diff --git a/bun.lock b/bun.lock
index 1767760..2732c07 100644
--- a/bun.lock
+++ b/bun.lock
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
         "@lezer/highlight": "^1.2.1",
         "@lezer/lr": "^1.4.2",
         "@types/bun": "latest",
+        "diff": "^8.0.2",
+        "kleur": "^4.1.5",
       },
     },
   },
@@ -60,8 +62,12 @@
 
     "csstype": ["csstype@3.1.3", "", {}, "sha512-M1uQkMl8rQK/szD0LNhtqxIPLpimGm8sOBwU7lLnCpSbTyY3yeU1Vc7l4KT5zT4s/yOxHH5O7tIuuLOCnLADRw=="],
 
+    "diff": ["diff@8.0.2", "", {}, "sha512-sSuxWU5j5SR9QQji/o2qMvqRNYRDOcBTgsJ/DeCf4iSN4gW+gNMXM7wFIP+fdXZxoNiAnHUTGjCr+TSWXdRDKg=="],
+
     "hono": ["hono@4.10.4", "", {}, "sha512-YG/fo7zlU3KwrBL5vDpWKisLYiM+nVstBQqfr7gCPbSYURnNEP9BDxEMz8KfsDR9JX0lJWDRNc6nXX31v7ZEyg=="],
 
+    "kleur": ["kleur@4.1.5", "", {}, "sha512-o+NO+8WrRiQEE4/7nwRJhN1HWpVmJm511pBHUxPLtp0BUISzlBplORYSmTclCnJvQq2tKu/sgl3xVpkc7ZWuQQ=="],
+
     "reefvm": ["reefvm@git+https://git.nose.space/defunkt/reefvm#3e2e68b31f504347225a4d705c7568a0957d629e", { "peerDependencies": { "typescript": "^5" } }, "3e2e68b31f504347225a4d705c7568a0957d629e"],
 
     "style-mod": ["style-mod@4.1.3", "", {}, "sha512-i/n8VsZydrugj3Iuzll8+x/00GH2vnYsk1eomD8QiRrSAeW6ItbCQDtfXCeJHd0iwiNagqjQkvpvREEPtW3IoQ=="],
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f167e90..1c67e2d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "@lezer/highlight": "^1.2.1",
     "@lezer/lr": "^1.4.2",
-    "@types/bun": "latest"
+    "@types/bun": "latest",
+    "diff": "^8.0.2",
+    "kleur": "^4.1.5"
   },
   "prettier": {
     "semi": false,
diff --git a/src/parser/tests/tokens.test.ts b/src/parser/tests/tokens.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5f5e3bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/parser/tests/tokens.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,593 @@
+import { expect, describe, test } from 'bun:test'
+
+describe('constant types', () => {
+  test('null', () => {
+    expect(`null`).toBeToken('Null')
+  })
+
+  test('boolean', () => {
+    expect(`true`).toMatchToken('Boolean', 'true')
+    expect(`false`).toMatchToken('Boolean', 'false')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('numbers', () => {
+  test('non-numbers', () => {
+    expect(`1st`).toMatchToken('Word', '1st')
+    expect(`1_`).toMatchToken('Word', '1_')
+    expect(`100.`).toMatchToken('Word', '100.')
+  })
+
+  test('simple numbers', () => {
+    expect(`1`).toMatchToken('Number', '1')
+    expect(`200`).toMatchToken('Number', '200')
+    expect(`5.20`).toMatchToken('Number', '5.20')
+    expect(`0.20`).toMatchToken('Number', '0.20')
+    expect(`-20`).toMatchToken('Number', '-20')
+    expect(`+20`).toMatchToken('Number', '+20')
+    expect(`-2134.34`).toMatchToken('Number', '-2134.34')
+    expect(`+20.5325`).toMatchToken('Number', '+20.5325')
+    expect(`1_000`).toMatchToken('Number', '1_000')
+    expect(`53_232_220`).toMatchToken('Number', '53_232_220')
+  })
+
+  test('binary numbers', () => {
+    expect('0b110').toMatchToken('Number', '0b110')
+  })
+
+  test('hex numbers', () => {
+    expect('0xdeadbeef').toMatchToken('Number', '0xdeadbeef')
+    expect('0x02d3f4').toMatchToken('Number', '0x02d3f4')
+  })
+
+  test('hex numbers uppercase', () => {
+    expect('0xFF').toMatchToken('Number', '0xFF')
+  })
+
+  test('octal numbers', () => {
+    expect('0o644').toMatchToken('Number', '0o644')
+    expect('0o055').toMatchToken('Number', '0o055')
+  })
+
+  test('negative binary', () => {
+    expect('-0b110').toMatchToken('Number', '-0b110')
+  })
+
+  test('negative hex', () => {
+    expect('-0xFF').toMatchToken('Number', '-0xFF')
+  })
+
+  test('negative octal', () => {
+    expect('-0o755').toMatchToken('Number', '-0o755')
+  })
+
+  test('positive prefix binary', () => {
+    expect('+0b110').toMatchToken('Number', '+0b110')
+  })
+
+  test('positive prefix hex', () => {
+    expect('+0xFF').toMatchToken('Number', '+0xFF')
+  })
+
+  test('positive prefix octal', () => {
+    expect('+0o644').toMatchToken('Number', '+0o644')
+  })
+
+  test('underscores in number', () => {
+    expect(`1_000`).toMatchToken('Number', '1_000')
+    expect(`1_0`).toMatchToken('Number', '1_0')
+    expect('0b11_0').toMatchToken('Number', '0b11_0')
+    expect('0xdead_beef').toMatchToken('Number', '0xdead_beef')
+    expect('0o64_4').toMatchToken('Number', '0o64_4')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('identifiers', () => {
+  test('regular', () => {
+    expect('name').toBeToken('Identifier')
+    expect('bobby-mcgee').toBeToken('Identifier')
+    expect('starts-with?').toBeToken('Identifier')
+    expect('📢').toMatchToken('Identifier', '📢')
+    expect(' 📢 ').toMatchToken('Identifier', '📢')
+    expect(' oink-🐷-oink').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'oink-🐷-oink')
+    expect('$').toMatchToken('Identifier', '$')
+    expect('$cool').toMatchToken('Identifier', '$cool')
+  })
+
