I replaced every function in a codebase with English – it still works
Tril converts every function in a repo into plain English descriptions, then runs and tests them — using an LLM as the interpreter instead of a runtime. The concept: programming languages exist because machines couldn't understand human intent. LLMs can. So what happens if you remove the code entirely and just... describe what each function should do? The tool replaces functions one by one, runs your test suite after each swap to confirm nothing breaks, and outputs a .md file. Then `tril run` spins up an HTTP server that sends each function's English description to Claude and returns the…
I replaced every function in a codebase with English – it still works launched on March 22, 2026 with 9 votes, #1,237 of 23,380 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.
What it does
Convert any codebase into plain English that an LLM can execute. Ship of Theseus for code. Function by function, the entire repo becomes readable prose — and it still runs.
Tril converts any codebase into plain English that an LLM can execute. Replace every function with human-readable instructions. The app still works. Same function. One a machine reads. The other, anyone reads. Think about it. We gritted our teeth, invented formal languages, memorized syntax rules, fought with compilers over missing semicolons — all because silicon couldn't understand "just add these two numbers." So we wrote return a + b; instead. That was the deal. The deal has changed. Machines now speak every human language better than most humans. The legendary creator of AlphaFold and a growing list of senior engineers publicly admit they haven't opened an IDE in months. The gap…from tril.cc
In the maker’s words, at launch
Tril converts every function in a repo into plain English descriptions, then runs and tests them — using an LLM as the interpreter instead of a runtime. The concept: programming languages exist because machines couldn't understand human intent. LLMs can. So what happens if you remove the code entirely and just...…
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