⚡ Bun Development

Fast, modern JavaScript/TypeScript development with the Bun runtime, inspired by oven-sh/bun.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Starting new JS/TS projects with Bun
• Migrating from Node.js to Bun
• Optimizing development speed
• Using Bun's built-in tools (bundler, test runner)
• Troubleshooting Bun-specific issues

1. Getting Started

1.1 Installation

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# Windows
powershell -c "irm bun.sh/install.ps1 | iex"

# Homebrew
brew tap oven-sh/bun
brew install bun

# npm (if needed)
npm install -g bun

# Upgrade
bun upgrade

1.2 Why Bun?

2. Project Setup

2.1 Create New Project

# Initialize project
bun init

# Creates:
# ├── package.json
# ├── tsconfig.json
# ├── index.ts
# └── README.md

# With specific template
bun create <template> <project-name>

# Examples
bun create react my-app        # React app
bun create next my-app         # Next.js app
bun create vite my-app         # Vite app
bun create elysia my-api       # Elysia API

2.2 package.json

{
  "name": "my-bun-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "module": "index.ts",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "bun run --watch index.ts",
    "start": "bun run index.ts",
    "test": "bun test",
    "build": "bun build ./index.ts --outdir ./dist",
    "lint": "bunx eslint ."
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/bun": "latest"
  },
  "peerDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^5.0.0"
  }
}

2.3 tsconfig.json (Bun-optimized)

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "lib": ["ESNext"],
    "module": "esnext",
    "target": "esnext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "moduleDetection": "force",
    "allowImportingTsExtensions": true,
    "noEmit": true,
    "composite": true,
    "strict": true,
    "downlevelIteration": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "jsx": "react-jsx",
    "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "allowJs": true,
    "types": ["bun-types"]
  }
}

3. Package Management

3.1 Installing Packages

# Install from package.json
bun install              # or 'bun i'

# Add dependencies
bun add express          # Regular dependency
bun add -d typescript    # Dev dependency
bun add -D @types/node   # Dev dependency (alias)
bun add --optional pkg   # Optional dependency

# From specific registry
bun add lodash --registry https://registry.npmmirror.com

# Install specific version
bun add [email protected]
bun add react@latest
bun add react@next

# From git
bun add github:user/repo
bun add git+https://github.com/user/repo.git

3.2 Removing & Updating

# Remove package
bun remove lodash

# Update packages
bun update              # Update all
bun update lodash       # Update specific
bun update --latest     # Update to latest (ignore ranges)

# Check outdated
bun outdated

3.3 bunx (npx equivalent)

# Execute package binaries
bunx prettier --write .
bunx tsc --init
bunx create-react-app my-app

# With specific version
bunx -p [email protected] tsc --version

# Run without installing
bunx cowsay "Hello from Bun!"

3.4 Lockfile

# bun.lockb is a binary lockfile (faster parsing)
# To generate text lockfile for debugging:
bun install --yarn    # Creates yarn.lock

# Trust existing lockfile
bun install --frozen-lockfile

4. Running Code

4.1 Basic Execution

# Run TypeScript directly (no build step!)
bun run index.ts

# Run JavaScript
bun run index.js

# Run with arguments
bun run server.ts --port 3000

# Run package.json script
bun run dev
bun run build

# Short form (for scripts)
bun dev
bun build

4.2 Watch Mode

# Auto-restart on file changes
bun --watch run index.ts

# With hot reloading
bun --hot run server.ts

4.3 Environment Variables

// .env file is loaded automatically!

// Access environment variables
const apiKey = Bun.env.API_KEY;
const port = Bun.env.PORT ?? "3000";

// Or use process.env (Node.js compatible)
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;

# Run with specific env file
bun --env-file=.env.production run index.ts

5. Built-in APIs

5.1 File System (Bun.file)

// Read file
const file = Bun.file("./data.json");
const text = await file.text();
const json = await file.json();
const buffer = await file.arrayBuffer();

// File info
console.log(file.size); // bytes
console.log(file.type); // MIME type

// Write file
await Bun.write("./output.txt", "Hello, Bun!");
await Bun.write("./data.json", JSON.stringify({ foo: "bar" }));

// Stream large files
const reader = file.stream()