chakracore

ChakraCore is an open-source JavaScript engine that exposes a C API, allowing developers to add JavaScript support to any C or C-compatible project. It originated as the engine behind Microsoft Edge and is now maintained as a community project under the MIT license. Platform support: ChakraCore can be compiled for x64 processors on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and for x86 and ARM on Windows only. Support for x86/ARM on Linux and ARM on macOS is listed as a future goal. Project status: Microsoft Edge no longer uses Chakra, and Microsoft provided security updates for ChakraCore 1.11 only until 9 March 2021. The project is planned to continue as a community effort targeted primarily at embedded use cases, with published planning documents outlining a future 1.12 release. Community coordination happens through GitHub issues and a Discord server. Usage: After building, the engine can be tested with ch (ch.exe on Windows), a lightweight host application for running small JavaScript programs. The primary use case is embedding ChakraCore directly into applications via its JSRT (JavaScript Runtime) API, with official embedding documentation and samples available. It can also be installed through the vcpkg dependency manager with CMake integration (vcpkg install chakracore). Important scope note: ChakraCore is a JavaScript engine only. It does not include external APIs provided by a web browser or Node.js, such as DOM APIs like document.write(). Applications embedding the engine must implement their own input and output APIs; the ch host provides print() for terminal output. Building: On Windows, it builds with Visual Studio 2015 or 2017 (with C++ support) via the Chakra.Core.sln solution. On macOS, it builds with the Xcode command line tools and CMake. On Linux, it builds with CMake and Ninja. Pre-built binaries are also available. Documentation includes an architecture overview, an embedding quickstart, a full JSRT API reference, contribution guidelines, and a collection of blogs, talks, and other resources. Contributions in the form of bug reports, fix verification, and pull requests are welcome. Security issues in the 1.11 branch were handled through Microsoft's private reporting channel, while issues found only in the master branch are reported privately to core team members via Discord.