+  test('one character identifiers', () => {
+    expect('a').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a')
+    expect('z').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'z')
+    expect('$').toMatchToken('Identifier', '$')
+    expect('📢').toMatchToken('Identifier', '📢')
+    expect('?').toBeToken('Word') // ? alone is not valid identifier start
+  })
+
+  test('two character identifiers', () => {
+    expect('ab').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'ab')
+    expect('a1').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a1')
+    expect('a-').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a-')
+    expect('a?').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a?') // ? valid at end
+    expect('ab?').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'ab?')
+  })
+
+  test('three+ character identifiers', () => {
+    expect('abc').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'abc')
+    expect('a-b').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a-b')
+    expect('a1b').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a1b')
+    expect('abc?').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'abc?') // ? valid at end
+    expect('a-b-c?').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a-b-c?')
+  })
+
+  test('edge cases', () => {
+    expect('-bobby-mcgee').toBeToken('Word')
+    expect('starts-with??').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'starts-with??')
+    expect('starts?with?').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'starts?with?')
+    expect('a??b').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'a??b')
+    expect('oink-oink!').toBeToken('Word')
+    expect('dog#pound').toMatchToken('Word', 'dog#pound')
+    expect('http://website.com').toMatchToken('Word', 'http://website.com')
+    expect('school$cool').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'school$cool')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('paths', () => {
+  test('starting with ./', () => {
+    expect('./tmp').toMatchToken('Word', './tmp')
+  })
+
+  test('starting with /', () => {
+    expect('/home/chris/dev').toMatchToken('Word', '/home/chris/dev')
+  })
+
+  test('ending with ext', () => {
+    expect('readme.txt').toMatchToken('Word', 'readme.txt')
+    expect('README.md').toMatchToken('Word', 'README.md')
+  })
+
+  test('all sorts of weird stuff', () => {
+    expect('dog#pound').toMatchToken('Word', 'dog#pound')
+    expect('my/kinda/place').toMatchToken('my/kinda/place')
+    expect('file://%/$##/@40!/index.php').toMatchToken('Word', 'file://%/$##/@40!/index.php')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('strings', () => {
+  test('single quoted', () => {
+    expect(`'hello world'`).toMatchToken('String', `'hello world'`)
+    expect(`'it\\'s a beautiful world'`).toMatchToken("'it\\'s a beautiful world'")
+  })
+
+  test('double quoted', () => {
+    expect(`"hello world"`).toMatchToken('String', `"hello world"`)
+    expect(`"it's a beautiful world"`).toMatchToken('String', `"it's a beautiful world"`)
+  })
+
+  test('empty strings', () => {
+    expect(`''`).toMatchToken('String', `''`)
+    expect(`""`).toMatchToken('String', `""`)
+  })
+
+  test('escape sequences', () => {
+    expect(`'hello\\nworld'`).toMatchToken('String', `'hello\\nworld'`)
+    expect(`'tab\\there'`).toMatchToken('String', `'tab\\there'`)
+    expect(`'quote\\''`).toMatchToken('String', `'quote\\''`)
+    expect(`'backslash\\\\'`).toMatchToken('String', `'backslash\\\\'`)
+    expect(`'dollar\\$sign'`).toMatchToken('String', `'dollar\\$sign'`)
+  })
+
+  test('unclosed strings - error case', () => {
+    // These should either fail or produce unexpected results
+    expect(`'hello`).toMatchToken('String', `'hello`)
+    expect(`"world`).toMatchToken('String', `"world`)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('curly strings', () => {
+  test('curly quoted', () => {
+    expect('{ one two three }').toMatchToken('String', `{ one two three }`)
+  })
+
+  test('work on multiple lines', () => {
+    expect(`{
+      one
+      two
+      three }`).toMatchToken('String', `{
+      one
+      two
+      three }`)
+  })
+
+  test('can contain other curlies', () => {
+    expect(`{ { one }
+      two
+      { three } }`).toMatchToken('String', `{ { one }
+      two
+      { three } }`)
+  })
+
+  test('empty curly string', () => {
+    expect('{}').toMatchToken('String', '{}')
+  })
+
+  test('unclosed curly string - error case', () => {
+    // Should either fail or produce unexpected results
+    expect('{ hello').toMatchToken('String', '{ hello')
+    expect('{ nested { unclosed }').toMatchToken('String', '{ nested { unclosed }')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('operators', () => {
+  test('math operators', () => {
+    // assignment
+    expect('=').toMatchToken('Operator', '=')
+
+    // logic
