esbuild

Extremely fast JavaScript and TypeScript bundler

TLDR

Bundle JavaScript file

$ esbuild [app.js] --bundle --outfile=[out.js]

Bundle with minification

$ esbuild [app.js] --bundle --minify --outfile=[out.js]

Bundle TypeScript

$ esbuild [app.ts] --bundle --outfile=[out.js]

Watch mode

$ esbuild [app.js] --bundle --watch --outfile=[out.js]

Start dev server

$ esbuild [app.js] --bundle --serve=[8000]

Bundle for browser

$ esbuild [app.js] --bundle --platform=browser --outfile=[out.js]

Generate source maps

$ esbuild [app.js] --bundle --sourcemap --outfile=[out.js]

SYNOPSIS

esbuild [options] [entrypoints_...]

esbuild is an extremely fast JavaScript and TypeScript bundler and minifier. Written in Go, it's 10-100x faster than traditional bundlers like webpack or Parcel.The tool handles bundling, minification, code splitting, tree shaking, and transpilation. It supports JSX, TypeScript, and modern JavaScript features without configuration.esbuild's speed makes it ideal for development builds and as a lower-level tool in build pipelines.

PARAMETERS

ENTRYPOINTS_

Input files to process.

--bundle

Bundle dependencies.

--outfile FILE

Output file path.

--minify

Minify output.

--watch

Rebuild on changes.

--serve [PORT]

Start development server.

--platform PLATFORM

Target: browser, node, neutral.

--sourcemap

Generate source maps.

--target VERSION

JavaScript target version, e.g. es2020 or chrome100.

--outdir DIR

Output directory (use instead of --outfile when there are multiple outputs).

--format FORMAT

Output module format: iife, cjs or esm.

--loader:.ext=loader

How to load a given file extension (js, ts, jsx, json, text, base64, dataurl, file, ...).

--define:K=V

Substitute a global identifier with a constant expression at build time.

--external:pkg

Exclude a package from the bundle and leave the import in place.

--splitting

Enable code splitting (esm format only).

--metafile FILE

Write a JSON file describing the build, for bundle analysis.

--help

Display help information.

INSTALL

sudo apt install esbuild

sudo pacman -S esbuild

sudo apk add esbuild

sudo zypper install esbuild

brew install esbuild

nix profile install nixpkgs#esbuild

CAVEATS

Plugin ecosystem smaller than webpack. Some transformations not supported. Configuration differs from other bundlers. May need plugins for complex setups.

HISTORY

esbuild was created by Evan Wallace (co-founder of Figma) and released in 2020. Its dramatic speed improvement over existing tools came from being written in Go with parallelization.

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage · Documentation