Scribe Papyrus

A command-line wrapper for the Papyrus script compiler with an embedded compiler binary.

Scribe makes it easy to compile Papyrus scripts for Skyrim and other Creation Engine games without manual setup. The Papyrus compiler is bundled directly in the binary - no additional downloads required!

Features

• Embedded Compiler: russo-2025's Papyrus compiler bundled directly in the binary
• Zero Configuration: Compiler extracts automatically on first use
• Batch Compilation: Compile all scripts with scribe .
• Project Configuration: TOML-based config with placeholder support
• Syntax Checking: Validate scripts without compilation using --check
• Recursive Discovery: Automatically finds all .psc files in subdirectories

Installation

cargo install scribe-papyrus

Quick Start

1. Initialize a new project:

   scribe init

2. Edit scribe.toml with your project paths:

   name = "My Awesome Mod"
   mods = "/path/to/mods/folder"
   game = "sse"
   scripts = "/path/to/Data/Scripts/Source"
   compiler = "/home/username/.scribe/bin/papyrus"  # Default bundled compiler
   
   [dependencies]
   skse = "{mods}/skse/scripts/source"
   skyui = "{mods}/skyui/scripts/source"
   
   sourceDir = "./src/scripts/source"
   outputDir = "./src/scripts"

3. Compile your scripts:

   # Compile all scripts in sourceDir
   scribe .
   
   # Compile a single file
   scribe src/MyScript.psc
   
   # Compile a specific directory
   scribe src/scripts/source/quests
   
   # Syntax check only
   scribe . --check

Usage

Commands

• scribe init - Create a new scribe.toml configuration file
• scribe <path> - Compile Papyrus script(s)
  • <path> can be:
    • . to compile all scripts in sourceDir
    • A single .psc file
    • A directory to compile all .psc files in it (recursively)

Options

• --check - Check syntax without generating .pex files
• --config <path> - Use a custom config file location

Configuration

The scribe.toml file supports:

• Placeholders: Use {mods}, {scripts}, {game}, {name} in paths
• Dependencies: Map dependency names to header directories
• Custom paths: Override source and output directories

Examples

# Initialize new project
scribe init

# Compile everything
scribe .

# Compile single file
scribe src/scripts/source/MyQuest.psc

# Check syntax only
scribe src/scripts/source/MyQuest.psc --check

# Compile from a subdirectory (searches for scribe.toml in parent dirs)
cd src/scripts
scribe source/MyQuest.psc

How It Works

1. On first run, Scribe extracts the bundled Papyrus compiler to ~/.scribe/bin/papyrus
2. The compiler is cached and reused for all subsequent compilations
3. Scribe finds your scribe.toml by searching upward from the current directory
4. It builds the appropriate compiler arguments and executes the compiler
5. Compilation output is streamed directly to your terminal

License

Licensed under either of:

• Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

at your option.

Credits

• Papyrus compiler by russo-2025
• Scribe wrapper tool by [Your Name]