LambdaMOO Programming Resources

An organized collection of MOO programming manuals, tutorials, historical source documents, reusable code, and modern developer tooling.

This repository has two jobs: make MOO easier to learn today and preserve useful material that might otherwise disappear from the web. Some documents describe older LambdaMOO environments and are intentionally retained as historical references. Each section below distinguishes current resources from archival material.

Start Here

I want to…	Recommended starting point
Learn MOO programming	Yib's Pet Rock, then Winding Duck
Look up MOO syntax or built-in functions	Updated LambdaMOO Programmer's Manual
Work with a current ToastStunt server	ToastStunt Programmer's Manual
Install or share MOO code	MOO Package Manager
Build editor, parser, database, or analysis tooling	Modern MOO Tooling
Talk with ToastStunt users and developers	Join the ToastStunt Discord
Find a broader collection of MOO software and documents	lisdude.com MOO Resources
Browse preserved documentation	Tutorial and Reference Library

Modern MOO Tooling

The repository's maintainer has also worked on the projects below, alongside other contributors. Together they cover the practical lifecycle around a modern MOO: connecting and editing, distributing in-database code, teaching and parsing MOO code, extracting checkpoint data, and analyzing a codebase.

Project	What it is	Status
Dome Client	Browser-based MUD/MOO client with a built-in IDE for editing verbs and properties. It is the maintained successor to the legacy Dome Client.	Current
MOO Package Manager	Configurable package manager written in MOO code for downloading, reviewing, installing, creating, and publishing packages on ToastStunt-derived MOOs.	Open beta; test packages on a development server first
MOO for LLMs	Reference corpus, examples, datasets, schemas, and evaluations for teaching language models to read, write, and repair MOO code.	Current
Tree-sitter MOO	Tree-sitter grammar for MOO verb code, targeting ToastStunt as the initial superset dialect while keeping LambdaMOO compatibility in view.	Current
ToastStunt DB Extractor	Node.js/TypeScript tool that converts ToastStunt Format 17 checkpoint databases into normalized JSONL records and verb source files.	Current
MOO Code Graph	ToastStunt-specific static analysis and visualization pipeline that combines extracted database data with Tree-sitter syntax facts to produce code reports.	Current; run from source

How the Projects Fit Together

flowchart LR
    Client[Dome Client] -->|play and edit| Server[ToastStunt / MOO server]
    Packages[MOO Package Manager] -->|install packages| Server
    Server -->|checkpoint| DB[(MOO database)]
    DB --> Extractor[ToastStunt DB Extractor]
    Corpus[MOO for LLMs] -->|fixtures and examples| Parser[Tree-sitter MOO]
    Extractor --> Graph[MOO Code Graph]
    Parser --> Graph
    Graph --> Reports[Analysis and reports]

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The tools remain independent projects. Follow each project's README for requirements, installation, security considerations, and current limitations.

Community and More Resources

Join the ToastStunt Discord to talk with other users and developers about ToastStunt, MOO programming, and related tools.

lisdude.com MOO Resources is a broad collection of MOO servers, databases, clients, programming documents, patches, and other historical and current material. It is an excellent companion to the curated material in this repository.

Related Servers and Environments

Resource	Relationship to this collection
ToastStunt	Actively developed server in the LambdaMOO family and the target of many current tools listed above
Stunt	LambdaMOO fork and direct predecessor to ToastStunt
LambdaMOO	LambdaMOO server source and related historical material
moolite	Scripts for creating a local Stunt and LambdaCore development environment

Tutorial and Reference Library

Markdown editions are intended for reading on GitHub. Files under tutorials/src/ preserve the source HTML or text used to produce those editions.

