diff --git a/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplDriver.scala b/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplDriver.scala
index ffa1b648446d..dd67b43ee0a9 100644
--- a/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplDriver.scala
+++ b/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplDriver.scala
@@ -168,9 +168,12 @@ class ReplDriver(settings: Array[String],
    *  observable outside of the CLI, for this reason, most helper methods are
    *  `protected final` to facilitate testing.
    */
-  def runUntilQuit(using initialState: State = initialState)(): State = {
+  def runUntilQuit(using initialState: State = initialState)(hardcodedInput: java.io.InputStream = null): State = {
     val terminal = new JLineTerminal
 
+    val hardcodedInputLines =
+      if (hardcodedInput == null) null
+      else new java.io.BufferedReader(new java.io.InputStreamReader(hardcodedInput))
     out.println(
       s"""Welcome to Scala $simpleVersionString ($javaVersion, Java $javaVmName).
          |Type in expressions for evaluation. Or try :help.""".stripMargin)
@@ -208,8 +211,12 @@ class ReplDriver(settings: Array[String],
       }
 
       try {
-        val line = terminal.readLine(completer)
-        ParseResult(line)
+        val line =
+          if (hardcodedInputLines != null) hardcodedInputLines.readLine()
+          else terminal.readLine(completer)
+
+        if (line == null) Quit
+        else ParseResult(line)
       } catch {
         case _: EndOfFileException => // Ctrl+D
           Quit
diff --git a/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplMain.scala b/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplMain.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9d93ee9a6be4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/src/dotty/tools/repl/ReplMain.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package dotty.tools.repl
+
+import java.io.PrintStream
+
+class ReplMain(
+  settings: Array[String] = Array.empty,
+  out: PrintStream = Console.out,
+  classLoader: Option[ClassLoader] = Some(getClass.getClassLoader),
+  predefCode: String = "",
+  testCode: String = ""
+):
+  def run(bindings: ReplMain.Bind[_]*): Any =
+    try
+      ReplMain.currentBindings.set(bindings.map{bind => bind.name -> bind.value}.toMap)
+
+      val bindingsPredef = bindings
+        .map { case bind =>
+          s"def ${bind.name}: ${bind.typeName.value} = dotty.tools.repl.ReplMain.currentBinding[${bind.typeName.value}](\"${bind.name}\")"
+        }
+        .mkString("\n")
+
+      val fullPredef =
+        ReplDriver.pprintImport +
+        (if bindingsPredef.nonEmpty then s"\n$bindingsPredef\n" else "") +
+        (if predefCode.nonEmpty then s"\n$predefCode\n" else "")
+
+      val driver = new ReplDriver(settings, out, classLoader, fullPredef)
+
+      if (testCode == "") driver.tryRunning
+      else driver.runUntilQuit(using driver.initialState)(
+        new java.io.ByteArrayInputStream(testCode.getBytes())
+      )
+      ()
+    finally
+      ReplMain.currentBindings.set(null)
+
+
+object ReplMain:
+  final case class TypeName[A](value: String)
+  object TypeName extends TypeNamePlatform
+
+  import scala.quoted._
+
+  trait TypeNamePlatform:
+    inline given [A]: TypeName[A] = ${TypeNamePlatform.impl[A]}
+
+  object TypeNamePlatform:
+    def impl[A](using t: Type[A], ctx: Quotes): Expr[TypeName[A]] =
+    '{TypeName[A](${Expr(Type.show[A])})}
+
+
+  case class Bind[T](name: String, value: () => T)(implicit val typeName: TypeName[T])
+  object Bind:
+    implicit def ammoniteReplArrowBinder[T](t: (String, T))(implicit typeName: TypeName[T]): Bind[T] = {
+      Bind(t._1, () => t._2)(typeName)
+    }
+
+  def currentBinding[T](s: String): T = currentBindings.get().apply(s).apply().asInstanceOf[T]
+
+  private val currentBindings = new ThreadLocal[Map[String, () => Any]]()
diff --git a/compiler/test/dotty/tools/repl/ReplMainTest.scala b/compiler/test/dotty/tools/repl/ReplMainTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..495d688f035d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/test/dotty/tools/repl/ReplMainTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+package dotty.tools
+package repl
+
+import scala.language.unsafeNulls
+
+import java.io.{ByteArrayOutputStream, PrintStream}
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
+
+import vulpix.TestConfiguration
+import org.junit.Test
+import org.junit.Assert._
+
+/** Tests for the programmatic REPL API (ReplMain) */
+class ReplMainTest:
+
+  private val defaultOptions = Array("-classpath", TestConfiguration.withCompilerClasspath)
+
+  private def captureOutput(body: PrintStream => Unit): String =
+    val out = new ByteArrayOutputStream()
+    val ps = new PrintStream(out, true, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name)
+    body(ps)
+    dotty.shaded.fansi.Str(out.toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name)).plainText
+
+  @Test def basicBinding(): Unit =
+    val output = captureOutput { out =>
+      val replMain = new ReplMain(
+        settings = defaultOptions,
+        out = out,
+        testCode = "test"
+      )
+
+      replMain.run("test" -> 42)
+    }
+
+    assertTrue(output.contains("val res0: Int = 42"))
+
+  @Test def multipleBindings(): Unit =
+    val output = captureOutput { out =>
+      val replMain = new ReplMain(
+        settings = defaultOptions,
+        out = out,
+        testCode = "x\ny\nz"
+      )
+
+      replMain.run(
+        "x" -> 1,
+        "y" -> "hello",
+        "z" -> true
+      )
+    }
+
+    assertTrue(output.contains("val res0: Int = 1"))
+    assertTrue(output.contains("val res1: String = \"hello\""))
+    assertTrue(output.contains("val res2: Boolean = true"))
+
+  @Test def bindingTypes(): Unit =
+    val output = captureOutput { out =>
+      val replMain = new ReplMain(
+        settings = defaultOptions ++ Array("-repl-quit-after-init"),
+        out = out,
+        testCode = "list\nmap"
+      )
+
+      replMain.run(
+        "list" -> List(1, 2, 3),
+        "map" -> Map(1 -> "hello")
+      )
+    }
+
+    assertTrue(output.contains("val res0: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)"))
+    assertTrue(output.contains("val res1: Map[Int, String] = Map(1 -> \"hello\")"))
+
+end ReplMainTest
diff --git a/sbt-bridge/src/xsbt/ConsoleInterface.java b/sbt-bridge/src/xsbt/ConsoleInterface.java
index 3ba4e011c8e3..2f9ac33098d5 100644
--- a/sbt-bridge/src/xsbt/ConsoleInterface.java
+++ b/sbt-bridge/src/xsbt/ConsoleInterface.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public void run(
 
     state = driver.run(initialCommands, state);
     // TODO handle failure during initialisation
-    state = driver.runUntilQuit(state);
+    state = driver.runUntilQuit(state, null);
     driver.run(cleanupCommands, state);
   }
 }