+    expect('or').toMatchToken('Operator', 'or')
+    expect('and').toMatchToken('Operator', 'and')
+
+    // bitwise
+    expect('band').toMatchToken('Operator', 'band')
+    expect('bor').toMatchToken('Operator', 'bor')
+    expect('bxor').toMatchToken('Operator', 'bxor')
+    expect('>>>').toMatchToken('Operator', '>>>')
+    expect('>>').toMatchToken('Operator', '>>')
+    expect('<<').toMatchToken('Operator', '<<')
+
+    // compound assignment
+    expect('??=').toMatchToken('Operator', '??=')
+    expect('+=').toMatchToken('Operator', '+=')
+    expect('-=').toMatchToken('Operator', '-=')
+    expect('*=').toMatchToken('Operator', '*=')
+    expect('/=').toMatchToken('Operator', '/=')
+    expect('%=').toMatchToken('Operator', '%=')
+
+    // nullish
+    expect('??').toMatchToken('Operator', '??')
+
+    // math
+    expect('**').toMatchToken('Operator', '**')
+    expect('*').toMatchToken('Operator', '*')
+    expect('/').toMatchToken('Operator', '/')
+    expect('+').toMatchToken('Operator', '+')
+    expect('-').toMatchToken('Operator', '-')
+    expect('%').toMatchToken('Operator', '%')
+
+    // comparison
+    expect('>=').toMatchToken('Operator', '>=')
+    expect('<=').toMatchToken('Operator', '<=')
+    expect('!=').toMatchToken('Operator', '!=')
+    expect('==').toMatchToken('Operator', '==')
+    expect('>').toMatchToken('Operator', '>')
+    expect('<').toMatchToken('Operator', '<')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('keywords', () => {
+  test('keywords', () => {
+    expect(`import`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'import')
+
+    expect(`end`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'end')
+    expect(`do`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'do')
+
+    expect(`while`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'while')
+
+    expect(`if`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'if')
+    expect(`else`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'else')
+
+    expect(`try`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'try')
+    expect(`catch`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'catch')
+    expect(`finally`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'finally')
+    expect(`throw`).toMatchToken('Keyword', 'throw')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('punctuation', () => {
+  test('underscore', () => {
+    expect(`_`).toBeToken('Underscore')
+    expect(`__`).toMatchToken('Word', '__')
+  })
+
+  test('semicolon', () => {
+    expect(`;`).toBeToken('Semicolon')
+  })
+
+  test('newline', () => {
+    expect('\n').toBeToken('Newline')
+  })
+
+  test('colon', () => {
+    expect(':').toBeToken('Colon')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('comments', () => {
+  test('comments', () => {
+    expect(`# hey friends`).toMatchToken('Comment', '# hey friends')
+    expect(`#hey-friends`).toMatchToken('Comment', '#hey-friends')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('brackets', () => {
+  test('parens', () => {
+    expect(`(`).toBeToken('OpenParen')
+    expect(`)`).toBeToken('CloseParen')
+  })
+
+  test('staples', () => {
+    expect(`[`).toBeToken('OpenBracket')
+    expect(`]`).toBeToken('CloseBracket')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('multiple tokens', () => {
+  test('constants work fine', () => {
+    expect(`null true false`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Null' },
+      { type: 'Boolean', value: 'true' },
+      { type: 'Boolean', value: 'false' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('numbers', () => {
+    expect(`100 -400.42 null`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Number', value: '100' },
+      { type: 'Number', value: '-400.42' },
+      { type: 'Null' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('whitespace', () => {
+    expect(`
+      'hello world'
+
+      'goodbye world'
+    `).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'String', value: "'hello world'" },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'String', value: "'goodbye world'" },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('newline in parens is ignored', () => {
+    expect(`(
+      'hello world'
+
+      'goodbye world'
+     )`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'OpenParen' },
+      { type: 'String', value: "'hello world'" },
+      { type: 'String', value: "'goodbye world'" },
+      { type: 'CloseParen' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('newline in brackets is ignored', () => {
+    expect(`[
+      a b
+c d
+
+e
+
+f
+
+    ]`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'OpenBracket' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: "a" },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: "b" },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: "c" },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: "d" },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: "e" },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: "f" },
