livecodes/headless-mode

This skill builds on sdk-embedding and sdk-methods. Read them first for foundational concepts.

LiveCodes — Headless Mode

Headless mode runs LiveCodes without any visible UI. Use SDK methods to compile code, get output, and react to events.

Setup

import { createPlayground } from 'livecodes';

// Create headless playground - container is optional
const playground = await createPlayground({
  headless: true,
  config: {
    markup: { language: 'markdown', content: '# Hello World' },
  },
});

// Use SDK methods
const code = await playground.getCode();
console.log(code.markup.compiled); // "<h1>Hello World</h1>"
console.log(code.result); // Result page HTML

Core Patterns

Markdown compiler

import { createPlayground } from 'livecodes';

let playground;

async function compileMarkdown(markdown) {
  if (!playground) {
    playground = await createPlayground({
      headless: true,
      config: { autoupdate: false },
    });
  }

  await playground.setConfig({
    markup: { language: 'markdown', content: markdown },
  });

  const code = await playground.getCode();
  return code.markup.compiled;
}

// Usage
const html = await compileMarkdown('# Hello\n\nWorld');
console.log(html); // "<h1>Hello</h1>\n<p>World</p>"

React/JSX compiler

import { createPlayground } from 'livecodes';

let playground;

async function compileJSX(jsxCode) {
  if (!playground) {
    playground = await createPlayground({
      headless: true,
      config: { autoupdate: false },
    });
  }

  await playground.setConfig({
    script: { language: 'react', content: jsxCode },
  });

  const code = await playground.getCode();
  return code.script.compiled;
}

const compiled = await compileJSX(`
  function App() {
    return <h1>Hello</h1>;
  }
`);

Python interpreter

import { createPlayground } from 'livecodes';

let playground;

async function runPython(code) {
  if (!playground) {
    playground = await createPlayground({
      headless: true,
      config: { autoupdate: true },
    });
  }

  // Set up console listener before running
  const outputs = [];
  playground.watch('console', ({ method, args }) => {
    outputs.push({ method, args });
  });

  await playground.setConfig({
    script: { language: 'python', content: code },
  });

  // Python runs automatically with autoupdate: true
  // Or: await playground.run();

  return outputs;
}

// Usage
const outputs = await runPython('print("Hello from Python!")');
// [{ method: 'log', args: ['Hello from Python!'] }]