Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 2, 2026

Tree-sitter (parser generator)

Tree-sitter is a free and open-source parser generator and incremental parsing library. It is used to parse source code into concrete syntax trees usable in compilers, interpreters, text editors, and static analyzers. It is specialized for use in text editors, as it supports incremental parsing for updating parse trees while code is edited in real time, and provides a built-in S-expression query system for analyzing code.

Last revised
Jun 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
388 w
Citations
18
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Tree-sitter
Original authorMax Brunsfeld
Initial release2018 (2018)
Stable release
0.26.91 Edit this on Wikidata / 19 May 2026 (19 May 2026)
Written inRust, C
PlatformCross-platform
TypeParser generator
LicenseMIT License
Websitetree-sitter.github.io/tree-sitter/
Repository

Tree-sitter is a free and open-source parser generator and incremental parsing library. It is used to parse source code into concrete syntax trees usable in compilers, interpreters, text editors, and static analyzers.23 It is specialized for use in text editors, as it supports incremental parsing for updating parse trees while code is edited in real time,4 and provides a built-in S-expression query system for analyzing code.5

Text editors which have official integrations with Tree-sitter include GNU Emacs,6 Neovim,7 Lapce,8 Zed,9 Helix,10 and Atom.11 Language bindings allow it to be used from programming languages including Go, Haskell, Java, JavaScript (with Node.js and WASM), Kotlin, Lua, OCaml, Perl, Python, Ruby, Rust, Swift, and Zig. Tree-sitter parsers have been written for these languages and many others.12 GitHub uses Tree-sitter to support in-browser symbolic code navigation in Git repositories.13

Tree-sitter uses a GLR parser, a type of LR parser.141513

Tree-sitter was originally developed by GitHub for use in the Atom text editor, where it was first released in 2018.1611

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Release 0.26.9". 19 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  2. "Introductory to Treesitter". Blog Teknologi Umum. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  3. Petersen, Mickey. "How to Get Started with Tree-Sitter". Mastering Emacs. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  4. "TreeSitter - the holy grail of parsing source code". symflower.com. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  5. Petersen, Mickey. "Tree Sitter and the Complications of Parsing Languages". Mastering Emacs. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  6. "GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes".
  7. "Treesitter - Neovim docs". neovim.io. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  8. "lapce/CHANGELOG.md at f4747fbd306a4b8fda6927e37593bf23f4a1584b · lapce/lapce". GitHub. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  9. "Zed - Code at the speed of thought". Zed. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  10. "Helix". helix-editor.com. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  11. Brunsfeld, Max (2018-10-31). "Atom understands your code better than ever before". The GitHub Blog. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  12. "Tree-sitter｜Introduction". tree-sitter.github.io. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  13. Clem, Timothy; Thomson, Patrick (2021-08-31). "Static Analysis at GitHub: An experience report". ACM Queue. 19 (4): 42–67. doi:10.1145/3487019.3487022. ISSN 1542-7730. S2CID 238412787.
  14. Nadeem, Ayman (2020-08-04). "CodeGen: Semantic's improved language support system". The GitHub Blog. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  15. "Tree-sitter - a new parsing system for programming tools" by Max Brunsfeld, 14 October 2018, retrieved 2023-07-30. See 22:30 for Wagner influence and 29:27 for GLR implementation.
  16. Krill, Paul (2018-03-16). "What's new in GitHub's Atom text editor". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
External links