+      { type: 'CloseBracket' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('function call', () => {
+    expect('echo hello world').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'echo' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'hello' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'world' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('assignment', () => {
+    expect('x = 5').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Operator', value: '=' },
+      { type: 'Number', value: '5' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('math expression', () => {
+    expect('1 + 2 * 3').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Number', value: '1' },
+      { type: 'Operator', value: '+' },
+      { type: 'Number', value: '2' },
+      { type: 'Operator', value: '*' },
+      { type: 'Number', value: '3' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('inline comment', () => {
+    expect('x = 5 # set x').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Operator', value: '=' },
+      { type: 'Number', value: '5' },
+      { type: 'Comment', value: '# set x' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('line comment', () => {
+    expect('x = 5 \n# hello\n set x').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Operator', value: '=' },
+      { type: 'Number', value: '5' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Comment', value: '# hello' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'set' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('colons separate tokens', () => {
+    expect('x do: y').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Keyword', value: 'do' },
+      { type: 'Colon' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'y' },
+    )
+
+    expect('x: y').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Colon' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'y' },
+    )
+
+    expect('5: y').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Number', value: '5' },
+      { type: 'Colon' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'y' },
+    )
+
+    expect(`
+do x:
+  y
+end`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Keyword', value: 'do' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Colon' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'y' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Keyword', value: 'end' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('semicolons separate statements', () => {
+    expect('x; y').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Semicolon' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'y' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('semicolons in parens', () => {
+    expect('(x; y)').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'OpenParen' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'x' },
+      { type: 'Semicolon' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'y' },
+      { type: 'CloseParen' },
+    )
+  })
+})
+
+describe('nesting edge cases', () => {
+  test('deeply nested parens', () => {
+    expect('((nested))').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'OpenParen' },
+      { type: 'OpenParen' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'nested' },
+      { type: 'CloseParen' },
+      { type: 'CloseParen' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('mixed nesting', () => {
+    expect('([combo])').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'OpenParen' },
+      { type: 'OpenBracket' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'combo' },
+      { type: 'CloseBracket' },
+      { type: 'CloseParen' },
+    )
+  })
+})
+
+describe('invalid numbers that should be words', () => {
+  test('invalid binary', () => {
+    expect('0b2').toMatchToken('Word', '0b2')
+    expect('0b123').toMatchToken('Word', '0b123')
+  })
+
+  test('invalid octal', () => {
+    expect('0o8').toMatchToken('Word', '0o8')
+    expect('0o999').toMatchToken('Word', '0o999')
+  })
+
+  test('invalid hex', () => {
+    expect('0xGGG').toMatchToken('Word', '0xGGG')
+    expect('0xZZZ').toMatchToken('Word', '0xZZZ')
+  })
+
+  test('multiple decimal points', () => {
+    expect('1.2.3').toMatchToken('Word', '1.2.3')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('unicode and emoji', () => {
+  test('greek letters', () => {
+    expect('αβγ').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'αβγ')
+    expect('delta-δ').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'delta-δ')
+  })
+
+  test('math symbols', () => {
+    expect('∑').toMatchToken('Identifier', '∑')
+    expect('∏').toMatchToken('Identifier', '∏')
+  })
+
+  test('CJK characters', () => {
+    expect('你好').toMatchToken('Identifier', '你好')
+    expect('こんにちは').toMatchToken('Identifier', 'こんにちは')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('empty and whitespace input', () => {
