--- title: "nREPL Forever" url: https://daily.dev/posts/nrepl-forever-rvhvow2fs source_url: https://batsov.com/articles/2026/05/20/nrepl-forever type: article source: "Bozhidar Batsov" published: 2026-05-20T09:08:13.692Z updated: 2026-05-20T09:08:39.896Z tags: ["clojure"] reading_time: 8 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # nREPL Forever **[Bozhidar Batsov](https://daily.dev/sources/batsov)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A retrospective on the nREPL vs. socket REPL/prepl debate in the Clojure ecosystem. When socket REPL landed in Clojure 1.8 (2016) and prepl in 1.10 (2018), many predicted nREPL would be replaced by these simpler, built-in alternatives. Eight years later, the opposite happened: every editor project that tried prepl either reinvented nREPL's features (request IDs, ops, multiplexing, interrupts) or switched back to nREPL outright. Tutkain, Chlorine/Lazuli, and Conjure all converged on nREPL. The author argues that while prepl is a purer REPL semantically, editor tooling requires correlation, multiplexing, server-side hooks, and protocol stability — exactly what nREPL was designed for. nREPL is now healthier than ever, supported across CIDER, Calva, Cursive, Conjure, Babashka, and even non-JVM Clojure dialects. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Port: a minimalist prepl client for Emacs](https://daily.dev/posts/port-a-minimalist-prepl-client-for-emacs-hduonpn7a) · Bozhidar Batsov · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [nREPL 1.4](https://daily.dev/posts/nrepl-1-4-opq72res3) · Meta Redux · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Clojurists Together Update: May and June 2026](https://daily.dev/posts/clojurists-together-update-may-and-june-2026-ngmznmylq) · Meta Redux · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#clojure](https://daily.dev/tags/clojure) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/nrepl-forever-rvhvow2fs)