bunx

Download and execute a package from the registry

$ bunx [package_name] "[command_argument]"

$ bunx [package_name] --version

$ bunx --bun [package_name]

$ bunx [[-p|--package]] [package_name] [command]

$ bunx [package_name@version] "[command_argument]"

bunx [<options>] <package>[<@version>] [<args>...]

-y, --yes
    Skip confirmation prompts during install

--registry <url>
    Use custom npm registry (default: registry.npmjs.org)

--cache-dir <dir>
    Custom directory for package cache

-g, --global
    Install and run from global scope (experimental)

-h, --help
    Display help and exit

--version
    Output bunx version

bunx is a command-line tool from Bun, an extremely fast JavaScript runtime, bundler, and package manager designed as a drop-in replacement for Node.js, npm, Webpack, and more. It functions like npx, enabling execution of binaries from npm packages without global or local installation.

When invoked as bunx <package> [<args>...], bunx checks Bun's global cache (typically ~/.bun/install/cache/bunx). If the package is absent, it downloads and installs it blazingly fast—often 20x quicker than npx due to Bun's optimized installer. It then runs the binary specified in the package's package.json 'bin' field.

Supports version pinning (package@1.0.0), scoped packages (@scope/pkg), and common CLIs like TypeScript, ESLint, or cowsay. Ideal for scripts, CI/CD, or one-off tools, ensuring reproducible runs without node_modules bloat. Works on Linux, macOS, Windows.

Requires Bun installed (>=0.5.0). Only runs packages with 'bin' in package.json. Cache can grow large; clear with bun pm cache rm bunx. Not for production servers—use installed deps.

bunx cowsay 'moo'
bunx tsc --version
bunx eslint --init
bunx typescript@latest --help

View: bun pm cache ls bunx
Clear: bun pm cache rm bunx
Default path: ~/.bun/install/cache/bunx

Launched in September 2022 with Bun 0.1 by Jarred Sumner (ex-WebKit). Evolved rapidly; by Bun 1.0 (2023), became production-ready npx drop-in with 10-30x speed gains over npm.

npx(1), yarn(1), pnpm(1), bun(1)