Skettel

Svelte preprocessor that lets you write components in Jamaican Patois

🇯🇲 Skettel.js

The first frontend framework fi di Caribbean massive.

"Soon come, but fast."

Skettel is a Svelte preprocessor that lets you write components in Jamaican Patois. It transpiles .skettel files into valid Svelte before compilation. Same reactive power, more vibes.

Installation

npm install skettel

Setup

// svelte.config.js
import { skettel } from 'skettel';

export default {
  preprocess: [skettel()],
  extensions: ['.svelte', '.skettel'],
};

Done. Yuh ready fi cook.

Syntax Guide

Reactive State (Runes)

Skettel	Svelte	Wah it do
`$ting(0)`	`$state(0)`	Reactive variable
`$ting.raw({})`	`$state.raw({})`	Non-proxied state
`$ting.snapshot(obj)`	`$state.snapshot(obj)`	Snapshot of state
`$figga_out(x * 2)`	`$derived(x * 2)`	Derived value
`$figga_out.by(() => x)`	`$derived.by(() => x)`	Derived with function
`$gwaan(() => {})`	`$effect(() => {})`	Side effect
`$gwaan.pre(() => {})`	`$effect.pre(() => {})`	Pre-render effect
`$gwaan.root(() => {})`	`$effect.root(() => {})`	Root effect
`$wah_yuh_bring()`	`$props()`	Component props
`$check_dis(val)`	`$inspect(val)`	Dev inspection
`$link_up`	`$bindable`	Bindable prop

Template Blocks

{#ef hungry}
  <p>Mi want food</p>
{:nah_man ef thirsty}
  <p>Mi want drink</p>
{:nah_man}
  <p>Mi good</p>
{/ef}

{#every foods as one_a_dem}
  <p>{one_a_dem}</p>
{/every}

{#hol_on fetchData()}
  <p>Soon come... ⏳</p>
{:bless data}
  <p>It reach! {data}</p>
{:bloodclaat error}
  <p>It bruck: {error.message}</p>
{/hol_on}

Snippets & Render (Svelte 5)

{#likkle_bit greeting(name)}
  <h1>Wah gwaan {name}!</h1>
{/likkle_bit}

{@big_up greeting('Massive')}

Special Tags

Skettel	Svelte	Wah it do
`{@bare content}`	`{@html content}`	Raw HTML — exposed, naked
`{@wah_a_gwaan var}`	`{@debug var}`	Debug — "What's going on?"
`{@lock_dung x = 5}`	`{@const x = 5}`	Locked down, can't change

Event Handlers

Skettel	Svelte
`wen_yuh_press={fn}`	`onclick={fn}`
`wen_yuh_type={fn}`	`oninput={fn}`
`wen_yuh_change={fn}`	`onchange={fn}`
`wen_yuh_hover={fn}`	`onmouseenter={fn}`
`wen_yuh_leave={fn}`	`onmouseleave={fn}`
`wen_yuh_submit={fn}`	`onsubmit={fn}`

Directives

<input link_up:value={name} />

<div vibes:fade>Smooth</div>
<div come_een:fly>Entrance</div>
<div guh_weh:fade>Exit</div>
<div dance:flip>Animate</div>

<div rock:active={isActive}>Rock dis look</div>
<div tek:tooltip>Tek dis action</div>

Lifecycle & Utilities

Skettel	Svelte
`wen_mi_reach(() => {})`	`onMount(() => {})`
`wen_mi_lef(() => {})`	`onDestroy(() => {})`
`bawl_out('yow')`	`console.log('yow')`
`warn_dem('careful')`	`console.warn('careful')`
`bumbaclaat('it bruck!')`	`console.error('it bruck!')`
`soon_come(() => {}, 1000)`	`setTimeout(() => {}, 1000)`
`nah_stop(() => {}, 500)`	`setInterval(() => {}, 500)`
`yeah_man` / `no_sah`	`true` / `false`
`nutten`	`null`
`nuh_def`	`undefined`

Stores (Svelte 4 compatible)

import { yuh_can_change, jus_look } from 'skettel/stash';

const count = yuh_can_change(0);   // writable
const time = jus_look(Date.now());  // readable

Imports

Skettel	Svelte
`from 'skettel'`	`from 'svelte'`
`from 'skettel/stash'`	`from 'svelte/store'`
`from 'skettel/move'`	`from 'svelte/transition'`
`from 'skettel/motion'`	`from 'svelte/motion'`
`from 'skettel/anime'`	`from 'svelte/animate'`

Full Example

<!-- BigMan.skettel -->
<script>
  import { wen_mi_reach } from 'skettel';

  let { pickney_name } = $wah_yuh_bring();
  let count = $ting(0);
  let doubled = $figga_out(count * 2);
  let active = $ting(yeah_man);

  $gwaan(() => {
    bawl_out(`${pickney_name} press it ${count} time`);
  });

  function press_it() {
    count++;
  }

  function bruck_it() {
    bumbaclaat('Someting gone wrong!');
  }

  wen_mi_reach(() => {
    bawl_out('Component reach! Big up!');
    soon_come(() => warn_dem('3 seconds pass already'), 3000);
  });
</script>

{#likkle_bit greeting(name)}
  <h1>Wah Gwaan {name}!</h1>
{/likkle_bit}

{@big_up greeting(pickney_name)}

<button wen_yuh_press={press_it} rock:active={active}>
  Press dis ya ({count})
</button>
<p>Doubled: {doubled}</p>

{#ef count > 10}
  <p>Yuh a go hard!</p>
{:nah_man ef count > 5}
  <p>Yuh warming up!</p>
{:nah_man}
  <p>Keep pressing...</p>
{/ef}

How It Works

Skettel is a standard Svelte preprocessor. It transforms your .skettel files before Svelte sees them, converting Patois keywords back to valid Svelte syntax. Includes source maps for proper debugging and protects string literals and comments from accidental transforms. No runtime overhead. No extra bundle size. Just vibes.

.skettel file → Skettel preprocessor → Valid Svelte → Svelte compiler → JS

FAQ

Q: Is this production ready? A: It's a joke package, but technically yes. It's just string transforms with source maps and string/comment protection.

Q: Does it affect bundle size? A: No. Zero runtime. Everything happens at compile time.

Q: Can I mix .svelte and .skettel files? A: Yes! The preprocessor only transforms files with the right extension.

Q: What about TypeScript? A: Works fine. The preprocessor runs before TypeScript compilation. Just use <script lang="ts"> as normal.

Q: Can I use this at work? A: That depends on how criss your team lead is.

Contributing

PRs welcome! Some ideas:

🎨 Patois CSS properties (background-color → back-a-di-wall?)
🗣️ VS Code syntax highlighting for .skettel files
📖 More/Better Patois keywords
🌍 Other language variants (Nigerian Pidgin? Trinidadian Creole?)

License

MIT — Do wah yuh want wid it.

Skettel.js — Svelte, but make it Caribbean 🏝️
Built with ❤️

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