Tree-sitter CLI

0.26.8 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript

CLI tool for generating and testing Tree-sitter parsers, version 0.26.8. Released as part of the tree-sitter project, which provides a fast incremental parser framework. The CLI supports generating parser C code from grammar files, testing parsers, and building WASM modules. Key differentiators include high performance, incremental parsing with error recovery, and support for multiple languages via grammar definitions. Release cadence is frequent with minor bug fixes and improvements.

Common errors

error Error: Cannot find module 'tree-sitter' ↓

cause Native module not installed or incompatible

fix

npm install tree-sitter

error TypeError: Parser is not a constructor ↓

cause Using default import as named import

fix

Use: const Parser = require('tree-sitter');

error Error: Language not loaded ↓

cause WASM or native language file missing

fix

Ensure language module is correctly loaded (e.g., require('tree-sitter-javascript'))

Warnings

breaking tree-sitter 0.20+ changed the grammar format; old grammars may not work ↓

fix Update grammar files to new format (see migration guide)

gotcha require('tree-sitter') returns the native addon, not the web binding ↓

fix Use 'web-tree-sitter' for browser or Node ESM

deprecated tree-sitter 0.25 deprecated the --no-ranges flag ↓

fix Use --ranges or remove flag

Install

npm install tree-sitter-cli

yarn add tree-sitter-cli

pnpm add tree-sitter-cli

Imports

tree-sitter
wrong
```
const Parser = require('tree-sitter')
```
correct
```
import Parser from 'web-tree-sitter'
```
Use 'web-tree-sitter' for browser/Node ESM; 'tree-sitter' is the C library

Language

wrong

import Language from 'tree-sitter'

correct

import { Language } from 'web-tree-sitter'

Language class is named export in web-tree-sitter

Parser

wrong

const treeSitter = require('tree-sitter')

correct

import Parser from 'tree-sitter'

Default import for C++ Node addon; ESM not available

generate
```
npx tree-sitter generate
```
CLI command, not importable

Quickstart

Parse JavaScript source code using tree-sitter and print the syntax tree.

const Parser = require('tree-sitter');
const JavaScript = require('tree-sitter-javascript');

const parser = new Parser();
parser.setLanguage(JavaScript);

const sourceCode = 'let x = 1;';
const tree = parser.parse(sourceCode);
console.log(tree.rootNode.toString());
// (program (lexical_declaration (variable_declarator (identifier) (number))))