MSXBAS2ROM — MSX-BASIC to ROM Compiler

Compile your MSX-BASIC programs into ROMs with ease — for use in emulators or real MSX hardware.
Fast, flexible, and open source.

MSXBAS2ROM is a powerful, open-source, cross-platform compiler for MSX-BASIC, developed in C++ within the VSCode IDE.

Designed as a command-line tool (CLI), it offers seamless execution from the terminal and easy integration with any development environment, giving developers full control over compiling their MSX-BASIC programs into ROMs.

On the releases project area you will find binaries and install packages for Linux, Windows (32 and 64 bits) and macOS.

Get a detailed How-To on the Installation project wiki page.

Use command below in a terminal to compile your MSX-BASIC program from plain text code into a ROM file.

msxbas2rom test.bas

To test your brand new MSX-BASIC ROM file, use an emulator like WebMSX or OpenMSX:

• WebMSX;
• OpenMSX.

Run it at command line to get more compiling options:

msxbas2rom

See more on the Getting Started project wiki page.

See the current version with command line below:

msxbas2rom -v

A Reference Guide can be listed too:

msxbas2rom --doc

See the Main project wiki page for more information.

Project specifications, requirements, and architectural decisions are maintained in the openspec/ directory using the OpenSpec format:

• openspec/specs/<capability>/spec.md — Capability specifications (lexer, parser, compiler, builder, CLI, ON statements, file handling, sprites handling, architecture, governance, glossary)
• openspec/changes/ — Active and archived changes with proposal, design, and task artifacts

New contributors should start with Architecture and Developer Guide. It explains the layered architecture, the end-to-end compilation pipeline, how the Z80 kernel is built and packed into the ROM, and how to add or change MSX-BASIC statements and functions.

Support us on Patreon, Catarse.me, PayPal or Brazilian PIX, so we can buy AI coding agent token credits and new resources (ex: msx related hardware) to help us to speed up in coding new functionalities and test bug fixes.

See the Support project wiki page for more information.

Follow me on LinkedIn.

• Luciano Cadari (iPlay);
• Mario Cavalcanti (ClubeMSX);
• Pedro de Medeiros;
• Claudio Pinheiro;
• Diogo Patrao;
• Paulo Goncalves;
• Gilberto Taborda;
• Ronaldo Prado;
• Julio Berrincha.

MSXBAS2ROM — Create a ROM file from your old MSX-BASIC code!