tinybuild

npm i -g tinybuild or npm i tinybuild in local projects.

One stop HTML5/Javascript web, server, desktop, and mobile application development

This is the bundler and development server combo you always wanted. Goodbye esoteric instructions, goodbye unwieldy dependencies, and goodbye time wasted staring at your compiler running! Move over Webpack, Parcel, and Vite, there's a new game in town.

• Minimal esbuild bundler wrapper with custom boilerplate and plugins for all of your common javascript or typescript application, server, and library packaging needs. Has inbuilt support for typescript, jsx, and much more.
• Custom esbuild plugins for web workers, streaming imports, types bundling (e.g. for library development), and hotswapping css.
• Pure Nodejs hot reloading test environment with hot module swapping. Only 1 small third party dependency.
• Lightweight automated packaging of native Mobile and Desktop Apps via Capacitor, Electron, or Tauri.
• Bonus Python Quart multithreaded concurrent build and test env examples (not required).

Quickstart

Prerequisites: Latest NodeJS LTS

Globally install Tinybuild:

npm i -g tinybuild

From an empty project folder, initialize a default app instantly with:

tinybuild

You are ready to develop your applications or libraries!

Modify the tinybuild.config.js and package.json to your needs. You may add build:true or set server:false in the config to disable the development server.

Tinybuild also works as a local dependency e.g. npx tinybuild or executing the packager script via node.js in a custom script. See docs for more details and check out the source code.

The bundler and server presets include a full CLI, config file, or functional (in-script) wrapper for esbuild and server customization, and for creating multiple distributions from a single config (e.g. for browser, esm, node). Bundles and serves complicated libraries and programs in milliseconds with a hot reloading test environment, and makes it easier to scale to production.

For Existing Projects

In a project folder with a package.json (e.g. after running npm init for the first time),

Create a tinybuild.config.js file like so (copy/paste or tinybuild can generate one for you by simply running):

//import {defaultBundler, defaultServer, packager} from 'tinybuild'