+  test('empty string', () => {
+    expect('').toMatchTokens()
+  })
+
+  test('only whitespace', () => {
+    expect('   ').toMatchTokens()
+  })
+
+  test('only tabs', () => {
+    expect('\t\t\t').toMatchTokens()
+  })
+
+  test('only newlines', () => {
+    expect('\n\n\n').toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+      { type: 'Newline' },
+    )
+  })
+})
+
+describe('named args', () => {
+  test("don't need spaces", () => {
+    expect(`named=arg`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'NamedArgPrefix', value: 'named=' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'arg' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test("can have spaces", () => {
+    expect(`named= arg`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'NamedArgPrefix', value: 'named=' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'arg' },
+    )
+  })
+
+  test("can include numbers", () => {
+    expect(`named123= arg`).toMatchTokens(
+      { type: 'NamedArgPrefix', value: 'named123=' },
+      { type: 'Identifier', value: 'arg' },
+    )
+  })
+})
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/parser/tokenizer2.ts b/src/parser/tokenizer2.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74844ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/parser/tokenizer2.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,508 @@
+const DEBUG = process.env.DEBUG || false
+
+export type Token = {
+  type: TokenType
+  value?: string,
+  from: number,
+  to: number,
+}
+
+export enum TokenType {
+  Comment,
+
+  Keyword,
+  Operator,
+
+  Newline,
+  Semicolon,
+  Colon,
+  Underscore,
+
+  OpenParen,
+  CloseParen,
+  OpenBracket,
+  CloseBracket,
+
+  Identifier,
+  Word,
+  NamedArgPrefix,
+
+  Null,
+  Boolean,
+  Number,
+  String,
+}
+
+const valueTokens = new Set([
+  TokenType.Comment,
+  TokenType.Keyword, TokenType.Operator,
+  TokenType.Identifier, TokenType.Word, TokenType.NamedArgPrefix,
+  TokenType.Boolean, TokenType.Number, TokenType.String
+])
+
+const operators = new Set([
+  // assignment
+  '=',
+
+  // logic
+  'or',
+  'and',
+
+  // bitwise
+  'band',
+  'bor',
+  'bxor',
+  '>>>',
+  '>>',
+  '<<',
+
+  // compound assignment
+  '??=',
+  '+=',
+  '-=',
+  '*=',
+  '/=',
+  '%=',
+
+  // nullish
+  '??',
+
+  // math 
+  '**',
+  '*',
+  '/',
+  '+',
+  '-',
+  '%',
+
+  // comparison
+  '>=',
+  '<=',
+  '!=',
+  '==',
+  '>',
+  '<',
+])
+
+const keywords = new Set([
+  'import',
+  'end',
+  'do',
+  'if',
+  'while',
+  'if',
+  'else',
+  'try',
+  'catch',
+  'finally',
+  'throw',
+])
+
+// helper
+function c(strings: TemplateStringsArray, ...values: any[]) {
+  return strings.reduce((result, str, i) => result + str + (values[i] ?? ""), "").charCodeAt(0)
+}
+
+function s(c: number): string {
+  return String.fromCharCode(c)
+}
+
+export class Scanner {
+  input = ''
+  pos = 0
+  start = 0
+  char = 0
+  prev = 0
+  inParen = 0
+  inBracket = 0
+  tokens: Token[] = []
+
+  reset() {
+    this.input = ''
+    this.pos = 0
+    this.start = 0
+    this.char = 0
+    this.prev = 0
+    this.tokens.length = 0
+  }
+
+  peek(count = 0): number {
+    return getFullCodePoint(this.input, this.pos + count)
+  }
+
+  next(): number {
+    this.prev = this.char
+    this.char = this.peek()
+    this.pos += getCharSize(this.char)
+    return this.char
+  }
+
+  push(type: TokenType, from?: number, to?: number) {
+    from ??= this.start
+    to ??= this.pos - getCharSize(this.char)
+    if (to < from) to = from
+
+    this.tokens.push(Object.assign({}, {
+      type,
+      from,
+      to,
+    }, valueTokens.has(type) ? { value: this.input.slice(from, to) } : {}))
+
+    if (DEBUG) {
+      const tok = this.tokens.at(-1)
+      console.log(`≫ PUSH(${from},${to})`, TokenType[tok?.type || 0], '—', tok?.value)
+    }
+
+    this.start = this.pos
+  }
+
+  // turn shrimp code into shrimp tokens that get fed into the parser
+  tokenize(input: string): Token[] {
+    this.reset()
+    this.input = input
+    this.next()
+
+    while (this.char > 0) {
+      const char = this.char
+      if (char === c`#`) {
+        this.readComment()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (isBracket(char)) {
+        this.readBracket()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (isStringDelim(char)) {
+        this.readString(char)
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (char === c`{`) {
+        this.readCurlyString()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (isIdentStart(char)) {
+        this.readIdentOrKeyword()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (isDigit(char) || ((char === c`-` || char === c`+`) && isDigit(this.peek()))) {
+        this.readNumber()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (char === c`:`) {
+        this.push(TokenType.Colon, this.start - 1, this.pos) // TODO: why?
