---

name: bun-development description: "Fast, modern JavaScript/TypeScript development with the Bun runtime, inspired by oven-sh/bun." risk: critical source: community date_added: "2026-02-27"

⚡ 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

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1. Getting Started

1.1 Installation

# macOS / Linux
brew install oven-sh/bun/bun

# Alternative: download the official installer, inspect it, then execute it
curl -fsSLo /tmp/bun-install.sh https://bun.sh/install
sed -n '1,160p' /tmp/bun-install.sh
bash /tmp/bun-install.sh

# Windows
powershell -NoProfile -Command "Invoke-WebRequest https://bun.sh/install.ps1 -OutFile $env:TEMP\\bun-install.ps1; Get-Content $env:TEMP\\bun-install.ps1 -TotalCount 120; powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $env:TEMP\\bun-install.ps1"

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

# npm (if needed)
npm install -g bun

# Upgrade
bun upgrade

1.2 Why Bun?

| Feature | Bun | Node.js | | :-------------- | :------------- | :-------------------------- | | Startup time | ~25ms | ~100ms+ | | Package install | 10-100x faster | Baseline | | TypeScript | Native | Requires transpiler | | JSX | Native | Requires transpiler | | Test runner | Built-in | External (Jest, Vitest) | | Bundler | Built-in | External (Webpack, esbuild) |

---

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 react@18.2.0
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 typescript@4.9 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 ho