const config = {
    //build:true, //enable this to skip serve step (same as cli)
    //serve:true //or enable this to skip build step (same as cli)
    bundler: { //esbuild settings, set false to skip build step or add bundle:true to config object to only bundle (alt methods)
        entryPoints: [ //entry point file(s). These can include .js, .mjs, .ts, .jsx, .tsx, or other javascript files. Make sure your entry point is a ts file if you want to generate types
        "index.js"
        ],
        outfile: "dist/index", //exit point file, will append .js as well as indicators like .esm.js, .node.js for other build flags
        //outdir:'dist'               //exit point folder, define for multiple entryPoints
        bundleBrowser: true, //create plain js build? Can include globals and init scripts
        bundleESM: false, //create esm module js files // { platform:'node' } //etc you can also supply an object here to add more specific esbuild settings
        bundleTypes: false, //create .d.ts files, //you need a .tsconfig for this to work, tinybuild will create one for you when you set this true, however, and has typescript support built in
        bundleNode: false, //create node platform plain js build, specify platform:'node' to do the rest of the files 
        bundleHTML: false, //wrap the first entry point file as a plain js script in a boilerplate html file, frontend scripts can be run standalone like a .exe! Server serves this as start page if set to true.
        //bundleIIFE:false,   //create an iife build, this is compiled temporarily to create the types files and only saved with bundleIIFE:true
        //bundleCommonJS:false, //cjs format outputted as .cjs
        minify: true,
        sourcemap: false,
        //plugins:[] //custom esbuild plugins? e.g. esbuild-sass-plugin for scss support
        //includeDefaultPlugins:true //true by default, includes the presets for the streaming imports, worker bundling, and auto npm install
        //blobWorkers:true, //package workers as blobs or files? blobs are faster but inflate the main package size
        //workerBundler:{minifyWhitespace:true} //bundler settings specific to the worker. e.g. apply platform:'node' when bundling node workers, default is minifyWhitespace:true as full minifying may cause unforeseen errors 
        //globalThis:null //'mymodule'
        //globals:{'index.js':['Graph']}
        //init:{'index.js':function(bundle) { console.log('prepackaged bundle script!', bundle); }.toString(); }      
        //  outputs:{ //overwrites main config settings for specific use cases
        //     node:{ //e.g. for bundleNode
        //     // external:[] //externals for node environment builds
        //     },
        //     //commonjs:{} //bundleCommonJS
        //     //browser:{}
        //     //esm:{}
        //     iife:{
        //     // external:[] //we only use the iife for types so it doesn't really matter if it bundles node, just note otherwise if you need iife for some obscure reason
        //     }
        // },
        //refer to esbuild docs for more settings
     },
    server: {  //node server settings, set false to skip server step or add serve:true to config object to only serve (alt methods)
        debug: false,
        protocol: "http",  //'http' or 'https'. HTTPS required for Nodejs <---> Python sockets. If using http, set production to False in python/server.py as well
        host: "localhost", //'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' etc.
        port: 8080, //e.g. port 80, 443, 8000
        //redirect: 'http://localhost:8082' //instead of serving the default content, redirect ot another url
        //headers: { 'Content-Security-Policy': '*'  }, //global header overrides
        startpage: 'index.html',  //default home page/app entry point 
        /*
        routes:{ //set additional page routes (for sites instead of single page applications)
            '/page2': 'mypage.html',
            '/custom':{ //e.g. custom page template
                headers: { 'Content-Security-Policy': '*' }, //page specific headers 
                template:'<html><head></head><body><div>Hello World!</div></body></html>'
                //path: 'mypage.html' //or a file path (e.g. plus specific headers)
            },
            '/redirect':{ //e.g. custom redirect
                redirect:'https://google.com'
            },
            '/other':(request,response) => {}, //custom request/response handling
            '/': 'index.html', //alt start page declaration
            '/404':'packager/node_server/other/404.html', //e.g. custom error page
        },
        */
        socket_protocol: "ws", //frontend socket protocol, wss for served, ws for localhost
        hotreload: 5000,  //hotreload websocket server port
        //reloadscripts: false, //hot swap scripts, can break things if script handles initializations, otherwise css, link, srcs all hot swap without page reloading fairly intelligently
        //delay: 50, //millisecond delay on the watch command for hot reloading
        //pwa: "dist/service-worker.js",  //pwa mode? Injects service worker registry code in (see pwa README.md)
        //watch: ['../'], //watch additional directories other than the current working directory
        //python: false,//7000,  //quart server port (configured via the python server script file still)
        //python_node:7001, //websocket relay port (relays messages to client from nodejs that were sent to it by python)
        errpage: 'node_modules/tinybuild/tinybuild/node_server/other/404.html', //default error page, etc.
        certpath:'node_modules/tinybuild/tinybuild/node_server/ssl/cert.pem',//if using https, this is required. See cert.pfx.md for instructions
        keypath:'node_modules/tinybuild/tinybuild/node_server/ssl/key.pem'//if using https, this is required. See cert.pfx.md for instructions
    },
    // electron:true //desktop apps as a full chromium bundle, not small and needs some customization for things like bluetooth menus. Better for full featured applications. Can trigger backend runtimes on local machines.
    /*mobile:{ //this will copy the dist and index.html to capacitor builds that can create small interoperable javascript webview + native functionality (e.g. bluetooth) mobile apps (~2Mb at minimum). 
        //android:'open', //'open'//true //Requires Android Studio, it will be launched
        //ios:false //'open'//true //Requires XCode 
    }, */
    //tauri:true, //alternative tauri build options for very minimal native engine desktop apps that generally lack the latest web APIs. Good for simple apps, you can bundle it with backend runtimes on local machines.
    /*
    assets:[ //for the mobile/desktop bundlers to copy into their respective folders
        './assets',
        './favicon.ico'
    ]
    */
}

export default config;

Then run tinybuild to supply this to the packager to build and run your project. Customize it to your needs, e.g. for different entry points and use cases. Typescript is automatically recognized, including JSX and TSX. CSS is automatically compiled if you import them in your scripts somewhere. See examples for more.

Docs

- Quickstart

- esbuild app and library bundling

- Node development/production server

- Python development/production server

Local node_modules/tinybuild Builds (no global package manager)

For using tinybuild locally (npm install vs npm install -g) you must import and run packager(config) from the tinybuild library yourself, and run it in a script file.

Example:

Create tinybuild.js at the root of your project directory

import {packager} from 'tinybuild'
import config from './tinybuild.config.js'

packager(config);

then in the console from that project directory run node tinybuild.js

tinybuild CLI commands:

e.g. tinybuild build or tinybuild serve to run isolated commands

tinybuild help lists accepted arguments, see the boilerplate created in the new repo for more. The tinybuild command will use your edited tinybuild.config.js or tinybuild.js (which includes the library and executes the packager with the bundler and/or server itself for more control) config file after initialization so you can use it generically, else see the created package.json for more local commands.

global command:

• tinybuild -- runs the boilerplate tinybuild bundler + server settings in the current working directory. It will create missing index.js, package.json (with auto npm/yarn install), and tinybuild.js, and serve with watched folders in the working directory (minus node_modules because it slows down) for hot reloading.

local command:

• node path/to/tinybuild.js -- will use the current working directory as reference to run this packager config

tinybuild arguments (applies to packager or tinybuild commands):

