@mkvlrn/newts

@mkvlrn/newts

This is a very VERY VERY opinionated CLI tool and set of templates for the setup of a few different TypeScript projects with a focus on code quality and consistency from the start.

It attempts to provide a minimalistic setup with modern tools and practices without bloat - but bloat means different things to different people, so your mileage may vary.

usage

Usage is as follows: npx --yes @mkvlrn/newts@latest. The CLI is interactive.

The --yes flag is used to skip the npx confirmation prompt, and the @latest tag is used to ensure you are always getting the latest version of the tool.

the templates

• node - good starting point for anything node
• nestjs - nestjs starter done right
• discord bot - discord bot with discord.js
• react with vite - pretty much what create-vite does for react, but with biome, vitest, etc.
• nextjs - what create-next-app does for nextjs, but with biome, vitest, etc; you're seeing a theme here, right?

requirements

• Node.js 20+ - don't use anything lower than that, node 22 is the current LTS, keep up
• npm 10+ (npx should be used to run the CLI tool, but you can pick any package manager you want for the project itself)
• A unix-like shell - if you're on Windows, you should use WSL2 or Git Bash

tools and configurations

Each project will be an ESM (type: module) project with the following tools and configurations:

• git with a standard .gitignore file
• biome to lint and format the codebase either on demand or on commit (staged files only) - let eslint and prettier die, and lint-staged is also a casualty I guess
• vitest as a test runner, because Jest is terrible
• husky to run the lint-staged commands on pre-commit hooks
• commitlint to enforce conventional commit messages
• tsx as a TypeScript dev runner
• swc as a TypeScript compiler and/or dev runner (for the nest template only)

another cli, huh?

Each available CLI out there brings some opinions and tools that might not be what you want or need, and this one is no different. The main difference is that this one is my opinion, and I'm sharing it with you.

Instead of using create-vite, @nestjs/cli, or create-next-app tools to initialize those projects, this CLI tool will do it from scratch, adding only the tools and configurations that I think are necessary for a good starting point (see above).

NestJs and Next.js have their own way of doing things, and both of them are okay, but I think they can be improved. Also they seem to be very resistant to moving to ESM, and that's a shame.

no huge readme with exhaustive explanations

Just generate a project and see for yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to open an issue or a PR.

The defaults are opinionated, but very sane and easy to adapt to your needs.