DoScript — Automation for Humans

DoScript is a small, safe, human-readable scripting language built for system automation. Think Batch 2.0: clean syntax, built-in safety, and powerful enough to write real installers, file sorters, and deployment tools — without ever needing to know Python or PowerShell.

ask name "What's your project called?"
make folder '{name}'
download "https://example.com/starter.zip" to 'starters/{name}.zip'
unzip 'starters/{name}.zip' to '{name}'
say 'Done! Your project is ready in /{name}'

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Why DoScript?

	Batch	PowerShell	DoScript
Beginner-friendly	⚠️	❌	✅
Human-readable syntax	❌	❌	✅
Built-in dry-run	❌	❌	✅
Structured error handling	❌	✅	✅
File metadata in loops	❌	✅	✅
HTTP client built in	❌	✅	✅
Distributable as .exe	❌	⚠️	✅

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Highlights

• Human-readable DSL — scripts read like plain English instructions
• --dry-run built in — simulate destructive operations safely before running them
• Rich file loops — iterate files with auto-injected metadata: name, size, extension, age, content, and more
• Structured error handling — try/catch NetworkError, FileError, ProcessError, DataError
• Full HTTP client — download, http_get, http_post, upload, ping out of the box
• Real functions — parameters, return values, and local variable scoping
• Modular scripts — include libraries, chain scripts with do_new
• Clear errors — every error reports the file name, line number, and source line
• Distributable — ships as doscript.exe, embeds easily in any toolchain

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Install

Prebuilt EXE (Windows)

Download the latest installer from the Releases page and run it.

do script.do

From Source

Requires Python 3.8+:

python doscript.py myscript.do

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Usage

do <script.do> [--dry-run] [--verbose] [args...]

Flag	What it does
--dry-run	Simulates all destructive operations — nothing is written, moved, or deleted
--verbose	Prints extra execution detail
arg1…arg32	CLI arguments available inside the script

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The Language at a Glance

Variables & Output

global_variable = name, age

name = "Alice"
age  = 30

say 'Hello, {name}! You are {age} years old.'
ask answer "Continue? (y/n)"

Use single quotes for strings with {variables}. Double quotes are always literal.

Control Flow

if age >= 18 and age < 65
    say "Working age."
end_if

loop 3
    say "Retrying..."
    wait 1
end_loop

File Operations

make folder "output"
copy "report.pdf" to "backup/report.pdf"
zip "output" to 'output_{today}.zip'

for_each file_in here
    if_ends_with ".log"
        if file_is_old_days > 30
            delete file_path
        end_if
    end_if
end_for

Networking

try
    download "https://example.com/app.zip" to "app.zip"
    say "Download complete!"
catch NetworkError
    say "Check your connection and try again."
    exit 1
end_try

Functions

function greet name
    say 'Hello, {name}!'
end_function

greet("World")

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A Real Example — Installer Script

say "==========================="
say "    MyApp Installer v1.0"
say "==========================="

global_variable = confirm

ask confirm "Install MyApp? (y/n)"

if confirm == "y"
    make folder "C:/MyApp"

    try
        download "https://example.com/myapp.zip" to "C:/MyApp/myapp.zip"
    catch NetworkError
        say "Download failed. Visit: https://example.com/myapp"
        exit 1
    end_try

    unzip "C:/MyApp/myapp.zip" to "C:/MyApp"
    path add "C:/MyApp/bin"
    delete "C:/MyApp/myapp.zip"

    say "Done! Run 'myapp' from any terminal."
else
    say "Installation cancelled."
end_if

pause

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Safety Model

DoScript is designed so that mistakes are hard to make and easy to catch.

• --dry-run replaces every destructive operation with a [DRY] log message — nothing is touched
• Explicit destructive commands (delete, move) are clearly named so intent is visible
• try/catch with typed errors means network and file failures never silently crash a script
• Structured logging with log, warn, and error makes unattended scripts easy to monitor

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Learn DoScript

The /learn folder contains eight step-by-step lessons:

Lesson	Topic
01 — Basics	Variables, say, ask, comments, quote rules
02 — Control Flow	if/else, loop, repeat, break, try/catch
03 — Files	make, copy, move, delete, zip, read_content
04 — for_each	File iteration, metadata variables, if_ends_with
05 — Functions	Functions, macros, include
06 — Network	download, http_get/post, ping, upload
07 — Installers	Writing real installer scripts end-to-end
08 — Tips & Patterns	Community patterns, common gotchas

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License

Server-Lab Open-Control License (SOCL) 1.0