Tinybuild

1.0.5 verified Fri May 01 auth: no javascript

A minimal esbuild wrapper for web, server, desktop, and mobile development with hot-reloading and multi-target builds. Current stable version is 1.0.5, released with low cadence. Key differentiators: zero-config scaffolding, built-in Node.js dev server with HMR via WebSockets, native Electron/Tauri/Capacitor packaging, remote import resolution, and optional Python Quart bridge. Unlike Vite or Webpack, it avoids third-party plugin churn and uses plain JS config with intuitive flags. Peer dependency on TypeScript.

Common errors

error Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module ...\node_modules\tinybuild\index.js from ...\project\build.js not supported. ↓

cause Using CommonJS require() with an ESM-only package since version 1.0.0

fix

Convert to ESM (import/export) or use dynamic import() as fallback

error TypeError: tinybuild is not a function ↓

cause Default import used with CommonJS require() or wrong import syntax

fix

Use 'import tinybuild from 'tinybuild'' for default export

error Failed to resolve 'chokidar' dependency for hot-reload ↓

cause chokidar is an optional peer dependency not auto-installed

fix

Run 'npm install chokidar' manually

Warnings

breaking Version 1.0.0 removed CommonJS support; require() will throw ERR_REQUIRE_ESM ↓

fix Use ESM imports (import { ... } from 'tinybuild') or set type: 'module' in package.json

deprecated The 'serve' flag is deprecated in favor of 'dev' flag since 1.0.3 ↓

fix Replace --serve with --dev in CLI or dev: true in config

gotcha If using TypeScript, peer dependency must be installed separately (typescript not bundled) ↓

fix Run 'npm install typescript --save-dev' if not already installed

gotcha Hot-reload server uses WebSocket; ensure no firewall blocks port 35729 (default) ↓

fix Set a custom port via --port flag or port config option

gotcha Remote imports (https://...) require network access; offline builds will fail ↓

fix Pre-download dependencies or use --no-remote flag

Install

npm install tinybuild

yarn add tinybuild

pnpm add tinybuild

Imports

tinybuild

wrong

const tinybuild = require('tinybuild')

correct

import tinybuild from 'tinybuild'

ESM-only; no CommonJS export

tinybuild.cli
wrong
```
require('tinybuild/cli')
```
correct
```
import { cli } from 'tinybuild'
```
Named export for CLI programmatic use
tinybuild.Config
wrong
```
import Config from 'tinybuild/config'
```
correct
```
import { Config } from 'tinybuild'
```
Export path is direct from package, not sub-module

Quickstart

Shows programmatic usage of tinybuild with TypeScript, enabling browser bundling and dev server

import tinybuild from 'tinybuild';

// Build a browser bundle with HMR dev server
const result = await tinybuild({
  bundleBrowser: true,
  entry: 'src/index.ts',
  dev: true,
  // Optional: target output directory
  output: 'dist/',
  // Optional: TypeScript config
  tsconfig: 'tsconfig.json'
});

console.log('Build succeeded:', result);