Core Manuals

Resource	Best for	Formats	Status
Updated LambdaMOO Programmer's Manual	Language syntax, values, statements, tasks, built-in functions, and server behavior	Markdown	Maintained here; based on the LambdaMOO 1.8 manual
ToastStunt Programmer's Manual	Current ToastStunt language and server extensions	External Markdown	Current; maintained in its own repository
Steven Owens' LambdaMOO Programming Tutorial	A broad explanation of MOO concepts, its programming environment, and larger examples	Markdown · HTML	Historical tutorial, with later contributor updates

Beginner Tutorials

Resource	What it teaches	Formats
Yib's Pet Rock	A gentle first programming project that grows from a simple object into more sophisticated behavior	Markdown · HTML
Colin's Way Easy Guide	Objects, properties, verbs, permissions, and practical verb programming	Markdown excerpt · Complete HTML
Winding Duck	Step-by-step construction of an object with progressively richer code	Markdown · HTML
MOO Programming Tips	Short explanations and examples originally written for SpinnMOO	Markdown · HTML

Server, Background, and Setup Guides

These documents are preserved because they explain important concepts and older workflows. Commands, dependencies, hostnames, and version-specific advice may require adaptation on current systems.

Resource	Topic	Formats
What Happens When a Connection Is Made	LambdaMOO server connection flow	Markdown · HTML
LambdaMOO Background	Servers, databases, classes, objects, functions, verbs, and variables	Markdown · HTML
LambdaMOO Programming (Nodak)	A compact technical introduction to programming in MOO	Markdown excerpt · Complete HTML
Running LambdaMOO on GenesisMud	A historical end-to-end server setup walkthrough	Markdown · Original text
Getting Started with moo.el	Connecting to and editing MOO code from Emacs	Markdown · Original text

Video Series

The Learn MOO Programming playlist covers compiling LambdaMOO, applying patches, programming basics, debugging, properties, and custom verbs.

Reusable MOO Code

Resource	Purpose	Notes
Local Editing	Adds MOO-side support for editing verbs through compatible clients such as Dome Client	Modern ToastCore/LambdaCore databases may already provide local editing
Code Scanner	Scans verb code for common mistakes and maintainability concerns	Prefer installing the current package through MOO Package Manager on ToastStunt
$scheduler	Schedules tasks to run later	Plain-text MOO code

Server Patches

The patches/ directory preserves LambdaMOO server patches that may be difficult to find elsewhere.

• FileIO 1.5p3 — Todd Sundsted's FileIO variant with E_FILE support and related fixes.

These patches target older server versions. Review and test them against the exact source tree you intend to modify.

Repository Layout

code/                              Reusable MOO code and installation notes
patches/                           Preserved server patches
toast-stunt-programmers-guide/     Compatibility pointer to the moved manual
tutorials/                         Readable Markdown editions
tutorials/src/                     Preserved source HTML and text

Clone the archive if you want to browse the HTML editions locally:

git clone https://github.com/sevenecks/lambda-moo-programming.git
cd lambda-moo-programming

Then open the desired file under tutorials/src/ in a browser.

Contributing

Corrections, recovered documents, code examples, patches, and better source attribution are welcome through pull requests.

When changing historical material:

• preserve the original author and source attribution;
• keep source snapshots under tutorials/src/ intact;
• make readability and link repairs in the corresponding Markdown edition;
• label version-specific or uncertain advice instead of silently presenting it as current; and
• test code and server patches outside production before recommending them.

Some Markdown files were produced from source HTML with to-markdown-cli:

npm install --global to-markdown-cli
html2md -i tutorials/src/example.html -o tutorials/example.md

See Contributors, Maintenance Notes, the Roadmap, and the Changelog for more project history.

Maintainer and Attribution

This collection is maintained by Brendan Butts, also known in the MOO community as Slither or Fengshui. Brendan has developed on Sindome since 2006 and created this repository to make MOO knowledge easier to find, use, and preserve.

The archived tutorials have their own authors and source notices. Those attributions remain part of each document. New repository material is available under the MIT License; third-party material retains its original attribution and any applicable terms.