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Options

All command-line flags support both --camelCase and --hyphen-case.

Most options can be declared in your tsconfig.json: Configuration via tsconfig.json

ts-node supports --print (-p), --eval (-e), --require (-r) and --interactive (-i) similar to the node.js CLI.

ts-node supports --project and --showConfig similar to the tsc CLI.

Environment variables, where available, are in ALL_CAPS

CLI Options​

help​

shell
ts-node --help
shell
ts-node --help

Prints the help text

version​

shell
ts-node -v
ts-node -vvv
shell
ts-node -v
ts-node -vvv

Prints the version. -vv includes node and typescript compiler versions. -vvv includes absolute paths to ts-node and typescript installations.

eval​

shell
ts-node -e <typescript code>
# Example
ts-node -e 'console.log("Hello world!")'
shell
ts-node -e <typescript code>
# Example
ts-node -e 'console.log("Hello world!")'

Evaluate code

print​

shell
ts-node -p -e <typescript code>
# Example
ts-node -p -e '"Hello world!"'
shell
ts-node -p -e <typescript code>
# Example
ts-node -p -e '"Hello world!"'

Print result of --eval

interactive​

shell
ts-node -i
shell
ts-node -i

Opens the REPL even if stdin does not appear to be a terminal

esm​

shell
ts-node --esm
ts-node-esm
shell
ts-node --esm
ts-node-esm

Bootstrap with the ESM loader, enabling full ESM support

TSConfig Options​

project​

shell
ts-node -P <path/to/tsconfig>
ts-node --project <path/to/tsconfig>
shell
ts-node -P <path/to/tsconfig>
ts-node --project <path/to/tsconfig>

Path to tsconfig file.

Note the uppercase -P. This is different from tsc's -p/--project option.

Environment: TS_NODE_PROJECT

skipProject​

shell
ts-node --skipProject
shell
ts-node --skipProject

Skip project config resolution and loading

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_SKIP_PROJECT

cwdMode​

shell
ts-node -c
ts-node --cwdMode
ts-node-cwd
shell
ts-node -c
ts-node --cwdMode
ts-node-cwd

Resolve config relative to the current directory instead of the directory of the entrypoint script

compilerOptions​

shell
ts-node -O <json compilerOptions>
ts-node --compilerOptions <json compilerOptions>
shell
ts-node -O <json compilerOptions>
ts-node --compilerOptions <json compilerOptions>

JSON object to merge with compiler options

Environment: TS_NODE_COMPILER_OPTIONS

showConfig​

shell
ts-node --showConfig
shell
ts-node --showConfig

Print resolved tsconfig.json, including ts-node options, and exit

Typechecking​

transpileOnly​

shell
ts-node -T
ts-node --transpileOnly
shell
ts-node -T
ts-node --transpileOnly

Use TypeScript's faster transpileModule

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_TRANSPILE_ONLY

typeCheck​

shell
ts-node --typeCheck
shell
ts-node --typeCheck

Opposite of --transpileOnly

Default: true
Environment: TS_NODE_TYPE_CHECK

compilerHost​

shell
ts-node -H
ts-node --compilerHost
shell
ts-node -H
ts-node --compilerHost

Use TypeScript's compiler host API

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_COMPILER_HOST

files​

shell
ts-node --files
shell
ts-node --files

Load files, include and exclude from tsconfig.json on startup. This may avoid certain typechecking failures. See Missing types for details.

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_FILES

ignoreDiagnostics​

shell
ts-node -D <code,code>
ts-node --ignoreDiagnostics <code,code>
shell
ts-node -D <code,code>
ts-node --ignoreDiagnostics <code,code>

Ignore TypeScript warnings by diagnostic code

Environment: TS_NODE_IGNORE_DIAGNOSTICS

Transpilation Options​

ignore​

shell
ts-node -I <regexp matching ignored files>
ts-node --ignore <regexp matching ignored files>
shell
ts-node -I <regexp matching ignored files>
ts-node --ignore <regexp matching ignored files>

Override the path patterns to skip compilation

Default: /node_modules/
Environment: TS_NODE_IGNORE

skipIgnore​

shell
ts-node --skipIgnore
shell
ts-node --skipIgnore

Skip ignore checks

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_SKIP_IGNORE

compiler​

shell
ts-node -C <name>
ts-node --compiler <name>
shell
ts-node -C <name>
ts-node --compiler <name>

