Quickstart

bunx Plugin

Overview

The bunx plugin wraps Bun's package runner CLI. bunx is a fast npm package runner that downloads and executes npm packages on demand, caching them globally for reuse. It is the Bun equivalent of npx but significantly faster.

What is bunx?

bunx is the Bun runtime's package runner. It allows you to run CLI tools from npm packages without installing them globally. Packages are automatically downloaded into a global cache and executed on the fly.

Quick Start

1. Install bunx

bunx is bundled with the Bun runtime:

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
# or with Homebrew
brew install oven-sh/bun/bun

2. Verify installation

bunx --version

Common Use Cases

Run a package without installing

# Run a one-off command
bunx cowsay "Hello from bunx"

# Run prettier
bunx prettier --write src/

Use a specific version

bunx typescript@5.0.0 --version

Force using Bun runtime

bunx --bun vite dev

When binary name differs from package name

bunx -p @angular/cli ng new my-app

Key Flags

• --bun - Force execution with Bun instead of Node.js
• -p, --package <package> - Specify package when binary name differs
• --no-install - Skip installation if package not already installed
• --verbose - Enable verbose output
• --silent - Suppress output during installation

Useful Commands

• sc bunx _ _ <package> - Run any npm package via bunx
• sc bunx _ _ --bun <package> - Run package with Bun runtime

Tips

• Uses global cache at ~/.bun/install/cache/ for faster subsequent runs
• Supports all npm package names and versions
• Automatically resolves binary names from package.json

Requirements

• Bun runtime installed

Resources

• Docs: https://bun.sh/docs/cli/bunx
• GitHub: https://github.com/oven-sh/bun