• start -- runs the equivalent of node tinybuild.js in the current working directory.
• build/bundle -- runs the esbuild bundler, can specify config with config={"bundler":{}} via a jsonified object
• serve -- runs the node development server, can specify config with config={"server":{}} via a jsonified object and object
• mode=python -- runs the development server as well as python which also serves the dist from a separate port (7000 by default).
• mode=dev for the dev server mode (used by default if you just type tinybuild on boilerplate)
• path=custom.js -- target a custom equivalent tinybuild.js entry file (to run the packager or bundler/server)st` - host name for the server, localhost by default

esbuild arguments:

• entryPoints=index.js -- set an entry point for your script, can also be a JSONified array of strings.
• outfile=dist/index -- set the output directory and file name (minus the extension name)
• outdir=dist -- alternatively use outdir when using multiple entry points
• bundleBrowser=true -- produce a plain .js bundle that is browser-friendly, true by default.
• bundleESM=false -- produce an ESM module bundle, false by default, Will be identified by .esm.js
• bundleTypes=false -- produce .d.ts files, false by default, entry point needs to by a typescript file but it will attempt to generate types for js files in the repo otherwise. The files are organized like your repo in the dist folder used.
• bundleNode=false -- create a separate bundle set to include node dependencies. Identified by .node.js
• bundleHTML=true -- bundle an HTML boilerplate that wraps and executes the browser bundle as a quick test. If true the packager command will set this file as the startpage, otherwise you have an index.html you can customize and use that has the same base boilerplate. Find e.g. index.build.html in dist.
• external=['node-fetch'] -- mark externals in your repo, node-fetch is used in a lot of our work so it's there by default, the node bundle has its own excludes (see our esbuild options in readme)
• platform=browser -- the non-node bundles use browser by default, set to node to have all bundles target the node platform. Externals must be set appropriately.
• globalThis=myCustomBundle -- You can set any exports on your entry points on the bundleBrowser setting to be accessible as a global variable. Not set by default.
• globals={[entryPoint]:['myFunction']} -- you can specify any additional functions, classes, variables etc. exported from your bundle to be installed as globals on the bundleBrowser setting.

Server arguments:

• host=localhost -- set the hostname for the server, localhost by default. You can set it to your server url or IP address when serving. Generally use port 80 when serving.
• port=8080 - port for the server, 8080 by default
• protocol=http - http or https? You need ssl cert and key to run https
• python=7000 - port for python server so the node server can send a kill signal, 7000 by default. Run the python server concurrently or use mode=python
• hotreload=5000 - hotreload port for the node server, 5000 by default
• watch=../../path/to/other/src OR watch=['path/to/src1','src2','.xml'] - watch extra folders and extensions
• extensions=xml,3ds OR extensions=['xml','3ds'] watch specific extensions for changes
• ignore=../../path/to/other/src,path2/src2 OR ignore=['path/to/src1','../path2/src2']- ignore files and folders
• startpage=index.html - entry html page for the home '/' page, index.html by default
• certpath=tinybuild/node_server/ssl/cert.pem - cert file for https
• keypath=tinybuild/node_server/ssl/key.pem - key file for https
• pwa=tinybuild/pwa/workbox-config.js - service worker config for pwa using workbox-cli (installed separately via package.json), the server will install a manifest.json in the main folder if not found, https required
• config="{"server":{},"bundler":{}}" -- pass a jsonified config object for the packager. See the bundler and server settings in the docs.
• init -- initialize a folder as a new tinybuild repository with the necessary files, you can include the source using the below command
• core=true -- include the tinybuild source in the new repository with an appropriate package.json
• entry=index.js --name the entry point file you want to create, defaults to index.js
• script=console.log("Hello%20World!") -- pass a jsonified and URI-encoded (for spaces etc.) javascript string, defaults to a console.log of Hello World!

Native Desktop and Mobile Apps

• electron -- Start an electron app with boilerplate, copying your dist and specified assets. See Electron Docs
• mobile={android:'open',ios:false} -- Use Capacitor to create a bundled mobile app, use 'open' to run android studio or xcode, or set to true to use the CLI, assuming you have dependencies installed. See Capacitor Docs.
• tauri -- Alternative minimal desktop runtime via Tauri. See Tauri Docs.
• assets=['./assets','favicon.ico'] -- Specify additional assets to copy to the native distributions

Other notes:

See README.md files in each subfolder for more explanation on how to work with these types of applications.

Installation Issues

If you've installed tinybuild on Mac and it isn't working, try running the following command in the terminal based in this StackOverflow Post:

brew install dos2unix
sudo dos2unix node_modules/tinybuild/tinybuild/bin/global.js

Windows may also throw an error for global package permissions, just copy the error you get into google and use the command line solution you find and you will be good to go.

Contributing

Feel free to suggest or make changes and report bugs via Issues or direct contact to Joshua Brewster, the entire development system is modular and is a simple automation on top of several simplified development tools. We use this in our daily development workflow so it is battle-tested but on a small sample size.