install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install lolcode

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#lolcode

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/lo/lolcode/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Esoteric programming language

Project links

Commands and aliases

lci

history

Project history and usage

The Homebrew `lolcode` formula packages `lci`, Justin Meza's C interpreter for LOLCODE. LOLCODE itself is an esoteric programming language presented on lolcode.org, and `lci` became the practical Unix-style command-line interpreter linked from that official site.

Project history

The LOLCODE specification archive records version 1.2 as a final draft dated 12 July 2007 and version 1.3 as a later draft that advances the 1.2 specification with proposals from the original forum and site. The official lolcode.org page links the language specification and the `lci` interpreter together, making the interpreter the project-facing implementation for users who want to run LOLCODE programs.

`lci` was created and maintained by Justin J. Meza and its README describes it as a C interpreter designed to be correct, portable, fast, and precisely documented. The repository was created on GitHub in 2010, carries GPL-3.0-or-later licensing in the README, and keeps the main branch aligned with the LOLCODE 1.3 language specification while directing newer experimental language work to a `future` branch.

Adoption history

For package-manager users, `lci` matters because it gives LOLCODE a small, buildable command-line implementation rather than leaving the language as only a meme-era specification. The input metadata records packages in Homebrew and Nix, while GitHub repository metadata shows a long-lived public repository with hundreds of stars and forks.

How it is used

The official lolcode.org example installs by cloning `justinmeza/lci`, running CMake, and building with `make`. The README documents Linux, macOS, and Windows builds, optional generated documentation, and `ctest` for the bundled conformance tests.

Users run LOLCODE source through the `lci` executable. The official language examples use the familiar `HAI`, `CAN HAS STDIO?`, `VISIBLE`, and `KTHXBYE` form, while the 1.2 and 1.3 specs define syntax, comments, file structure, variables, and related language behavior.

Why package nerds care

`lolcode` is a classic package-manager curiosity: a real CLI interpreter for a joke language that still has a spec, tests, releases, and source builds. It is useful in package catalogs because it exercises build systems, esolang culture, and the boundary between novelty languages and maintained command-line tools.

Timeline

2007: LOLCODE 1.2 final draft dated 12 July 2007.
2010: `justinmeza/lci` repository created on GitHub.
2014: `lolcode-spec` archive repository created on GitHub.
2026: `lci` repository metadata shows continued activity.

Related projects

`lolcode-spec` archives the LOLCODE language specifications.
`httpd.lol` is linked from the `lci` README as an example of newer language features on the `future` branch.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: yellow

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

Risk classifier

yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime

Why

generalized runtime or code generation signal

Signals

text:programming language

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`lci`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-03

manager version1.3

manager updated2026-06-13

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:lolcode
Version	1.3
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	http://www.lolcode.org/
Repository	https://github.com/justinmeza/lci
Last updated	2026-06-13T23:35:02+02:00
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

lolcode

nix profile install nixpkgs#lolcode

normalized package name match
Matched by: Lolcode

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/lo/lolcode/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Nix92%

lci

nix profile install nixpkgs#lci

installed executable or alias match
Matched by: Lci

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/lc/lci/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/lolcode.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
pkg.so package database
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install lolcode with Homebrew, Nix