Specify a custom TypeScript compiler

Default: typescript
Environment: TS_NODE_COMPILER

swc​

shell
ts-node --swc
shell
ts-node --swc

Transpile with swc. Implies --transpileOnly

Default: false

transpiler​

shell
ts-node --transpiler <name>
# Example
ts-node --transpiler ts-node/transpilers/swc
shell
ts-node --transpiler <name>
# Example
ts-node --transpiler ts-node/transpilers/swc

Use a third-party, non-typechecking transpiler

preferTsExts​

shell
ts-node --preferTsExts
shell
ts-node --preferTsExts

Re-order file extensions so that TypeScript imports are preferred

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_PREFER_TS_EXTS

Diagnostic Options​

logError​

shell
ts-node --logError
shell
ts-node --logError

Logs TypeScript errors to stderr instead of throwing exceptions

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_LOG_ERROR

pretty​

shell
ts-node --pretty
shell
ts-node --pretty

Use pretty diagnostic formatter

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_PRETTY

TS_NODE_DEBUG​

shell
TS_NODE_DEBUG=true ts-node
shell
TS_NODE_DEBUG=true ts-node

Enable debug logging

Advanced Options​

require​

shell
ts-node -r <module name or path>
ts-node --require <module name or path>
shell
ts-node -r <module name or path>
ts-node --require <module name or path>

Require a node module before execution

cwd​

shell
ts-node --cwd <path/to/directory>
shell
ts-node --cwd <path/to/directory>

Behave as if invoked in this working directory

Default: process.cwd()
Environment: TS_NODE_CWD

emit​

shell
ts-node --emit
shell
ts-node --emit

Emit output files into .ts-node directory. Requires --compilerHost

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_EMIT

scope​

shell
ts-node --scope
shell
ts-node --scope

Scope compiler to files within scopeDir. Anything outside this directory is ignored.

Default: false
Environment: TS_NODE_SCOPE

scopeDir​

shell
ts-node --scopeDir <path/to/directory>
shell
ts-node --scopeDir <path/to/directory>

Directory within which compiler is limited when scope is enabled.

Default: First of: tsconfig.json "rootDir" if specified, directory containing tsconfig.json, or cwd if no tsconfig.json is loaded.
Environment: TS_NODE_SCOPE_DIR

moduleTypes​

Override the module type of certain files, ignoring the package.json "type" field. See Module type overrides for details.

Default: obeys package.json "type" and tsconfig.json "module"
Can only be specified via tsconfig.json or API.

TS_NODE_HISTORY​

shell
TS_NODE_HISTORY=<path/to/history/file> ts-node
shell
TS_NODE_HISTORY=<path/to/history/file> ts-node

Path to history file for REPL

Default: ~/.ts_node_repl_history

noExperimentalReplAwait​

shell
ts-node --noExperimentalReplAwait
shell
ts-node --noExperimentalReplAwait

Disable top-level await in REPL. Equivalent to node's --no-experimental-repl-await

Default: Enabled if TypeScript version is 3.8 or higher and target is ES2018 or higher.
Environment: TS_NODE_EXPERIMENTAL_REPL_AWAIT set false to disable

experimentalResolver​

Enable experimental hooks that re-map imports and require calls to support:

  • remapping extensions, e.g. so that import "./foo.js" will execute foo.ts. Currently the following extensions will be mapped:
    • .js to .ts, .tsx, or .jsx
    • .cjs to .cts
    • .mjs to .mts
    • .jsx to .tsx
  • including file extensions in CommonJS, for consistency with ESM where this is often mandatory

In the future, this hook will also support:

  • baseUrl, paths
  • rootDirs
  • outDir to rootDir mappings for composite projects and monorepos

For details, see #1514.

Default: false, but will likely be enabled by default in a future version
Can only be specified via tsconfig.json or API.

experimentalSpecifierResolution​

shell
ts-node --experimentalSpecifierResolution node
shell
ts-node --experimentalSpecifierResolution node

Like node's --experimental-specifier-resolution, but can also be set in your tsconfig.json for convenience. Requires esm to be enabled.

Default: explicit

API Options​

The API includes additional options not shown here.