⚡ 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
brew install oven-sh/bun/bun

# Alternative: download the official installer, inspect it, then execute it
tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf "$tmpdir"' EXIT
curl -fsSLo "$tmpdir/bun-install.sh" https://bun.sh/install
sed -n '1,160p' "$tmpdir/bun-install.sh"
bash "$tmpdir/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?

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 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();
for await (const chunk of reader) {
  console.log(chunk);
}

5.2 HTTP Server (Bun.serve)

const server = Bun.serve({
  port: 3000,

  fetch(request) {
    const url = new URL(request.url);

    if (url.pathname === "/") {
      return new Response("Hello World!");
    }

    if (url.pathname === "/api/users") {
      return Response.json([
        { id: 1, name: "Alice" },
        { id: 2, name: "Bob" },
      ]);
    }

    return new Response("Not Found", { status: 404 });
  },

  error(error) {
    return new Response(`Error: ${error.message}`, { status: 500 });
  },
});

console.log(`Server running at http://localhost:${server.port}`);

5.3 WebSocket Server

const server = Bun.serve({
  port: 3000,

  fetch(req, server) {
    // Upgrade to WebSocket
    if (server.upgrade(req)) {
      return; // Upgraded
    }
    return new Response("Upgrade failed", { status: 500 });
  },

  websocket: {
    open(ws) {
      console.log("Client connected");
      ws.send("Welcome!");
    },

    message(ws, message) {
      console.log(`Received: ${message}`);
      ws.send(`Echo: ${message}`);
    },

    close(ws) {
      console.log("Client disconnected");
    },
  },
});

5.4 SQLite (Bun.sql)

import { Database } from "bun:sqlite";

const db = new Database("mydb.sqlite");

// Create table
db.run(`
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    name TEXT NOT NULL,
    email TEXT UNIQUE
  )
`);

// Insert
const insert = db.prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?)");
insert.run("Alice", "alice@example.com");

// Query
const query = db.prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = ?");
const user = query.get("Alice");
console.log(user); // { id: 1, name: "Alice", email: "alice@example.com" }

// Query all
const allUsers = db.query("SELECT * FROM users").all();

5.5 Password Hashing

// Hash password
const password = "super-secret";
const hash = await Bun.password.hash(password);

// Verify password
const isValid = await Bun.password.verify(password, hash);
console.log(isValid); // true

// With algorithm options
const bcryptHash = await Bun.password.hash(password, {
  algorithm: "bcrypt",
  cost: 12,
});

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