tsk — TypeScript compiler on QuickJS

Runs the TypeScript 5.4.5 compiler (tsc.js) under QuickJS via a Node.js compatibility shim — no Node.js required.

Prerequisites

• qjs (QuickJS interpreter, version 2024-01-01 or later)

Usage

qjs --std -I node_shim.js typescript-5.4.5/tsc.js [tsc args...]

Examples:

# Type-check a file without emitting output
qjs --std -I node_shim.js typescript-5.4.5/tsc.js --noEmit src/main.ts

# Compile to ES2020 JavaScript
qjs --std -I node_shim.js typescript-5.4.5/tsc.js --target es2020 --outDir dist src/main.ts

# Use a tsconfig.json
qjs --std -I node_shim.js typescript-5.4.5/tsc.js -p tsconfig.json

# Print compiler version
qjs --std -I node_shim.js typescript-5.4.5/tsc.js --version

You can wrap this in a shell alias or script:

#!/bin/sh
exec qjs --std -I /path/to/node_shim.js /path/to/typescript-5.4.5/tsc.js "$@"

How it works

tsc.js is a self-contained bundle that expects a Node.js environment. node_shim.js is loaded first (via -I) and provides the globals that tsc.js needs before it runs:

Shim component	What it provides
require('fs')	File I/O backed by QuickJS std/os modules
require('path')	Pure-JS POSIX path utilities
require('os')	Platform info (linux, EOL, homedir, tmpdir)
require('buffer')	Buffer class (extends Uint8Array) with full encoding support
process	argv, env, cwd(), stdout/stderr, nextTick, hrtime
__filename, __dirname	Resolved from scriptArgs[0]
module, exports	CommonJS stubs (needed for isNodeLikeSystem() check)
require('./rel') / require('pkg')	CommonJS module loader — resolves files and node_modules
TypeScript plugin host (sys.require())	Plugin host calls require() with absolute paths; these resolve correctly via the module loader

require() supports relative paths (./, ../), absolute paths, and bare package names. For bare names it walks node_modules directories up the filesystem tree (standard Node.js resolution). Entry points are resolved via package.json "main", falling back to index.js. Modules are cached after first load; circular dependencies receive a partial exports object, matching Node.js behaviour.

Because require('crypto') throws, TypeScript falls back to its built-in generateDjb2Hash for content hashing. Incremental build info (.tsbuildinfo) still works; it just uses a different hash algorithm than SHA-256.

Limitations

• Watch mode (--watch) is not supported. Passing --watch or -w exits immediately with an error. Use a shell loop or external file watcher instead.
• No source-map-support. Stack traces in compiler errors won't be remapped. The compiler still reports TypeScript-level diagnostics correctly.
• No CPU profiling. --generateCpuProfile is not supported and exits immediately with an error.

Tests

make test

Or run individual suites:

qjs --std -I node_shim.js -I test_runner.js shim_tests.js
qjs --std -I node_shim.js -I test_runner.js tsc_tests.js

The suite covers Buffer, path, fs, os, process, require, TextEncoder/TextDecoder, btoa/atob, and end-to-end tsc invocations.

Files

node_shim.js          Node.js compatibility shim
test_runner.js        Shared test harness
shim_tests.js         Shim unit tests
tsc_tests.js          End-to-end compiler tests