Skills

tsdown

Installation
SKILL.md

tsdown - The Elegant Library Bundler

Blazing-fast bundler for TypeScript/JavaScript libraries powered by Rolldown and Oxc.

When to Use

  • Building TypeScript/JavaScript libraries for npm
  • Generating TypeScript declaration files (.d.ts)
  • Bundling for multiple formats (ESM, CJS, IIFE, UMD)
  • Optimizing bundles with tree shaking and minification
  • Migrating from tsup with minimal changes
  • Building React, Vue, Solid, or Svelte component libraries

Quick Start

# Install
pnpm add -D tsdown

# Basic usage
npx tsdown

# With config file
npx tsdown --config tsdown.config.ts

# Watch mode
npx tsdown --watch

# Migrate from tsup
npx tsdown-migrate

Basic Configuration

import { defineConfig } from 'tsdown'

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['./src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
  clean: true,
})

Core References

Topic Description Reference
Getting Started Installation, first bundle, CLI basics guide-getting-started
Configuration File Config file formats, multiple configs, workspace option-config-file
CLI Reference All CLI commands and options reference-cli
Migrate from tsup Migration guide and compatibility notes guide-migrate-from-tsup
Plugins Rolldown, Rollup, Unplugin support advanced-plugins
Hooks Lifecycle hooks for custom logic advanced-hooks
Programmatic API Build from Node.js scripts advanced-programmatic
Rolldown Options Pass options directly to Rolldown advanced-rolldown-options
CI Environment CI detection, 'ci-only' / 'local-only' values advanced-ci

Build Options

Option Usage Reference
Entry points entry: ['src/*.ts', '!**/*.test.ts'] option-entry
Output formats format: ['esm', 'cjs', 'iife', 'umd'] option-output-format
Output directory outDir: 'dist', outExtensions option-output-directory
Type declarations dts: true, dts: { sourcemap, compilerOptions, vue } option-dts
Target environment target: 'es2020', target: 'esnext' option-target
Platform platform: 'node', platform: 'browser' option-platform
Tree shaking treeshake: true, custom options option-tree-shaking
Minification minify: true, minify: 'dce-only' option-minification
Source maps sourcemap: true, 'inline', 'hidden' option-sourcemap
Watch mode watch: true, watch options option-watch-mode
Cleaning clean: true, clean patterns option-cleaning
Log level logLevel: 'silent', failOnWarn: false option-log-level

Dependency Handling

Feature Usage Reference
Never bundle deps: { neverBundle: ['react', /^@myorg\//] } option-dependencies
Always bundle deps: { alwaysBundle: ['dep-to-bundle'] } option-dependencies
Only bundle deps: { onlyBundle: ['cac', 'bumpp'] } - Whitelist option-dependencies
Skip node_modules deps: { skipNodeModulesBundle: true } option-dependencies
Auto external Automatic peer/dependency externalization option-dependencies

Output Enhancement

Feature Usage Reference
Shims shims: true - Add ESM/CJS compatibility option-shims
CJS default cjsDefault: true (default) / false option-cjs-default
Package exports exports: true - Auto-generate exports field option-package-exports
CSS handling [experimental] css: { ... } — full pipeline with preprocessors, Lightning CSS, PostCSS, code splitting; requires @tsdown/css option-css
CSS inject css: { inject: true } — preserve CSS imports in JS output option-css
Unbundle mode unbundle: true - Preserve directory structure option-unbundle
Root directory root: 'src' - Control output directory mapping option-root
Executable [experimental] exe: true - Bundle as standalone executable, cross-platform via @tsdown/exe option-exe
Package validation publint: true, attw: true - Validate package option-lint

Framework & Runtime Support

Framework Guide Reference
React JSX transform, React Compiler recipe-react
Vue SFC support, JSX recipe-vue
Solid SolidJS JSX transform recipe-solid
Svelte Svelte component libraries (source distribution recommended) recipe-svelte
WASM WebAssembly modules via rolldown-plugin-wasm recipe-wasm

Common Patterns

Basic Library Bundle

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
  clean: true,
})

Multiple Entry Points

export default defineConfig({
  entry: {
    index: 'src/index.ts',
    utils: 'src/utils.ts',
    cli: 'src/cli.ts',
  },
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
})

Browser Library (IIFE/UMD)

