diff --git a/compiler/commands.nim b/compiler/commands.nim
index 46ade667e..6ca212ddb 100644
--- a/compiler/commands.nim
+++ b/compiler/commands.nim
@@ -490,10 +490,10 @@ proc processSwitch*(switch, arg: string, pass: TCmdLinePass, info: TLineInfo;
   of "oldnewlines":
     case arg.normalize
     of "on":
-      options.gOldNewlines = true
+      conf.oldNewlines = true
       defineSymbol(conf.symbols, "nimOldNewlines")
     of "off":
-      options.gOldNewlines = false
+      conf.oldNewlines = false
       undefSymbol(conf.symbols, "nimOldNewlines")
     else:
       localError(conf, info, errOnOrOffExpectedButXFound % arg)
@@ -671,19 +671,19 @@ proc processSwitch*(switch, arg: string, pass: TCmdLinePass, info: TLineInfo;
     trackDirty(conf, arg, info)
   of "suggest":
     expectNoArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
-    gIdeCmd = ideSug
+    conf.ideCmd = ideSug
   of "def":
     expectNoArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
-    gIdeCmd = ideDef
+    conf.ideCmd = ideDef
   of "eval":
     expectArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
     gEvalExpr = arg
   of "context":
     expectNoArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
-    gIdeCmd = ideCon
+    conf.ideCmd = ideCon
   of "usages":
     expectNoArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
-    gIdeCmd = ideUse
+    conf.ideCmd = ideUse
   of "stdout":
     expectNoArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
     incl(gGlobalOptions, optStdout)
diff --git a/compiler/configuration.nim b/compiler/configuration.nim
index f7b9803e7..5164fd6df 100644
--- a/compiler/configuration.nim
+++ b/compiler/configuration.nim
@@ -18,7 +18,13 @@ const
 
 type
   TMsgKind* = enum
-    errUnknown, errInternal, errIllFormedAstX, errCannotOpenFile, errGenerated,
+    errUnknown, errInternal, errIllFormedAstX, errCannotOpenFile,
+    errXExpected,
+    errGridTableNotImplemented,
+    errGeneralParseError,
+    errNewSectionExpected,
+    errInvalidDirectiveX,
+    errGenerated,
     errUser,
     warnCannotOpenFile,
     warnOctalEscape, warnXIsNeverRead, warnXmightNotBeenInit,
@@ -47,6 +53,11 @@ const
     errInternal: "internal error: $1",
     errIllFormedAstX: "illformed AST: $1",
     errCannotOpenFile: "cannot open '$1'",
+    errXExpected: "'$1' expected",
+    errGridTableNotImplemented: "grid table is not implemented",
+    errGeneralParseError: "general parse error",
+    errNewSectionExpected: "new section expected",
+    errInvalidDirectiveX: "invalid directive: '$1'",
     errGenerated: "$1",
     errUser: "$1",
     warnCannotOpenFile: "cannot open '$1'",
diff --git a/compiler/docgen.nim b/compiler/docgen.nim
index e1a70a23e..a21c8073f 100644
--- a/compiler/docgen.nim
+++ b/compiler/docgen.nim
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import
   wordrecg, syntaxes, renderer, lexer, packages/docutils/rstast,
   packages/docutils/rst, packages/docutils/rstgen, times,
   packages/docutils/highlite, sempass2, json, xmltree, cgi,
-  typesrenderer, astalgo, modulepaths
+  typesrenderer, astalgo, modulepaths, configuration
 
 type
   TSections = array[TSymKind, Rope]
@@ -53,36 +53,40 @@ proc attachToType(d: PDoc; p: PSym): PSym =
   if params.len > 0: check(0)
   for i in 2..<params.len: check(i)
 
-proc compilerMsgHandler(filename: string, line, col: int,
-                        msgKind: rst.MsgKind, arg: string) {.procvar.} =
-  # translate msg kind:
-  var k: msgs.TMsgKind
-  case msgKind
-  of meCannotOpenFile: k = errCannotOpenFile
-  of meExpected: k = errXExpected
-  of meGridTableNotImplemented: k = errGridTableNotImplemented
-  of meNewSectionExpected: k = errNewSectionExpected
-  of meGeneralParseError: k = errGeneralParseError
-  of meInvalidDirective: k = errInvalidDirectiveX
-  of mwRedefinitionOfLabel: k = warnRedefinitionOfLabel
-  of mwUnknownSubstitution: k = warnUnknownSubstitutionX
-  of mwUnsupportedLanguage: k = warnLanguageXNotSupported
-  of mwUnsupportedField: k = warnFieldXNotSupported
-  globalError(newLineInfo(filename, line, col), k, arg)
+template declareClosures =
+  proc compilerMsgHandler(filename: string, line, col: int,
+                          msgKind: rst.MsgKind, arg: string) {.procvar.} =
+    # translate msg kind:
+    var k: TMsgKind
+    case msgKind
+    of meCannotOpenFile: k = errCannotOpenFile
+    of meExpected: k = errXExpected
+    of meGridTableNotImplemented: k = errGridTableNotImplemented
+    of meNewSectionExpected: k = errNewSectionExpected
+    of meGeneralParseError: k = errGeneralParseError
+    of meInvalidDirective: k = errInvalidDirectiveX
+    of mwRedefinitionOfLabel: k = warnRedefinitionOfLabel
+    of mwUnknownSubstitution: k = warnUnknownSubstitutionX
+    of mwUnsupportedLanguage: k = warnLanguageXNotSupported
+    of mwUnsupportedField: k = warnFieldXNotSupported
+    globalError(conf, newLineInfo(conf, filename, line, col), k, arg)
 
