Gleam 1.17.0

Gleam v1.17.0 has been released — and this one is all about making your Gleam code distributable as a single file. Say hello to the new gleam export escript command, plus some solid quality-of-life improvements across the language server and compiler.

Single-File BEAM Programs with Escript

The headline feature in v1.17.0 is the gleam export escript command. When running on the Erlang virtual machine, Gleam code is compiled into .beam files. The new escript export bundles those files into a single portable executable — no separate runtime setup, no dependency wrangling. Just one file you can send to anyone running the BEAM.

This is huge for CLI tools and scripting use cases. Before v1.17, distributing a Gleam program meant shipping a directory of beam files plus the right runtime incantation. Now it is a single command: gleam export escript. The resulting file is self-contained and runs on any Erlang runtime.

Language Server: Todo Expressions

Gleams language server — which powers IDE support across VS Code, Neovim, Helix, and any LSP-compatible editor — now understands todo expressions. Type todo as a placeholder in your code and the language server surfaces it with the right diagnostics, making it easy to track incomplete work without leaving your editor.

This pairs neatly with the existing panic expression for a more complete "work-in-progress" toolkit. Where panic says "this should never happen," todo says "Ill get to this."

Compiler and DX Improvements

The v1.17 release also includes refinements to the compiler pipeline. Error messages are more descriptive in several edge cases, and the build system handles dependency resolution more efficiently for projects with deep dependency trees.

For JavaScript target users — Gleam compiles not just to BEAM bytecode but also to JavaScript — the release builds on the source map support introduced in v1.16, making debugging transpiled Gleam code in the browser more practical.

Upgrade Now

Gleam v1.17.0 is available via Homebrew, as a prebuilt binary from the GitHub releases page, or by building from source. Run gleam upgrade if you already have it installed. The Gleam team, led by Louis Pilfold, continues to ship at a steady cadence — v1.16 (JavaScript source maps) dropped in April, and v1.15 (Hex OAuth) followed in March.

If you have been on the fence about trying Gleam, v1.17 is a great entry point. The type system is sound, the tooling is solid, and now distributing what you build is easier than ever.