Spanda

Chapter 2 — Your first five minutes

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Step 1: Get the spanda command

Fast path — download a prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases. See installation.md.

From source (if you cloned the repo):

npm install
npm run build:rust
export PATH="$PWD/target/release:$PATH"

Sanity check:

spanda check examples/hello_world.sd

You should see a green check or “no type errors”. If not, fix PATH or use ./target/release/spanda.

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Step 2: Read the smallest program

Open examples/basics/01_minimal_robot.sd:

robot TutorialBot {
  actuator wheels: DifferentialDrive;

  behavior greet() {
    wheels.stop();
  }
}

That’s a complete Spanda program: a robot, one actuator, one behavior.

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Step 3: Check and run

spanda check examples/basics/01_minimal_robot.sd
spanda run examples/basics/01_minimal_robot.sd

Command	Plain English
check	“Does this program type-check?”
run	“Run it in simulation.”

No robot hardware required.

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Step 4: Make it slightly interesting

Open examples/basics/02_sensors_and_safety.sd and run:

spanda run examples/basics/02_sensors_and_safety.sd

Now the robot has a lidar, safety rules, and a loop that reacts to distance. This is what most real programs look like — just a bit more code.

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Step 5: Start your own file (optional)

spanda init my_rover
cd my_rover

Edit src/main.sd, then:

spanda check src/main.sd
spanda run src/main.sd

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Five-minute checklist

• spanda check works on an example
• spanda run works on an example
• You know what robot, sensor, actuator, safety, and behavior mean (see next chapter)

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Next: Anatomy of a robot program · Deeper dive: Spanda 101 Lesson 1

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