-proc docgenFindFile(s: string): string {.procvar.} =
-  result = options.findFile(s)
-  if result.len == 0:
-    result = getCurrentDir() / s
-    if not existsFile(result): result = ""
+  proc docgenFindFile(s: string): string {.procvar.} =
+    result = options.findFile(conf, s)
+    if result.len == 0:
+      result = getCurrentDir() / s
+      if not existsFile(result): result = ""
 
 proc parseRst(text, filename: string,
               line, column: int, hasToc: var bool,
-              rstOptions: RstParseOptions): PRstNode =
+              rstOptions: RstParseOptions;
+              conf: ConfigRef): PRstNode =
+  declareClosures()
   result = rstParse(text, filename, line, column, hasToc, rstOptions,
                     docgenFindFile, compilerMsgHandler)
 
-proc newDocumentor*(filename: string, config: StringTableRef): PDoc =
+proc newDocumentor*(filename: string, conf: ConfigRef): PDoc =
+  declareClosures()
   new(result)
   initRstGenerator(result[], (if gCmd != cmdRst2tex: outHtml else: outLatex),
                    options.gConfigVars, filename, {roSupportRawDirective},
@@ -109,7 +113,7 @@ proc newDocumentor*(filename: string, config: StringTableRef): PDoc =
   result.jArray = newJArray()
   initStrTable result.types
   result.onTestSnippet = proc (d: var RstGenerator; filename, cmd: string; status: int; content: string) =
-    localError(newLineInfo(d.filename, -1, -1), warnUser, "only 'rst2html' supports the ':test:' attribute")
+    localError(conf, newLineInfo(conf, d.filename, -1, -1), warnUser, "only 'rst2html' supports the ':test:' attribute")
 
 proc dispA(dest: var Rope, xml, tex: string, args: openArray[Rope]) =
   if gCmd != cmdRst2tex: addf(dest, xml, args)
diff --git a/compiler/lexer.nim b/compiler/lexer.nim
index 68348a73e..7c89ee4a7 100644
--- a/compiler/lexer.nim
+++ b/compiler/lexer.nim
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ proc getEscapedChar(L: var TLexer, tok: var TToken) =
   inc(L.bufpos)               # skip '\'
   case L.buf[L.bufpos]
   of 'n', 'N':
-    if gOldNewlines:
+    if L.config.oldNewlines:
       if tok.tokType == tkCharLit:
         lexMessage(L, errGenerated, "\\n not allowed in character literal")
       add(tok.literal, tnl)
diff --git a/compiler/msgs.nim b/compiler/msgs.nim
index fa30acb25..1efc3c944 100644
--- a/compiler/msgs.nim
+++ b/compiler/msgs.nim
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ when false:
 proc raiseRecoverableError*(msg: string) {.noinline, noreturn.} =
   raise newException(ERecoverableError, msg)
 
-proc sourceLine*(i: TLineInfo): Rope
+proc sourceLine*(conf: ConfigRef; i: TLineInfo): Rope
 
 proc unknownLineInfo*(): TLineInfo =
   result.line = uint16(0)
@@ -492,9 +492,9 @@ proc resetAttributes*(conf: ConfigRef) =
   if {optUseColors, optStdout} * gGlobalOptions == {optUseColors}:
     terminal.resetAttributes(stderr)
 
