Recursive is a open-source tool that lets you paste your code and watch it execute line by line. No setup, no breakpoints — just paste and run.
What it does
- Paste a function (or plain code) and it runs step by step
- Variables are tracked and displayed at every step
- Arrays are shown as a grid with per-cell change highlighting
- Recursive functions are visualized as a call tree
- Parameters are auto-detected — just fill in the values and hit run
Quick example
Paste this Python code:
def bubble_sort(arr):
n = len(arr)
for i in range(n):
for j in range(0, n - i - 1):
if arr[j] > arr[j + 1]:
arr[j], arr[j + 1] = arr[j + 1], arr[j]
return arr
Enter [5, 3, 8, 1, 2] as the argument, hit run, and step through the execution. You'll see exactly how the array changes at each swap.
Supports Python and JavaScript, TypeScript
- Python — standard library works out of the box (collections, functools, itertools, etc.)
- JavaScript / TypeScript — types are stripped automatically, built-in APIs all work
Embed anywhere
You can embed the execution view in your blog, Notion, or Obsidian: Great for algorithm tutorials or study notes.
Open source
The entire project is open source. Feature requests, bug reports, and PRs are welcome.
- GitHub: github.com/oilater/recursive
- Issues: Issues
If you found it useful, a ⭐ on GitHub would mean a lot!

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