+        this.next()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (isWordChar(char)) {
+        this.readWord()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (char === c`\n`) {
+        if (this.inParen === 0 && this.inBracket === 0)
+          this.push(TokenType.Newline)
+        this.next()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      if (char === c`;`) {
+        this.push(TokenType.Semicolon)
+        this.next()
+        continue
+      }
+
+      this.next()
+    }
+
+    return this.tokens
+  }
+
+  readComment() {
+    while (this.char !== c`\n` && this.char > 0) this.next()
+    this.push(TokenType.Comment)
+  }
+
+  readBracket() {
+    switch (this.char) {
+      case c`(`:
+        this.inParen++
+        this.push(TokenType.OpenParen); break
+      case c`)`:
+        this.inParen--
+        this.push(TokenType.CloseParen); break
+      case c`[`:
+        this.inBracket++
+        this.push(TokenType.OpenBracket); break
+      case c`]`:
+        this.inBracket--
+        this.push(TokenType.CloseBracket); break
+    }
+    this.next()
+  }
+
+  readString(delim: number) {
+    this.start = this.pos - 1
+    this.next() // skip opening delim
+    while (this.char > 0 && (this.char !== delim || (this.char === delim && this.prev === c`\\`)))
+      this.next()
+    this.next() // skip closing delim
+
+    this.push(TokenType.String)
+  }
+
+  readCurlyString() {
+    let depth = 1
+    this.next()
+
+    while (depth > 0 && this.char > 0) {
+      if (this.char === c`{`) depth++
+      if (this.char === c`}`) depth--
+      this.next()
+    }
+
+    this.push(TokenType.String)
+  }
+
+  readIdentOrKeyword() {
+    this.start = this.pos - getCharSize(this.char)
+
+    while (isWordChar(this.char)) {
+      // stop at colon if followed by whitespace (e.g., 'do x: echo x end')
+      if (this.char === c`:`) {
+        const nextCh = this.peek()
+        if (isWhitespace(nextCh) || nextCh === 0) break
+      }
+
+      // stop at equal sign (named arg)
+      if (this.char === c`=`) {
+        this.next()
+        break
+      }
+
+      this.next()
+    }
+
+    const ident = this.input.slice(this.start, this.pos - getCharSize(this.char))
+
+    if (ident === 'null')
+      this.push(TokenType.Null)
+
+    else if (ident === 'true' || ident === 'false')
+      this.push(TokenType.Boolean)
+
+    else if (isKeyword(ident))
+      this.push(TokenType.Keyword)
+
+    else if (isOperator(ident))
+      this.push(TokenType.Operator) // only things like `and` and `or`
+
+    else if (isIdentifer(ident))
+      this.push(TokenType.Identifier)
+
+    else if (ident.endsWith('='))
+      this.push(TokenType.NamedArgPrefix)
+
+    else
+      this.push(TokenType.Word)
+  }
+
+  readNumber() {
+    this.start = this.pos - 1
+    while (isWordChar(this.char)) {
+      // stop at colon
+      if (this.char === c`:`) {
+        const nextCh = this.peek()
+        if (isWhitespace(nextCh) || nextCh === 0) break
+      }
+      this.next()
+    }
+    const ident = this.input.slice(this.start, this.pos - 1)
+    this.push(isNumber(ident) ? TokenType.Number : TokenType.Word)
+  }
+
+  readWord() {
+    this.start = this.pos - getCharSize(this.char)
+
+    while (isWordChar(this.char)) this.next()
+
+    const word = this.input.slice(this.start, this.pos - getCharSize(this.char))
+
+    if (word === '_')
+      this.push(TokenType.Underscore)
+
+    else if (operators.has(word))
+      this.push(TokenType.Operator)
+
+    else
+      this.push(TokenType.Word)
+  }
+}
+
+const isNumber = (word: string): boolean => {
+  // regular number
+  if (/^[+-]?\d+(_?\d+)*(\.(\d+(_?\d+)*))?$/.test(word))
+    return true
+
+  // binary
+  if (/^[+-]?0b[01]+(_?[01]+)*(\.[01](_?[01]*))?$/.test(word))
+    return true
+
+  // octal
+  if (/^[+-]?0o[0-7]+(_?[0-7]+)*(\.[0-7](_?[0-7]*))?$/.test(word))
+    return true
+
+  // hex
+  if (/^[+-]?0x[0-9a-f]+([0-9a-f]_?[0-9a-f]+)*(\.([0-9a-f]_?[0-9a-f]*))?$/i.test(word))
+    return true
+
+  return false
+}
+
+const isIdentifer = (s: string): boolean => {
+  if (s.length === 0) return false
+
+  let pos = 0
+  const chars = []
+  while (pos < s.length) {
+    const out = getFullCodePoint(s, pos)
+    pos += getCharSize(out)
+    chars.push(out)
+  }
+
+  if (chars.length === 1)
+    return isIdentStart(chars[0]!)
+  else if (chars.length === 2)
+    return isIdentStart(chars[0]!) && isIdentEnd(chars[1]!)
+  else
+    return isIdentStart(chars[0]!) &&
+      chars.slice(1, chars.length - 1).every(isIdentChar) &&
+      isIdentEnd(chars.at(-1)!)