-proc writeSurroundingSrc(info: TLineInfo) =
+proc writeSurroundingSrc(conf: ConfigRef; info: TLineInfo) =
   const indent = "  "
-  msgWriteln(indent & $info.sourceLine)
+  msgWriteln(indent & $sourceLine(conf, info))
   msgWriteln(indent & spaces(info.col) & '^')
 
 proc formatMsg*(info: TLineInfo, msg: TMsgKind, arg: string): string =
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ proc liMessage(conf: ConfigRef; info: TLineInfo, msg: TMsgKind, arg: string,
       else:
         styledMsgWriteln(styleBright, x, resetStyle, color, title, resetStyle, s)
       if hintSource in conf.notes:
-        info.writeSurroundingSrc()
+        conf.writeSurroundingSrc(info)
   handleError(conf, msg, eh, s)
 
 proc fatal*(conf: ConfigRef; info: TLineInfo, msg: TMsgKind, arg = "") =
@@ -604,10 +604,10 @@ template internalAssert*(conf: ConfigRef, e: bool) =
 proc addSourceLine*(fileIdx: FileIndex, line: string) =
   fileInfos[fileIdx.int32].lines.add line.rope
 
-proc sourceLine*(i: TLineInfo): Rope =
+proc sourceLine*(conf: ConfigRef; i: TLineInfo): Rope =
   if i.fileIndex.int32 < 0: return nil
 
-  if not optPreserveOrigSource and fileInfos[i.fileIndex.int32].lines.len == 0:
+  if not optPreserveOrigSource(conf) and fileInfos[i.fileIndex.int32].lines.len == 0:
     try:
       for line in lines(i.toFullPath):
         addSourceLine i.fileIndex, line.string
diff --git a/compiler/nimconf.nim b/compiler/nimconf.nim
index 9f5031d3b..b333252a1 100644
--- a/compiler/nimconf.nim
+++ b/compiler/nimconf.nim
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ proc parseDirective(L: var TLexer, tok: var TToken; config: ConfigRef; condStack
   of wEnd: doEnd(L, tok, condStack)
   of wWrite:
     ppGetTok(L, tok)
-    msgs.msgWriteln(strtabs.`%`(tokToStr(tok), options.gConfigVars,
+    msgs.msgWriteln(strtabs.`%`(tokToStr(tok), config.configVars,
                                 {useEnvironment, useKey}))
     ppGetTok(L, tok)
   else:
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ proc parseAssignment(L: var TLexer, tok: var TToken;
       add(val, tokToStr(tok))
       confTok(L, tok, config, condStack)
   if percent:
-    processSwitch(s, strtabs.`%`(val, options.gConfigVars,
+    processSwitch(s, strtabs.`%`(val, config.configVars,
                                 {useEnvironment, useEmpty}), passPP, info, config)
   else:
     processSwitch(s, val, passPP, info, config)
diff --git a/compiler/nversion.nim b/compiler/nversion.nim
index 85265a7c0..caa818d79 100644
--- a/compiler/nversion.nim
+++ b/compiler/nversion.nim
@@ -15,3 +15,6 @@ const
   VersionAsString* = system.NimVersion
   RodFileVersion* = "1223"       # modify this if the rod-format changes!
 
+  NimCompilerApiVersion* = 1 ## Check for the existance of this before accessing it
+                             ## as older versions of the compiler API do not
+                             ## declare this.
diff --git a/compiler/options.nim b/compiler/options.nim
index 643b6f4f6..8aa438917 100644
--- a/compiler/options.nim
+++ b/compiler/options.nim
@@ -119,6 +119,8 @@ type
     arguments*: string ## the arguments to be passed to the program that
                        ## should be run
     helpWritten*: bool
+    ideCmd*: IdeCmd
+    oldNewlines*: bool
     enableNotes*: TNoteKinds
     disableNotes*: TNoteKinds
     foreignPackageNotes*: TNoteKinds
@@ -128,6 +130,7 @@ type
     hintCounter*: int
     warnCounter*: int
     errorMax*: int
+    configVars*: StringTableRef
     symbols*: StringTableRef ## We need to use a StringTableRef here as defined
                              ## symbols are always guaranteed to be style
                              ## insensitive. Otherwise hell would break lose.
@@ -146,6 +149,7 @@ proc newConfigRef*(): ConfigRef =
     headerFile: "", features: {}, foreignPackageNotes: {hintProcessing, warnUnknownMagic,
     hintQuitCalled, hintExecuting},
     notes: NotesVerbosity[1], mainPackageNotes: NotesVerbosity[1],
+    configVars: newStringTable(modeStyleInsensitive),
     symbols: newStringTable(modeStyleInsensitive),
     packageCache: newPackageCache())
 
@@ -197,10 +201,6 @@ proc isDefined*(conf: ConfigRef; symbol: string): bool =
                             osDragonfly, osMacosx}
     else: discard
 
