RiTa: tools for generative natural language

rita/
  js/        JavaScript implementation
  java/      Java implementation (gradle)
  python/    Python implementation (uv)
  docs/      Website and API reference
  shared/    Shared data (dict, lts, etc.)
  scripts/   Various maintenance scripts

The shared API reference is here

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JavaScript (js/)

Requirements: Node.js 18+, npm

cd js
npm install          # install dependencies
npm run build        # build dist/ (ESM, CJS, IIFE bundles)
npm test             # run tests against src/
npm run test:dist    # run tests against built dist/

The build uses tsup and outputs to js/dist/:

• dist/rita.js — ESM
• dist/rita.cjs — CommonJS
• dist/rita.min.js — IIFE (browser)

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Java (java/)

Requirements: JDK 17+ (Gradle wrapper included)

cd java
./gradlew build                # compile, test, and assemble rita.{jar,zip,txt,pdex}
./gradlew test                 # run tests only
./gradlew processingLibrary    # build/distributions/rita.zip (Processing library)
./gradlew javadoc              # reference docs (also bundled into rita.zip)

The artifact is org.rednoise:rita. The dictionary is read directly from shared/rita_dict.json (staged into the build by gradlew syncSharedData), so there is no generated copy to sync.

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Python (python/)

Install the published package from PyPI (import name rita):

pip install rita-py

Requirements for development: uv (Python 3.10+; managed by python/pyproject.toml + python/uv.lock)

cd python
uv sync              # create .venv and install the package + dev deps (pytest)
uv run pytest -q     # run the test suite
uv build             # build the sdist + wheel for PyPI (dist/)

The package is pure Python with no runtime dependencies. The rita dictionary ships inside the wheel (rita/data/rita_dict.json, staged from shared/rita_dict.json by node scripts/gen-dicts.js); in a repo checkout the canonical shared/rita_dict.json is preferred, so both work from any working directory.

To publish a new version to PyPI, bump version in python/pyproject.toml (alongside the js/java versions), commit, and push a vX.Y.Z tag: .github/workflows/python-publish.yml builds and publishes via PyPI trusted publishing (OIDC — no token in the repo).

The pytest suite under python/tests/ is generated from the JavaScript tests in js/test/ by scripts/js-to-py-tests.js — do not edit test_*.py by hand. To regenerate after changing js/test/ (requires npm install in js/ for acorn):

node scripts/js-to-py-tests.js

Some tests read fixture files from js/test/ (e.g. harvard-data.json), so keep the js/ checkout present when running the Python suite.

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Docs / Website (docs/)

The docs/pub folder is a static website. scripts/gen-docs.sh regenerates the API reference (docs/pub/reference/) and the homepage index from the Java sources; the rest of the site (tutorials, gallery, examples, assets) is authored in place. To preview locally, use 'Go Live' in vscode or python:

cd docs/pub
python3 -m http.server 8080
# open http://localhost:8080

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Shared dictionary (shared/)

shared/rita_dict.json is the source for the RiTa lexicon. All three implementations use it:

• JS — generated module wrapper, js/src/rita_dict.js
• Java — loaded from the jar as /rita/rita_dict.json, staged from shared/ by syncSharedData
• Python — copied to rita/data/rita_dict.json for the wheel; a checkout prefers shared/

To regenerate the JS wrapper and the Python data copy after editing shared/rita_dict.json:

node scripts/gen-dicts.js

shared/rita_lts.json is the other shared file (generated from js/src/rita_lts.js by node scripts/gen-lts.js) and is staged into the Java jar the same way.

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CI

GitHub Actions workflows trigger when their subtree (or shared/) changes:

Workflow	Trigger paths	Node/JDK/Python versions
.github/workflows/js.yml	js/**, shared/**	Node 18, 20, 22
.github/workflows/java.yml	java/**, shared/**	JDK 17 · ubuntu
.github/workflows/python.yml	python/**, shared/**	Python 3.10–3.13 (uv)

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Releasing

scripts/release.sh does an end-to-end release, writing the various versions into the places they live, builds and tests, publishes to npm (for all/js), commits + tags + pushes, and creates the GitHub release with the Processing artifacts.

scripts/release.sh 4.1.0            # three ports: tag, GitHub release, npm, PyPI (from the tag)
scripts/release.sh 4.1.0 java       # Java/Processing only (no npm publish)
scripts/release.sh 4.1.0 js         # JavaScript/npm only
scripts/release.sh 4.1.0 python     # PyPI (rita-py) only
scripts/release.sh 4.1.0 --dry-run  # print what will happen, touch nothing

The version lives in the files below (everything else is derived at build time):

File	Field	Notes
java/gradle.properties	version=X	drives library.properties (version=410, prettyVersion=4.1.0)
java/src/main/java/rita/RiTa.java	VERSION = "X"
js/package.json	"version": "X"	npm version also fixes package-lock.json
js/src/rita.js	injected by tsup	from package.json at build time
python/pyproject.toml	version = "X"	written by release.sh; hatchling reads it

Checks: the tree must be clean and on main; the tag must not already exist; the patch must stay < 10 for Java (the Processing Manager revision is major*100 + minor*10 + patch, so 4.0.10 would collide with 4.1.0); prereleases (X.Y.Z-beta.N) are npm-only because the Java revision can't be derived from a dotted prerelease.

Contributors

Code Contributors

This project exists only because of the people who contribute. Thank you!

Financial Contributors