Nil	Sets or overwrites an environment variable in the current process scope.
env.remove	key: String	Nil	Deletes an environment variable from the current process scope.
env.vars	None	Formula	Returns a key-value formula map of all currently exported environment variables.
env.temp	None	String	Returns the absolute path to the system temporary folder.

Operating System (std.os)

Method	Arguments	Returns	Description
os.name	None	String	Returns the OS name identifier (e.g., "windows", "linux", "macos").
os.arch	None	String	Returns the host CPU processor architecture (e.g., "x86_64", "aarch64").
os.family	None	String	Returns the general OS operating platform family (e.g., "windows", "unix").