-var
-  gIdeCmd*: IdeCmd
-  gOldNewlines*: bool
-
 const
   ChecksOptions* = {optObjCheck, optFieldCheck, optRangeCheck, optNilCheck,
     optOverflowCheck, optBoundsCheck, optAssert, optNaNCheck, optInfCheck,
@@ -227,8 +227,8 @@ var
   gEvalExpr* = ""             # expression for idetools --eval
   gLastCmdTime*: float        # when caas is enabled, we measure each command
   gListFullPaths*: bool
-  gPreciseStack*: bool = false
-  gNoNimblePath* = false
+  gPreciseStack*: bool
+  gNoNimblePath*: bool
   gDynlibOverrideAll*: bool
   useNimNamespace*: bool
 
@@ -238,15 +238,15 @@ type
 
 var gSymbolFiles*: SymbolFilesOption
 
-proc importantComments*(): bool {.inline.} = gCmd in {cmdDoc, cmdIdeTools}
-proc usesNativeGC*(): bool {.inline.} = gSelectedGC >= gcRefc
-template preciseStack*(): bool = gPreciseStack
+proc importantComments*(conf: ConfigRef): bool {.inline.} = gCmd in {cmdDoc, cmdIdeTools}
+proc usesNativeGC*(conf: ConfigRef): bool {.inline.} = gSelectedGC >= gcRefc
+template preciseStack*(conf: ConfigRef): bool = gPreciseStack
 
-template compilationCachePresent*: untyped =
+template compilationCachePresent*(conf: ConfigRef): untyped =
   gSymbolFiles in {enabledSf, writeOnlySf}
 #  {optCaasEnabled, optSymbolFiles} * gGlobalOptions != {}
 
-template optPreserveOrigSource*: untyped =
+template optPreserveOrigSource*(conf: ConfigRef): untyped =
   optEmbedOrigSrc in gGlobalOptions
 
 const
@@ -264,7 +264,6 @@ const
 
 # additional configuration variables:
 var
-  gConfigVars* = newStringTable(modeStyleInsensitive)
   gDllOverrides = newStringTable(modeCaseInsensitive)
   gModuleOverrides* = newStringTable(modeStyleInsensitive)
   gPrefixDir* = "" # Overrides the default prefix dir in getPrefixDir proc.
@@ -283,10 +282,10 @@ var
 
 const oKeepVariableNames* = true
 
-template compilingLib*: bool =
+template compilingLib*(conf: ConfigRef): bool =
   gGlobalOptions * {optGenGuiApp, optGenDynLib} != {}
 
-proc mainCommandArg*: string =
+proc mainCommandArg*(conf: ConfigRef): string =
   ## This is intended for commands like check or parse
   ## which will work on the main project file unless
   ## explicitly given a specific file argument
@@ -296,13 +295,13 @@ proc mainCommandArg*: string =
     result = gProjectName
 
 proc existsConfigVar*(conf: ConfigRef; key: string): bool =
-  result = hasKey(gConfigVars, key)
+  result = hasKey(conf.configVars, key)
 
 proc getConfigVar*(conf: ConfigRef; key: string): string =
-  result = gConfigVars.getOrDefault key
+  result = conf.configVars.getOrDefault key
 
 proc setConfigVar*(conf: ConfigRef; key, val: string) =
-  gConfigVars[key] = val
+  conf.configVars[key] = val
 
 proc getOutFile*(conf: ConfigRef; filename, ext: string): string =
   if options.outFile != "": result = options.outFile
diff --git a/compiler/typesrenderer.nim b/compiler/typesrenderer.nim
index 4a9b8d1a9..4d75d5d05 100644
--- a/compiler/typesrenderer.nim
+++ b/compiler/typesrenderer.nim
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ proc renderPlainSymbolName*(n: PNode): string =
   ## Use this on documentation name nodes to extract the *raw* symbol name,
   ## without decorations, parameters, or anything. That can be used as the base
   ## for the HTML hyperlinks.
-  result = ""
   case n.kind
   of nkPostfix, nkAccQuoted:
     result = renderPlainSymbolName(n[n.len-1])
@@ -28,7 +27,8 @@ proc renderPlainSymbolName*(n: PNode): string =
   of nkPragmaExpr:
     result = renderPlainSymbolName(n[0])
   else:
-    internalError(n.info, "renderPlainSymbolName() with " & $n.kind)
+    result = ""
+    #internalError(n.info, "renderPlainSymbolName() with " & $n.kind)
   assert(not result.isNil)
 
 proc renderType(n: PNode): string =
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ proc renderParamTypes(found: var seq[string], n: PNode) =
     for i in 0 ..< typePos:
       found.add(typeStr)
   else:
-    internalError(n.info, "renderParamTypes(found,n) with " & $n.kind)
+    found.add($n)
+    #internalError(n.info, "renderParamTypes(found,n) with " & $n.kind)
 
 proc renderParamTypes*(n: PNode, sep = defaultParamSeparator): string =
   ## Returns the types contained in `n` joined by `sep`.