Simple Guide to Start a Project with Node.js and TypeScript

Guide available in Spanish

Features

• pnpm to manage dependencies
• TypeScript
• ESlint for syntax errors
• Prettier to format the code

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage
  • ESlint
  • Prettier
  • Run the project

Configuration

1. Create a directory for the project

mkdir node_project
cd node_project

2. Initialize the project with pnpm

pnpm init

Copy the following and paste it into package.json.

{
  "name": "node_project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "tsc && node dist/index.js",
    "lint": "eslint .",
    "format": "pnpm exec prettier . --write",
    "format-spec": "prettier --write",
    "check": "pnpm exec prettier . --check",
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@eslint/js": "^9.9.1",
    "eslint": "^9.9.1",
    "globals": "^15.9.0",
    "prettier": "3.3.3",
    "typescript": "^5.5.4",
    "typescript-eslint": "^8.3.0"
  }
}

3. Create a configuration file for TypeScript

touch tsconfig.json

Copy the following and paste it into tsconfig.json.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "module": "commonjs",
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "target": "es6",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "sourceMap": true,
    "outDir": "dist",
    "strict": true,
    "noImplicitAny": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  },
  "lib": ["es2015"],
  "include": ["**/*"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
}

4. Install eslint

pnpm install --save-dev eslint

Initialize eslint

pnpm eslint --init

Copy the following and paste it into eslint.config.mjs.

import globals from 'globals';
import pluginJs from '@eslint/js';
import tseslint from 'typescript-eslint';

export default [
  { files: ['**/*.{js,mjs,cjs,ts}'] },
  { ignores: ['node_modules', 'dist'] },
  { languageOptions: { globals: globals.node } },
  pluginJs.configs.recommended,
  ...tseslint.configs.recommended,
];

5. Install prettier

pnpm install --save-dev prettier

Create a configuration file for prettier

touch .prettierrc

Copy the following and paste it into .prettierrc.

{
  "printWidth": 80,
  "tabWidth": 4,
  "useTabs": false,
  "semi": true,
  "singleQuote": true,
  "trailingComma": "es5",
  "bracketSpacing": true,
  "jsxBracketSameLine": false,
  "arrowParens": "always"
}

Create an ignore file for Prettier

touch .prettierignore

Copy the following and paste it into .prettierignore.

node_modules
dist

Prettier will also follow rules specified in .gitignore if it exists in the same directory from which it is executed.

Usage

ESLint

pnpm lint

Prettier

Format the code

pnpm format

Format the specific folder or file

pnpm format-spec <path>

Format the specific test file

pnpm format-spec <ruta/**/*.test.js>

Check if the code is formatted correctly

pnpm check

Run the project

Prerequisites:

• Have a src/index.ts, etc.
• Install the dependencies

pnpm start

Compiles the project and runs the file dist/index.js

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