+}
+
+const isStringDelim = (ch: number): boolean => {
+  return ch === c`'` || ch === c`"`
+}
+
+const isIdentStart = (char: number | string): boolean => {
+  let ch = typeof char === 'string' ? char.charCodeAt(0) : char
+  return isLowercaseLetter(ch) || isEmojiOrUnicode(ch) || ch === 36 /* $ */
+}
+
+const isIdentChar = (char: number | string): boolean => {
+  let ch = typeof char === 'string' ? char.charCodeAt(0) : char
+  return isIdentStart(ch) || isDigit(ch) || ch === 45 /* - */ || ch === 63 /* ? */
+}
+
+const isIdentEnd = (char: number | string): boolean => {
+  return isIdentChar(char)
+}
+
+const isLowercaseLetter = (ch: number): boolean => {
+  return ch >= 97 && ch <= 122 // a-z
+}
+
+const isDigit = (ch: number): boolean => {
+  return ch >= 48 && ch <= 57 // 0-9
+}
+
+const isWhitespace = (ch: number): boolean => {
+  return ch === 32 /* space */ || ch === 9 /* tab */ ||
+    ch === 13 /* \r */ || ch === 10 /* \n */ ||
+    ch === -1 || ch === 0 /* EOF */
+}
+
+const isWordChar = (ch: number): boolean => {
+  return (
+    !isWhitespace(ch) &&
+    ch !== 10 /* \n */ &&
+    ch !== 59 /* ; */ &&
+    ch !== 41 /* ) */ &&
+    ch !== 93 /* ] */ &&
+    ch !== -1 /* EOF */
+  )
+}
+
+const isOperator = (word: string): boolean => {
+  return operators.has(word)
+}
+
+const isKeyword = (word: string): boolean => {
+  return keywords.has(word)
+}
+
+const isBracket = (char: number): boolean => {
+  return char === c`(` || char === c`)` || char === c`[` || char === c`]`
+}
+
+const getCharSize = (ch: number) =>
+  (ch > 0xffff ? 2 : 1) // emoji takes 2 UTF-16 code units
+
+const getFullCodePoint = (input: string, pos: number): number => {
+  const ch = input[pos]?.charCodeAt(0) || 0
+
+  // Check if this is a high surrogate (0xD800-0xDBFF)
+  if (ch >= 0xd800 && ch <= 0xdbff) {
+    const low = input[pos + 1]?.charCodeAt(0) || 0
+    // Check if next is low surrogate (0xDC00-0xDFFF)
+    if (low >= 0xdc00 && low <= 0xdfff) {
+      // Combine surrogate pair into full code point
+      return 0x10000 + ((ch & 0x3ff) << 10) + (low & 0x3ff)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return ch
+}
+
+const isEmojiOrUnicode = (ch: number): boolean => {
+  return (
+    // Basic Emoticons
+    (ch >= 0x1f600 && ch <= 0x1f64f) ||
+    // Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs
+    (ch >= 0x1f300 && ch <= 0x1f5ff) ||
+    // Transport and Map Symbols
+    (ch >= 0x1f680 && ch <= 0x1f6ff) ||
+    // Regional Indicator Symbols (flags)
+    (ch >= 0x1f1e6 && ch <= 0x1f1ff) ||
+    // Miscellaneous Symbols (hearts, stars, weather)
+    (ch >= 0x2600 && ch <= 0x26ff) ||
+    // Dingbats (scissors, pencils, etc)
+    (ch >= 0x2700 && ch <= 0x27bf) ||
+    // Supplemental Symbols and Pictographs (newer emojis)
+    (ch >= 0x1f900 && ch <= 0x1f9ff) ||
+    // Symbols and Pictographs Extended-A (newest emojis)
+    (ch >= 0x1fa70 && ch <= 0x1faff) ||
+    // Various Asian Characters with emoji presentation
+    (ch >= 0x1f018 && ch <= 0x1f270) ||
+    // Variation Selectors (for emoji presentation)
+    (ch >= 0xfe00 && ch <= 0xfe0f) ||
+    // Additional miscellaneous items
+    (ch >= 0x238c && ch <= 0x2454) ||
+    // Combining Diacritical Marks for Symbols
+    (ch >= 0x20d0 && ch <= 0x20ff) ||
+    // Latin-1 Supplement (includes ², ³, ¹ and other special chars)
+    (ch >= 0x00a0 && ch <= 0x00ff) ||
+    // Greek and Coptic (U+0370-U+03FF)
+    (ch >= 0x0370 && ch <= 0x03ff) ||
+    // Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols (U+1D400-U+1D7FF)
+    (ch >= 0x1d400 && ch <= 0x1d7ff) ||
+    // Mathematical Operators (U+2200-U+22FF)
+    (ch >= 0x2200 && ch <= 0x22ff) ||
+    // Superscripts and Subscripts (U+2070-U+209F)
+    (ch >= 0x2070 && ch <= 0x209f) ||
+    // Arrows (U+2190-U+21FF)
+    (ch >= 0x2190 && ch <= 0x21ff) ||
+    // Hiragana (U+3040-U+309F)
+    (ch >= 0x3040 && ch <= 0x309f) ||
+    // Katakana (U+30A0-U+30FF)
+    (ch >= 0x30a0 && ch <= 0x30ff) ||
+    // CJK Unified Ideographs (U+4E00-U+9FFF)
+    (ch >= 0x4e00 && ch <= 0x9fff)
+  )
+}
diff --git a/src/testSetup.ts b/src/testSetup.ts
index c476ba2..814f91f 100644
--- a/src/testSetup.ts
+++ b/src/testSetup.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 import { expect } from 'bun:test'
+import { diffLines } from 'diff'
+import color from 'kleur'
+import { Scanner, TokenType, type Token } from '#parser/tokenizer2'
 import { parser } from '#parser/shrimp'
 import { setGlobals } from '#parser/tokenizer'
 import { globals as prelude } from '#prelude'
@@ -37,6 +40,9 @@ declare module 'bun:test' {
     toFailParse(): T
     toEvaluateTo(expected: unknown, globals?: Record<string, any>): Promise<T>
     toFailEvaluation(): Promise<T>
+    toBeToken(expected: string): T
