@gentleduck/gen

Duck Gen scans your TypeScript server code and generates type-safe route maps and message registries. It is currently tested with NestJS.

Install

pnpm add -D @gentleduck/gen

Quick start

Create a duck-gen.json at your project root:

{
  "$schema": "node_modules/@gentleduck/gen/duck-gen.schema.json",
  "framework": "nestjs",
  "extensions": {
    "shared": {
      "includeNodeModules": false,
      "outputSource": "./generated",
      "sourceGlobs": ["src/**/*.ts", "src/**/*.tsx"],
      "tsconfigPath": "./tsconfig.json"
    },
    "apiRoutes": {
      "enabled": true,
      "globalPrefix": "/api",
      "normalizeAnyToUnknown": true,
      "outputSource": ["./generated", "./src/generated"]
    },
    "messages": {
      "enabled": true,
      "outputSource": "./generated"
    }
  }
}

Add a message group tagged for Duck Gen:

/**
 * @duckgen messages
 */
export const AuthMessages = [
  'AUTH_SIGNIN_SUCCESS',
  'AUTH_SIGNIN_FAILED',
] as const

Run the generator:

pnpm exec duck-gen

Import generated types (package outputs only exist when you don't set outputSource):

import type {
  ApiRoutes,
  DuckGenI18nMessages,
  DuckgenScopedI18nByGroup,
} from '@gentleduck/gen/nestjs'

If you configure outputSource, import directly from your generated file instead:

import type { ApiRoutes } from './generated/duck-gen-api-routes'

Output

Duck Gen writes type definitions to @gentleduck/gen/generated/<framework> and exposes them via framework entrypoints like @gentleduck/gen/nestjs only when no output paths are configured. If you set extensions.shared.outputSource, extensions.apiRoutes.outputSource, or extensions.messages.outputSource, the generator writes only to those configured paths (paths resolve relative to duck-gen.json). When you customize outputs, import types from those files directly instead of the package entrypoints.

Generated files include:

• duck-gen-api-routes.d.ts
• duck-gen-messages.d.ts
• index.d.ts

Notes

• If duck-gen.json is missing, defaults are used.
• Run the CLI from the project root so paths resolve correctly.
• Message arrays should be as const so keys are literal types.
• sourceGlobs are resolved relative to duck-gen.json and override tsconfig includes for that extension when provided.
• If no sourceGlobs are provided, Duck Gen uses defaults:
  • API routes: **/*.controller.ts(x)
  • Messages: **/*.ts(x)
• API routes do not fall back to extensions.shared.sourceGlobs. If your controllers don’t follow *.controller.ts(x), set extensions.apiRoutes.sourceGlobs explicitly.
• Duck Gen automatically excludes node_modules, dist, generated, and .turbo from globs unless includeNodeModules is true.
• If no tsconfigPath is set, Duck Gen prefers tsconfig.duckgen.json (if it exists) and falls back to tsconfig.json.