Typescript Workflow

TypeScript/JavaScript Projects Workflow

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

Guidelines for working with TypeScript and JavaScript projects using Bun as the primary package manager with modern tooling and best practices.

Tool Grid

CRITICAL: Bun Package Manager

You MUST use Bun commands for all package and runtime operations in Bun projects:

# Package management
bun install        # Install dependencies from package.json
bun add <package>  # Add production dependency
bun add --dev <package>  # Add development dependency
bun remove <package>  # Remove dependency

# Running code and scripts
bun run <script>   # Run script defined in package.json
bun <file.ts>      # Run TypeScript/JavaScript directly
bun run build      # Run build script

# Testing
bun test           # Run tests with Bun's native test runner

# Package info
bun list           # List installed packages
bun outdated       # Check for updates

Benefits of Bun:

• Native TypeScript support (no transpilation setup)
• Significantly faster than Node.js
• All-in-one tool (package manager, runtime, test runner)
• Smaller node_modules footprint
• Drop-in Node.js compatibility for most packages

Module Systems

ESM (ECMAScript Modules) - Preferred

Default for Bun projects and modern TypeScript:

// Import named exports
import { UserService } from './services/user-service';
import { type User } from './types';

// Import default exports
import express from 'express';

// Import with alias
import * as helpers from './utils/helpers';

// Export named
export function getUserById(id: string): Promise<User> {
  // ...
}

// Export default
export default UserService;

// Re-export
export { type User } from './types';
export { UserService } from './services/user-service';

CommonJS Fallback

Use only when necessary for legacy compatibility:

// Require imports
const { UserService } = require('./services/user-service');
const express = require('express');

// Module exports
module.exports = UserService;
module.exports = { UserService, UserRepository };

Mixed Module Usage

In package.json, specify module type:

{
  "type": "module",
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

TypeScript Configuration

tsconfig.json Best Practices

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2020",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "lib": ["ES2020"],
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "strict": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "allowJs": false,
    "outDir": "./dist",
    "rootDir": "./src",
    "baseUrl": ".",
    "paths": {
      "@/*": ["src/*"],
      "@services/*": ["src/services/*"],
      "@models/*": ["src/models/*"]
    },
    "declaration": true,
    "declarationMap": true,
    "sourceMap": true,
    "removeComments": true,
    "noImplicitAny": true,
    "strictNullChecks": true,
    "strictFunctionTypes": true,
    "strictPropertyInitialization": true,
    "noUnusedLocals": true,
    "noUnusedParameters": true,
    "noImplicitReturns": true,
    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true
  },
  "include": ["src"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist", "**/*.test.ts"]
}

Key Options Explained

• target: ES2020 for modern environments, ES2015 for legacy support
• module: ESNext for Bun/bundlers, CommonJS for Node.js compatibility
• moduleResolution: bundler (for Bun/bundlers), node (for Node.js)
• strict: Enable all strict type checking
• skipLibCheck: Skip type checking of declaration files
• baseUrl + paths: Enable path aliases for cleaner imports
• noUnusedLocals/Parameters: Catch dead code

Code Style and Formatting

Biome (Preferred)

Biome is the RECOMMENDED all-in-one tool for linting and formatting. It replaces ESLint and Prettier with faster performance and unified configuration.

Installation:

bun add --dev @biomejs/biome

Configuration (biome.json):

{
  "$schema": "https://biomejs.dev/schemas/1.9.4/schema.json",
  "organizeImports": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "formatter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "indentStyle": "space",
    "indentWidth": 2,
    "lineWidth": 100
  },
  "linter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "rules": {
      "recommended": true,
      "complexity": {
        "noUselessSwitchCase": "error"
      },
      "style": {
        "noNonNullAssertion": "warn"
      }
    }
  },
  "javascript": {
    "formatter": {
      "semicolons": "always",
      "quoteStyle": "single",
      "trailingCommas": "es5"
    }
  }
}

Usage:

# Check and fix all issues
bun run biome check --apply .

# Format only
bun run biome format --write .

# Lint only
bun run biome lint .

# CI mode (check without fixing)
bun run biome check .

Legacy: ESLint + Prettier

If a project uses ESLint/Prettier, migration to Biome is RECOMMENDED. For legacy support:

# ESLint
bun add --dev eslint
bun run eslint src/ --fix

# Prettier
bun add --dev prettier
bun run prettier --write src/

Naming Conventions

File Naming

• Components: PascalCase - UserProfile.tsx, LoginForm.tsx
• Utilities/Helpers: camelCase - formatDate.ts, apiClient.ts
• Types/Interfaces: PascalCase - User.ts, ApiResponse.ts
• Constants: UPPER_SNAKE_CASE - API_ENDPOINTS.ts, CONFIG.ts
• Test files: .test.ts or .spec.ts suffix - user.service.test.ts

Code Naming

// Classes/Types/Interfaces/Enums: PascalCase
class UserService { /* ... */ }
interface UserRepository { /* ... */ }
enum UserRole { Admin = 'ADMIN', User = 'USER' }

// Methods, properties, variables, functions: camelCase
getUserById(id: string): Promise<User>
const userData = {};

// Private members: camelCase with leading underscore
private _cache: Map<string, User> = new Map();

