generate-knit-types

Auto-generate Luau type definitions for Knit services and controllers. Get full IDE IntelliSense for your Roblox Knit framework! 🚀

Features

• ✅ Automatic type generation from service/controller files
• ✅ Supports multi-line return types
• ✅ Client vs server method detection
• ✅ Extracts table-literal controller/service properties (e.g. NotificationStyles)
• ✅ Recursive directory scanning (nested folders supported)
• ✅ Dedupe for repeated methods
• ✅ Zero configuration (uses Knit conventions)
• ✅ Works with all Luau-supporting IDEs

Installation

npm install --save-dev generate-knit-types

Usage

Quick Start

Add to your package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "generate-types": "generate-knit-types",
    "build": "npm run generate-types && rojo build -o Code.rbxlx"
  }
}

Then run:

npm run generate-types

This generates src/shared/Components/KnitTypes.luau

Custom Directories

generate-knit-types --services src/server/MyServices --controllers src/client/MyControllers --output src/Types.luau

In Your Code

Controllers (Client-side)

local KnitTypes = require(ReplicatedStorage.Components.KnitTypes)
local BankService = KnitTypes.GetService("BankService") :: KnitTypes.BankService

-- IntelliSense now works! ✨
local maxStorage: number = BankService:GetMaxStorage(player)
local info = BankService:GetBankInfo(player)  -- Returns typed table

Services (Server-side)

local KnitTypes = require(ReplicatedStorage.Components.KnitTypes)
local SkinController = KnitTypes.GetController("SkinController") :: KnitTypes.SkinController

SkinController:CreateSkinViewport(viewport, model)

How It Works

The script scans your:

• src/server/Services/ - Extracts service types
• src/shared/Controllers/ - Extracts controller types

Generates:

• Full service types (all server + client methods)
• Client-specific types (only .Client: methods)
• All controller types
• Utility functions: GetService<T>() and GetController<T>()

Type Detection

• Parameters: Extracts type annotations from function signatures
• Return Types: Handles single-line (number, string) and multi-line table types
• Client Methods: Automatically detects .Client: marker in function definitions
• Properties: Infers table-literal property shapes assigned on Knit roots

Robustness Notes

• Unknown or runtime-only expressions in inferred property values are safely emitted as any.
• Inline one-line methods like function X:KnitStart(): () end are handled correctly.
• Output ordering is stable (sorted), so generated diffs are predictable.

Example Output

For BankService:

export type BankService = {
    GetMaxStorage: (self: any, player: Player) -> number,
    SaveBank: (self: any, player: Player) -> { ok: boolean, saved: number?, message: string? },
    GetBankInfo: (self: any, player: Player) -> {
        maxStorage: number,
        nextUpgradeCost: number,
        storageLevel: number,
        loadTimerDuration: number,
    },
}

export type BankServiceClient = {
    SaveBank: (self: any, player: Player) -> { ok: boolean, saved: number?, message: string? },
}

Project Structure

Your Roblox project should follow this structure:

project/
├── src/
│   ├── server/
│   │   └── Services/        ← Services here
│   ├── shared/
│   │   ├── Controllers/     ← Controllers here
│   │   └── Components/      ← Generated types go here
│   └── client/
├── package.json
└── default.project.json

CLI Options

generate-knit-types [options]

Options:
  --services DIR      Services directory (default: src/server/Services)
  --controllers DIR   Controllers directory (default: src/shared/Controllers)
  --output FILE       Output file (default: src/shared/Components/KnitTypes.luau)

Requirements

• Node.js 14+
• Your project uses Knit framework
• Services in src/server/Services/
• Controllers in src/shared/Controllers/

License

MIT