diff --git a/lib/compiler.sx b/lib/compiler.sx
index f7abdd4d..a8aa666d 100644
--- a/lib/compiler.sx
+++ b/lib/compiler.sx
@@ -599,11 +599,12 @@
                 (binding)
                 (let
                   ((name (if (= (type-of (first binding)) "symbol") (symbol-name (first binding)) (first binding)))
-                    (value (nth binding 1))
-                    (slot (scope-define-local let-scope name)))
+                    (value (nth binding 1)))
                   (compile-expr em value let-scope false)
-                  (emit-op em 17)
-                  (emit-byte em slot)))
+                  (let
+                    ((slot (scope-define-local let-scope name)))
+                    (emit-op em 17)
+                    (emit-byte em slot))))
               bindings)
             (compile-begin em body let-scope tail?)))))
     (define
diff --git a/lib/hyperscript/test-closure.sx b/lib/hyperscript/test-closure.sx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d63bcdc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/hyperscript/test-closure.sx
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+;; Minimal test: define-inside-let pattern (like hs-parse)
+(define
+  test-closure-parse
+  (fn
+    (tokens)
+    (let
+      ((p 0) (tok-len (len tokens)))
+      (define get-val (fn () (get (nth tokens p) "value")))
+      (define advance! (fn () (set! p (+ p 1))))
+      (let
+        ((first-val (get-val)))
+        (advance!)
+        (list "first:" first-val "second:" (get-val) "p:" p)))))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/hyperscript/test.sh b/lib/hyperscript/test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00c74b3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/hyperscript/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Fast hyperscript test runner — pipes directly to sx_server.exe via epoch protocol.
+# No MCP, no Docker, no web server. Runs in <2 seconds.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   bash lib/hyperscript/test.sh           # run all tests
+#   bash lib/hyperscript/test.sh -v        # verbose — show actual output
+
+set -euo pipefail
+cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+
+SX_SERVER="hosts/ocaml/_build/default/bin/sx_server.exe"
+if [ ! -x "$SX_SERVER" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: $SX_SERVER not found. Run: cd hosts/ocaml && dune build"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VERBOSE="${1:-}"
+PASS=0
+FAIL=0
+ERRORS=""
+TMPFILE=$(mktemp)
+trap "rm -f $TMPFILE" EXIT
+
+# ── Write epoch commands to temp file ─────────────────────────────
+cat > "$TMPFILE" << 'EPOCHS'
+(epoch 1)
+(load "lib/r7rs.sx")
+(epoch 2)
+(load "lib/hyperscript/tokenizer.sx")
+(epoch 3)
+(load "lib/hyperscript/parser.sx")
+(epoch 4)
+(load "lib/hyperscript/compiler.sx")
+(epoch 10)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on click add .red to me\")")
+(epoch 11)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on click toggle .active on me\")")
+(epoch 12)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on click add .red to me then remove .blue from me\")")
+(epoch 13)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on click set my innerHTML to 'hello'\")")
+(epoch 14)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on click log me\")")
+(epoch 15)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"add .highlight to me\")")
+(epoch 16)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"remove .highlight from me\")")
+(epoch 17)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"toggle .visible on me\")")
+(epoch 18)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"hide me\")")
+(epoch 19)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"show me\")")
+(epoch 20)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"wait 500ms\")")
+(epoch 21)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"wait 2s\")")
+(epoch 22)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"set x to 1 + 2\")")
+(epoch 23)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"set x to 3 * 4\")")
+(epoch 24)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"init add .loaded to me end\")")
+(epoch 25)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"set x to 42\")")
+(epoch 26)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"put 'hello' into me\")")
+(epoch 27)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"increment x\")")
+(epoch 28)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"decrement x\")")
+(epoch 29)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on every click log me end\")")
+(epoch 30)
+(eval "(hs-compile \"on click from .btn log me end\")")
+(epoch 40)
+(eval "(hs-to-sx-from-source \"on click add .red to me\")")
+(epoch 41)
+(eval "(hs-to-sx-from-source \"on click toggle .active on me\")")
+(epoch 42)
+(eval "(hs-to-sx-from-source \"on click set my innerHTML to 'hello'\")")
+(epoch 43)
+(eval "(hs-to-sx-from-source \"on click add .red to me then remove .blue from me\")")
+EPOCHS
+
+# ── Run ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+OUTPUT=$(timeout 30 "$SX_SERVER" < "$TMPFILE" 2>/dev/null)
+
+# ── Check function ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+check() {
+  local epoch="$1" desc="$2" expected="$3"
+  local actual
+  actual=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | grep -A1 "^(ok-len $epoch " | tail -1)
+  if [ -z "$actual" ]; then
+    actual=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | grep "^(ok $epoch " || true)
+  fi
+  if [ -z "$actual" ]; then
+    actual=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | grep "^(error $epoch " || true)
+  fi
+  if [ -z "$actual" ]; then
+    actual="<no output for epoch $epoch>"
+  fi
+
+  if echo "$actual" | grep -qF "$expected"; then
+    PASS=$((PASS + 1))
+    [ "$VERBOSE" = "-v" ] && echo "  ✓ $desc"
+  else
+    FAIL=$((FAIL + 1))
+    ERRORS+="  ✗ $desc (epoch $epoch)
+    expected: $expected
+    actual:   $actual
+"
+  fi
+}
+
+# ── Parser assertions ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+check 10 "on click basic"         '(on "click" (add-class "red" (me)))'
+check 11 "on click toggle"        '(on "click" (toggle-class "active" (me)))'
+check 12 "on click chain"         '(on "click" (do (add-class "red" (me)) (remove-class "blue" (me))))'
+check 13 "on click set prop"      '(on "click" (set!'
+check 14 "on click log"           '(on "click" (log (me)))'
+check 15 "add class cmd"          '(add-class "highlight" (me))'
+check 16 "remove class cmd"       '(remove-class "highlight" (me))'
+check 17 "toggle class cmd"       '(toggle-class "visible" (me))'
+check 18 "hide cmd"               '(hide (me))'
+check 19 "show cmd"               '(show (me))'
+check 20 "wait ms"                '(wait 500)'
+check 21 "wait seconds"           '(wait 2000)'
+check 22 "arithmetic add"         '+'
+check 23 "arithmetic mul"         '*'
+check 24 "init feature"           '(init'
+check 25 "set variable"           '(set! (ref "x") 42)'
+check 26 "put into"               '(set! (me) "hello")'
+check 27 "increment"              'increment'
+check 28 "decrement"              'decrement'
+check 29 "on every click"         '(on'
+check 30 "on click from"          '(on'
+
+# ── Compiler assertions ───────────────────────────────────────────
+check 40 "compiled: on click"     '(hs-on me "click"'
+check 41 "compiled: toggle"       'hs-toggle-class!'
+check 42 "compiled: set prop"     'dom-set-prop'
+check 43 "compiled: chain"        'dom-remove-class'
+
+# ── Report ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+TOTAL=$((PASS + FAIL))
+if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "✓ $PASS/$TOTAL hyperscript tests passed"
+else
+  echo "✗ $PASS/$TOTAL passed, $FAIL failed:"
+  echo ""
+  echo "$ERRORS"
+fi
+
+[ $FAIL -eq 0 ]