# Standard library
The standard library combines Rust-backed facilities with Shelly implementations.
Use `import std::module` for qualified access or select public names explicitly.
The prelude is imported implicitly; other modules require an import.
| Common collection, path, and numeric helpers | `std::prelude` | [Prelude](Prelude) |
| Binary values, files, readers, writers | `std::io` | [Bytes and I/O](Bytes-and-IO) |
| Single-consumer item streams | `std::stream` | [Item streams](Item-Streams) |
| Documents, mapping, streaming JSON | `std::json` | [JSON](JSON) |
| TCP, UDP, Unix sockets, TLS, DNS | `std::net` and its children | [Networking](Networking) |
| HTTP clients and typed bodies | `std::net::http` | [HTTP](HTTP) |
| HTTP listeners and request handlers | `std::net::http::server` | [HTTP servers](HTTP-Servers) |
| Length frames, SSE, JSON-RPC | `std::net::framing`, `sse`, `rpc` | [Framing and RPC](Framing-and-RPC) |
| Colors, styles, terminal geometry | `std::terminal` | [Terminal formatting](Terminal-Formatting) |
| Scriptable Reedline editors | `std::terminal::readline` | [Line editing](Line-Editing) |
| Prompt status providers | `std::widgets` | [Prompts and widgets](Prompts-and-Widgets) |
These guides explain ownership and common workflows as well as API names.
Inspect a public type's `.properties` to explore its current interface.
## Where the code comes from
Shelly can load a filesystem standard library or its embedded copy. The selected
prelude root is reported by `$SHELLY_STD_FOUND`. Search overrides, missing-prelude
behavior, and explicit reloads are covered in
[Startup and standard library](Startup-and-Standard-Library).
Standard-library modules obey [module visibility](Modules). A Rust implementation
is not automatically public: wrappers can expose selected native registrations
and add scripted convenience methods.
The language has its intended core features and is in stabilization. Interfaces
and internals continue to be refined before a possible internal rewrite; examples
here describe the current implementation rather than a promise of frozen APIs.
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Related: [Language map](Language-Map) · [Prelude](Prelude) · [Startup](Startup-and-Standard-Library)