// Constants: UPPER_SNAKE_CASE
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
const API_BASE_URL = 'https://api.example.com';

// React hooks: camelCase with use prefix
function useUserData(userId: string) { /* ... */ }

Type Safety and Annotations

Type Hints

• Explicit types for function parameters and return values
• MUST NOT use any - use unknown and type narrowing if needed
• Avoid implicit any - enable noImplicitAny in tsconfig.json

// Function parameters and return types
function processUser(user: User): Promise<ProcessedUser> {
  // ...
}

// Arrow functions
const formatName = (first: string, last: string): string => {
  return `${first} ${last}`;
};

// Complex types
type ApiResponse<T> = {
  status: number;
  data: T;
  error?: string;
};

interface RequestHandler {
  handle(request: Request): Promise<Response>;
}

Generics

// Generic functions
function getById<T extends { id: string }>(items: T[], id: string): T | undefined {
  return items.find((item) => item.id === id);
}

// Generic classes
class Repository<T> {
  async getById(id: string): Promise<T | null> {
    // ...
  }
}

// Generic types
type Result<T, E = Error> = { success: true; data: T } | { success: false; error: E };

Data Validation

Use Zod for runtime validation with type inference:

import { z } from 'zod';

// Schema definition
const UserSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string().uuid(),
  name: z.string().min(1),
  email: z.string().email(),
  age: z.number().int().positive().optional(),
});

// Type inference from schema
type User = z.infer<typeof UserSchema>;

// Runtime validation
function createUser(data: unknown): User {
  return UserSchema.parse(data);
}

// Safe parsing with error handling
const result = UserSchema.safeParse(data);
if (!result.success) {
  console.error(result.error.format());
}

Project Structure

Recommended Directory Layout

project/
├── src/
│   ├── main.ts              # Entry point
│   ├── types/               # Type definitions
│   ├── services/            # Business logic
│   ├── repositories/        # Data access layer
│   ├── models/              # Data models
│   ├── handlers/            # Request/event handlers
│   ├── middleware/          # Express/web middleware
│   ├── utils/               # Utility functions
│   └── config/              # Configuration
├── tests/                   # Unit and integration tests
├── dist/                    # Compiled output (gitignored)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── biome.json
└── bun.lock

Import Patterns

// Absolute imports with path aliases
import { UserService } from '@services/user-service';
import type { User } from '@models/user';

// Relative imports within same feature
import { UserRepository } from '../repositories/user-repository';
import { validateUser } from '../utils/validators';

// Re-exports from index files
export { UserService, UserRepository } from './index';

Error Handling

Exception Best Practices

// Define custom error classes
class AppError extends Error {
  constructor(message: string, public code: string, public statusCode = 500) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'AppError';
  }
}

class ValidationError extends AppError {
  constructor(message: string, public field: string) {
    super(message, 'VALIDATION_ERROR', 400);
  }
}

class NotFoundError extends AppError {
  constructor(message: string) {
    super(message, 'NOT_FOUND', 404);
  }
}

// Result pattern for explicit error handling
type Result<T, E = Error> = { ok: true; value: T } | { ok: false; error: E };

async function safeFetchUser(id: string): Promise<Result<User, AppError>> {
  try {
    const user = await getUser(id);
    return { ok: true, value: user };
  } catch (error) {
    return { ok: false, error: error instanceof AppError ? error : new AppError('Unknown', 'UNKNOWN') };
  }
}

Configuration Management

Environment Variables

Use Zod for environment validation:

// env.ts
import { z } from 'zod';

const EnvSchema = z.object({
  NODE_ENV: z.enum(['development', 'production', 'test']).default('development'),
  PORT: z.coerce.number().default(3000),
  DATABASE_URL: z.string().url(),
  API_KEY: z.string(),
});

export default EnvSchema.parse(process.env);

Common Async Patterns

// Async/await with error handling
async function fetchUserData(id: string): Promise<User> {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${id}`);
    if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Failed to fetch');
    return response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching user:', error);
    throw error;
  }
}

// Concurrent operations with Promise.all
async function loadDashboardData(): Promise<DashboardData> {
  const [users, products, stats] = await Promise.all([
    fetchUsers(),
    fetchProducts(),
    fetchStats(),
  ]);
  return { users, products, stats };
}

Testing Integration

import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'bun:test';
import { UserService } from '@services/user-service';

describe('UserService', () => {
  let service: UserService;

  beforeEach(() => {
    service = new UserService();
  });

  it('should fetch user by id', async () => {
    const user = await service.getById('123');
    expect(user).toBeDefined();
    expect(user?.id).toBe('123');
  });
});

See typescript-testing skill for comprehensive testing patterns.

Quick Reference

Key Rules:

• MUST use Bun commands in Bun projects
• MUST NOT use any - use unknown and type guards
• Use ESM (import/export) by default
• Enable strict TypeScript ("strict": true)
• Validate all external input with Zod
• Use custom error classes and Result types

Out of Scope

• Next.js specifics → see nextjs-workflow
• React specifics → see react-workflow
• Database migrations → see database-workflow

Note: For project-specific TypeScript patterns, check .claude/CLAUDE.md in the project directory.