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['iife'],
  globalName: 'MyLib',
  platform: 'browser',
  minify: true,
})

React Component Library

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.tsx'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
  deps: {
    neverBundle: ['react', 'react-dom'],
  },
  inputOptions: {
    jsx: { runtime: 'automatic' },
  },
})

Preserve Directory Structure

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/**/*.ts', '!**/*.test.ts'],
  unbundle: true, // Preserve file structure
  format: ['esm'],
  dts: true,
})

CI-Aware Configuration

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
  failOnWarn: 'ci-only',  // opt-in: fail on warnings in CI
  publint: 'ci-only',
  attw: 'ci-only',
})

WASM Support

import { wasm } from 'rolldown-plugin-wasm'
import { defineConfig } from 'tsdown'

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  plugins: [wasm()],
})

Library with CSS and Sass

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
  target: 'chrome100',
  css: {
    preprocessorOptions: {
      scss: {
        additionalData: `@use "src/styles/variables" as *;`,
      },
    },
  },
})

Standalone Executable

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/cli.ts'],
  exe: true,
})

Cross-Platform Executable (requires @tsdown/exe)

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/cli.ts'],
  exe: {
    targets: [
      { platform: 'linux', arch: 'x64', nodeVersion: '25.7.0' },
      { platform: 'darwin', arch: 'arm64', nodeVersion: '25.7.0' },
      { platform: 'win', arch: 'x64', nodeVersion: '25.7.0' },
    ],
  },
})

Advanced with Hooks

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
  hooks: {
    'build:before': async (context) => {
      console.log('Building...')
    },
    'build:done': async (context) => {
      console.log('Build complete!')
    },
  },
})

Configuration Features

Multiple Configs

Export an array for multiple build configurations:

export default defineConfig([
  {
    entry: ['src/index.ts'],
    format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
    dts: true,
  },
  {
    entry: ['src/cli.ts'],
    format: ['esm'],
    platform: 'node',
  },
])

Conditional Config

Use functions for dynamic configuration:

export default defineConfig((options) => {
  const isDev = options.watch
  return {
    entry: ['src/index.ts'],
    format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
    minify: !isDev,
    sourcemap: isDev,
  }
})

Workspace/Monorepo

Use glob patterns to build multiple packages:

export default defineConfig({
  workspace: 'packages/*',
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  dts: true,
})

CLI Quick Reference

# Basic commands
tsdown                          # Build once
tsdown --watch                  # Watch mode
tsdown --config custom.ts       # Custom config
npx tsdown-migrate              # Migrate from tsup

# Output options
tsdown --format esm,cjs        # Multiple formats
tsdown -d lib                  # Custom output directory (--out-dir)
tsdown --minify                # Enable minification
tsdown --dts                   # Generate declarations
tsdown --exe                   # Bundle as standalone executable
tsdown --unbundle              # Bundleless mode

# Entry options
tsdown src/index.ts            # Single entry
tsdown src/*.ts                # Glob patterns
tsdown src/a.ts src/b.ts       # Multiple entries

# Workspace / Monorepo
tsdown -W                      # Enable workspace mode
tsdown -W -F my-package        # Filter specific package
tsdown --filter /^pkg-/        # Filter by regex

# Development
tsdown --watch                 # Watch mode
tsdown --sourcemap             # Generate source maps
tsdown --clean                 # Clean output directory
tsdown --from-vite             # Reuse Vite config
tsdown --tsconfig tsconfig.build.json  # Custom tsconfig

Best Practices

  1. Always generate type declarations for TypeScript libraries:

    { dts: true }

  2. Externalize dependencies to avoid bundling unnecessary code:

    { deps: { neverBundle: [/^react/, /^@myorg\//] } }

  3. Use tree shaking for optimal bundle size:

    { treeshake: true }

  4. Enable minification for production builds:

    { minify: true }

  5. Add shims for better ESM/CJS compatibility:

    { shims: true }  // Adds __dirname, __filename, etc.

  6. Auto-generate package.json exports:

    { exports: true }  // Creates proper exports field

  7. Use watch mode during development:

    tsdown --watch

  8. Preserve structure for utilities with many files:

    { unbundle: true }  // Keep directory structure

  9. Validate packages in CI before publishing:

    { publint: 'ci-only', attw: 'ci-only' }

Resources

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Repository
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First Seen
Mar 31, 2026
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