+    toMatchToken(typeOrValue: string, value?: string): T
+    toMatchTokens(...tokens: { type: string, value?: string }[]): T
   }
 }
 
@@ -144,8 +150,107 @@ expect.extend({
       }
     }
   },
+  toBeToken(received: unknown, expected: string) {
+    assert(typeof received === 'string', 'toBeToken can only be used with string values')
+
+    try {
+      const tokens = tokenize(received)
+      const value = tokens[0] as Token
+      const target = TokenType[expected as keyof typeof TokenType]
+
+      if (!value) {
+        return {
+          message: () => `Expected token type to be ${expected}, but got ${value}`,
+          pass: false,
+        }
+      }
+
+      return {
+        message: () => `Expected token type to be ${expected}, but got ${TokenType[value.type]}`,
+        pass: value.type === target
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      return {
+        message: () => `Tokenization failed: ${errorMessage(error)}`,
+        pass: false,
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  toMatchToken(received: unknown, typeOrValue: string, value?: string) {
+    assert(typeof received === 'string', 'toMatchToken can only be used with string values')
+    const expectedValue = value ? value : typeOrValue
+    const expectedType = value ? typeOrValue : undefined
+
+    try {
+      const tokens = tokenize(received)
+      const token = tokens[0] as Token
+
+      if (!token) {
+        return {
+          message: () => `Expected token to be ${expectedValue.replaceAll('\n', '\\n')}, got ${token}`,
+          pass: false,
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (expectedType && TokenType[expectedType as keyof typeof TokenType] !== token.type) {
+        return {
+          message: () => `Expected token to be ${expectedType}, but got ${TokenType[token.type]}`,
+          pass: false
+        }
+      }
+
+      return {
+        message: () => `Expected token to be ${expectedValue.replaceAll('\n', '\\n')}, but got ${token.value}`,
+        pass: token.value === expectedValue
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      return {
+        message: () => `Tokenization failed: ${errorMessage(error)} `,
+        pass: false,
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  toMatchTokens(received: unknown, ...tokens: { type: string, value?: string }[]) {
+    assert(typeof received === 'string', 'toMatchTokens can only be used with string values')
+
+    try {
+      const result = tokenize(received).map(t => toHumanToken(t))
+
+      if (result.length === 0 && tokens.length > 0) {
+        return {
+          message: () => `Expected tokens ${JSON.stringify(tokens)}, got nothing`,
+          pass: false,
+        }
+      }
+
+      const expected = JSON.stringify(tokens, null, 2)
+      const actual = JSON.stringify(result, null, 2)
+
+      return {
+        message: () => `Tokens don't match: \n\n${diff(actual, expected)}`,
+        pass: expected == actual
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      return {
+        message: () => `Tokenization failed: ${errorMessage(error)} `,
+        pass: false,
+      }
+    }
+  }
 })
 
+const tokenize = (code: string): Token[] => {
+  const scanner = new Scanner
+  return scanner.tokenize(code)
+}
+
+const toHumanToken = (tok: Token): { type: string, value: string } => {
+  return {
+    type: TokenType[tok.type],
+    value: tok.value
+  }
+}
+
 const trimWhitespace = (str: string): string => {
   const lines = str.split('\n').filter((line) => line.trim().length > 0)
   const firstLine = lines[0]
@@ -157,10 +262,33 @@ const trimWhitespace = (str: string): string => {
       if (!line.startsWith(leadingWhitespace)) {
         let foundWhitespace = line.match(/^(\s*)/)?.[1] || ''
         throw new Error(
-          `Line has inconsistent leading whitespace: "${line}" (found "${foundWhitespace}", expected "${leadingWhitespace}")`
+          `Line has inconsistent leading whitespace: "${line}"(found "${foundWhitespace}", expected "${leadingWhitespace}")`
         )
       }
       return line.slice(leadingWhitespace.length)
     })
     .join('\n')
 }
+
+const diff = (a: string, b: string): string => {
+  const expected = a.trim()
+  const actual = b.trim()
+  const lines = []
+
+  if (expected !== actual) {
+    const changes = diffLines(actual, expected)
+    for (const part of changes) {
+      const sign = part.added ? "+" : part.removed ? "-" : " "
+      let line = sign + part.value
+      if (part.added) {
+        line = color.green(line)
+      } else if (part.removed) {
+        line = color.red(line)
+      }
+
+      lines.push(line.endsWith("\n") || line.endsWith("\n\u001b[39m") ? line : line + "\n")
+    }
+  }
+
+  return lines.join('\n')
+}
\ No newline at end of file