FriCAS Pro CLI (Windows)

Professional command-line interface wrapper for FriCAS Computer Algebra System on Windows.

The Problem

FriCAS is a powerful open-source computer algebra system, but accessing it on Windows presents significant challenges:

Limited Package Management: Scoop is currently the only Windows package manager that provides FriCAS packages
REPL-Only Interface: The installed executable (FRICASsys.exe) only provides an interactive REPL with no CLI functionality
Poor Windows Integration: No built-in support for batch processing, file execution, or scriptable operations
Verbose Output: Raw FriCAS output includes extensive startup banners and REPL artifacts

This wrapper addresses these limitations by providing a clean, professional command-line interface with proper Windows integration.

Solution Features

Persistent REPL with prompt detection (eliminates per-call startup overhead)
Clean CLI Interface with subcommands: version, help, summary, what, eval, file, pipe, system, repl
Windows Integration: Proper path quoting, system command execution, and file handling
Batch Processing: Execute FriCAS script files and pipe commands from stdin
Debug Diagnostics: Comprehensive --verbose mode with RAW REPL output dumps

Requirements

Windows 10/11
Python 3.9 or later
FriCAS installed via Scoop: scoop install fricas
- Default path: %USERPROFILE%\scoop\apps\fricas\1.3.12\bin\FRICASsys.exe

Installation

Clone or download this repository. No additional Python dependencies required.

Quick Start

# Show version information
python fricas_pro_cli.py version

# Get help on specific topics
python fricas_pro_cli.py help integrate
python fricas_pro_cli.py summary

# Evaluate mathematical expressions
python fricas_pro_cli.py eval "2 + 3"
python fricas_pro_cli.py eval "integrate(x^2, x)"
python fricas_pro_cli.py eval "factor(x^4 - 1)"

# Execute script files
python fricas_pro_cli.py file examples\001_linear_algebra.input

# Pipe commands from stdin
type examples\000_demo.input | python fricas_pro_cli.py pipe

# Run system commands
python fricas_pro_cli.py system "dir"

# Interactive REPL with clean interface
python fricas_pro_cli.py repl

Verbose Diagnostics

For troubleshooting and development:

python fricas_pro_cli.py --verbose eval "integrate(sin(x), x)"
python fricas_pro_cli.py --debug --raw file examples\002_polynomials_calculus.input

Example Files

The examples/ directory contains sample FriCAS scripts demonstrating:

Basic arithmetic and algebra
Linear algebra operations
Polynomial manipulation and calculus
Number theory functions
Symbolic equation solving
Series expansions and special functions
Linear systems and matrix operations
Polynomial ideals and Gröbner bases

Architecture Notes

Persistent Session: Maintains a single FriCAS process with background stdout reader
Prompt Detection: Uses regex pattern \(\d+\)\s*-> to frame command boundaries
Windows Compatibility: Handles path quoting and executes system commands via Python subprocess
Output Cleaning: Minimal filtering preserves mathematical results while removing startup noise

License

This project is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International).

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license

Contributing

This wrapper was developed through extensive trial and error to solve the fundamental limitations of FriCAS on Windows. See lessons_learned.md for detailed technical insights and development challenges encountered.

Acknowledgments

FriCAS is developed by the FriCAS community. This wrapper provides Windows CLI functionality but does not modify the core FriCAS system.

Foadsf/fricas-pro-cli