@kjn/tsc-dual-build v1.1.0

@kjn/tsc-dual-build

Helps you build ESModules and CommonJS modules with ease.

HOW-TO-USE

Install script using npm

npm i @kjn/tsc-dual-build@latest

Execute dual-build

npx tsc-dual-build ./tsconfig.json

Recommended

Update package.json > scripts > build

"scripts": {
  "build": "tsc-dual-build tsconfig.json"
}

Now you can simply npm run build to execute a dual build

> tsc-dual-build

2️⃣  tsc-dual-build <tsConfigFile>
🔨 tsc-build
  module: "es2022"
  outDir: "./dist/esm"
🔨 tsc-build
  module: "commonjs"
  outDir: "./dist/cjs"
⚙️ Exporting package.json
  created "dist/esm/package.json"
  created "dist/cjs/package.json"
🏁 tsc-dual-build finished

About

Will compile the following project structure

./src
  /**.*ts
./package.json
./tsconfig.json

into something like this

./dist
  /esm
    index.js
    package.json
  /cjs
    index.js
    package.json
  types.d.ts

The idea is that we'll create 2 seperate folders, 1 for ESM and 1 for CJS. In both these folders we'll place a local package.json file that contains the configuration solely for the module syntax of the directory.

e.g. ./dist/esm/package.json contains

• type: "module"
• main: "./dist/esm/index.js"

whereas ./dist/cjs/package.json contains

• type: "commonjs"
• main: "./dist/commonjs/index.js".

Additionally we assert that the root package.json contains the correct configuration to handle both imports and requires by enforcing the exports key to be present and setup correctly.

For tsc-dual-build to work you'd need 2 things

• extend your tsconfig.json with the required properties
• assert package.json contains the correct entry points for import and require

tsconfig.json

{
  "compilesOptions": {
    /** placeholder */
  },
  "include": [
    /** placeholder */
  ],

  /** Recommended setup */
  "tscDualBuild": {
    "esm": {
      "module": "es2022",
      "outDir": "./dist/esm"
    },
    "cjs": {
      "module": "commonjs",
      "outDir": "./dist/cjs"
    },
    "types": {
      "outDir": "./dist"
    }
  }
}

The (recommended) setup above will built

• your ECMAScript module using es2022 syntax of tsconfig. and will write its output to the folder ./dist/esm/\*\*
• your CommonJS module using CommonJS syntax of tsconfig. and will write its output to the folder ./dist/cjs/\*\*

The module and outDir properties are fully customisable aslong as they're valid tsconfig settings.

package.json

For the tsconfig.json above we can configure the root package.json as follows:

{
  "name": "<placeholder>",
  "version": "<placeholder>",
  "dependencies": {
    // <placeholder>
  },
  // ..
  // ..
  // etc..
  // ..
  "exports": {
    "import": "./dist/esm/index.js",
    "require": "./dist/cjs/index.js",
  },
  "types": "./dist/index.d.ts
}

Limitations

This project was build with a specific structure and setup in mind, therefore it might not be the golden hammer you're looking for.

Right now we're only supporting DUAL exports. There is simply no need to support more exports as most modern applications require either CommonJS OR ESM modules. Additionally at the time of writing we don't really care about old systems and many edge-cases that come with.

Another limitation that limits the use of this project would be that this setup assumes that there is only a single entry point for the codebase. IF you need more entry points this project won't work out of the box for you.