REFERENCEALPHA · USE AT YOUR OWN RISK

Reference

Everything declarative lives in beeb-dev.ini; everything agentic lives behind the MCP server and the installed skills.

beeb-dev.ini

Section	Key	Meaning
`[beeb-dev]`	src_dir	Assemble every `*.6502` here when no build script is declared.
`[beeb-dev]`	build_dir	Output directory for discs and ROMs.
`[env:name]`	platform	`b-em`.
`[env:name]`	model	`Model B`, `Master 128` or `Master Turbo`.
`[env:name]`	tube	`no` \| `internal` \| `external` \| `turbo` \| a number.
`[env:name]`	disc	Disc image to insert at launch.
`[env:name]`	build_script	Optional; delegates the whole build.
`[env:name]`	run_script	Optional; delegates the run (takes arguments, e.g. `tools/run.sh master`).
`[env:name]`	rom_N	Sideways ROM image for slot N (e.g. `rom_4 = ../egfx/build/EGFX.rom`).
`[env:name]`	paste	Keyboard paste at launch; `\r` presses Return.
`[env:name]`	speed	B-em speed, e.g. `9` for `-sp9` (500%).
`[assets]`	dir	Asset root holding `audio/` and `text/`.
`[assets]`	audio_rom	16 KB eAudio sideways ROM image.
`[assets]`	audio_bank	Optional ROM bank; auto-assigned to a free bank otherwise.
`[assets]`	rom_N	Sprite companion ROM (e.g. `rom_5 = build/EGASSETS.rom`).

Built and runtime state lives per environment under .beeb-dev/runtime/<env>/. Companion and eAudio ROMs mount automatically into the generated B-em config, avoiding reserved banks 3, 4, 6, 14 and 15 and any collisions.

Language support

Language	Files	Support
BeebAsm 6502	`.6502`	Syntax highlighting; folding for MACRO/IF blocks.
BBC BASIC	`.bbc`, `.bas`	Highlighting, DEF PROC/FN and loop folding, formatter (keyword casing + structural indent), star commands, hex.
Acorn Fortran	`.for`, `.ftn`	Fixed-form ISO Fortran: column-1 comments, labels, column-6 continuations, compilation-unit folding.
Acorn Pascal	`.pas`	ISO subset: `{ }` / `(* *)` comments, `{$I}` directives, `$` hex, BEGIN/END folding.
Acornsoft Lisp	`.lsp`, `.lisp`	S-expressions with Acornsoft builtins; top-level folding by paren balance.
Memory map	`build/*-labels.txt`	Address/label/region view parsed from beebasm `-labels` output.

MCP tools

Run node <extension>/out/mcp/server.js <project-root> - bundled, zero-dependency, stdio. MCP is an open protocol; the same command works in every host. Beeb-dev: Copy MCP Server Config for AI Hosts clipboards the generic mcpServers JSON, which most hosts accept directly:

{ "mcpServers": { "beeb-dev": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/out/mcp/server.js", "/path/to/project"] } } }

Host	Where it goes
Claude Desktop	`claude_desktop_config.json`, `mcpServers` key
Claude Code	`.mcp.json` in the project, or `claude mcp add beeb-dev -- node …/server.js .`
Cursor / Windsurf	`.cursor/mcp.json` / `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`, same JSON
VS Code	`.vscode/mcp.json`, `"servers"` key
Codex CLI	`~/.codex/config.toml`: `[mcp_servers.beeb-dev]` with `command`/`args`
Gemini CLI	`.gemini/settings.json`, `mcpServers` key
Zed	`context_servers` in `settings.json`
Kilo, OpenCode and other AGENTS.md readers	the host-native MCP store (`kilo.json` and friends) with the same JSON shape

Tool	Purpose
`beeb_project_info`	Environments, model, disc and ROM layout of the project.
`beeb_build`	Run the declared build for an environment.
`beeb_run`	Launch B-em for an environment.
`beeb_memory_map`	Read the assembled label/memory map.
`beeb_list_sprites`	Enumerate discovered sprite packs and frames.
`beeb_list_assets`	Enumerate audio, text and ROM-bank assets.
`beeb_read_screen`	Read a `.bscreen` layout.
`beeb_export_screen`	Export a screen as EGFX or VDU code.
`beeb_compile_basic`	Compile supplied BASIC text with the experimental native subset; returns assembly, diagnostics and an optimisation report. Writes no files and runs nothing.

AI skills

Beeb-dev: Install AI Skills Into Workspace writes the six skills - beeb-build, beeb-run-debug, beeb-deploy, beeb-memory, beeb-screen-assets, beeb-cohort-testing - plus the beeb-project startup skill and BBC startup handbook, wherever your agents read them: an AGENTS.md template (created if the workspace has none; read by Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, Zed and most other coding agents), .claude/skills/ for Claude Code and .kilo/skills/ for Kilo. Gemini CLI users can point GEMINI.md at the same AGENTS.md. The skills describe how to build, run, debug, budget memory and edit screens/sprites in this project, so any agent gets the workflow, not just the tools.

Formats

OSWORD &C0, signature EG, transport v1 - the same 64-byte block documented in the EGFX assembly reference; parameter block &2A00..&2A0D.
EGSP packs - EGFX 0.6 reads only v3: a nine-byte header (EGSP, version 3, frame count, width, height, bits per pixel), then all pixel frames, then all mask frames. Square frames of 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 pixels; rows are ceil(width×bpp/8) bytes. Mask 00 writes the pixel’s colour (including black), 11 keeps the background. The older v1 (pre-shifted 16×16) and v2 layouts are obsolete.
Companion ROMs - sprite packs ride at file offset 0x100 in a 16 KB image (e.g. EGASSETS.rom); eAudio is a plain 16 KB ROM. Future ROMs register the same way.