# Source: https://rsbuild.dev/guide/basic/typescript.md

# TypeScript

Rsbuild supports TypeScript by default, allowing you to directly use `.ts` and `.tsx` files in your project.

## TypeScript transformation

Rsbuild uses [SWC](/guide/configuration/swc.md) by default for transforming TypeScript code to JavaScript, and also supports switching to [Babel](/plugins/list/plugin-babel.md) for transformation.

### Isolated modules

Unlike the native TypeScript compiler, tools like SWC and Babel compile each file separately and cannot determine whether an imported name is a type or value. When using TypeScript in Rsbuild, enable the [verbatimModuleSyntax](https://www.typescriptlang.org/tsconfig/#verbatimModuleSyntax) or [isolatedModules](https://typescriptlang.org/tsconfig/#isolatedModules) option in `tsconfig.json`:

* For TypeScript >= 5.0.0, use the `verbatimModuleSyntax` option, which enables the `isolatedModules` option by default:

```json title="tsconfig.json"
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "verbatimModuleSyntax": true
  }
}
```

* For TypeScript \< 5.0.0, use the `isolatedModules` option:

```json title="tsconfig.json"
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "isolatedModules": true
  }
}
```

The `isolatedModules` option prevents syntax that SWC and Babel cannot compile correctly, such as cross-file type references. It guides you toward correct usage:

```ts
// Wrong
export { SomeType } from './types';

// Correct
export type { SomeType } from './types';
```

> See [SWC - Migrating from tsc](https://swc.rs/docs/migrating-from-tsc) for more details about the differences between SWC and tsc.

## Preset types

`@rsbuild/core` provides preset type definitions, including CSS files, CSS Modules, static assets, `import.meta`, and other types.

Create a `src/env.d.ts` file to reference these types:

```ts title="src/env.d.ts"
/// <reference types="@rsbuild/core/types" />
```

> See [types.d.ts](https://github.com/web-infra-dev/rsbuild/blob/main/packages/core/types.d.ts) for the complete preset type definitions that Rsbuild includes.

## Type checking

When transpiling TypeScript code using tools like SWC and Babel, type checking isn't performed.

### Type check plugin

To enable type checking, you can use the [@rsbuild/plugin-type-check](https://github.com/rstackjs/rsbuild-plugin-type-check) plugin. This plugin runs TypeScript type checking in a separate process and internally integrates [ts-checker-rspack-plugin](https://github.com/rstackjs/ts-checker-rspack-plugin).

The plugin supports type checking in both dev and build modes, helping you catch type errors early in development.

Refer to [@rsbuild/plugin-type-check](https://github.com/rstackjs/rsbuild-plugin-type-check) for usage instructions.

### Using tsc

You can also use [tsc](https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/compiler-options.html) directly for type checking by adding a `type-check` step to your `build` script. This approach only performs type checking after the build and doesn't run during dev mode.

```json title="package.json"
{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "rsbuild build && npm run type-check",
    "type-check": "tsc --noEmit"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^5.0.0"
  }
}
```

For Vue applications, use [vue-tsc](https://github.com/vuejs/language-tools/tree/master/packages/tsc) instead of `tsc`. It supports Vue SFCs in addition to TypeScript files.

```json title="package.json"
{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "rsbuild build && npm run type-check",
    "type-check": "vue-tsc --noEmit"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^5.0.0",
    "vue-tsc": "^3.0.0"
  }
}
```

## tsconfig.json Path

Rsbuild reads the `tsconfig.json` file from the root directory by default. Use [source.tsconfigPath](/config/source/tsconfig-path.md) to configure a custom tsconfig.json file path.

```ts
export default {
  source: {
    tsconfigPath: './tsconfig.custom.json',
  },
};
```

## Path extensions

When importing another module in a TypeScript module, TypeScript allows using the `.js` file extension:

```ts title="src/index.ts"
// The actual referenced module could be `./some-module.ts` or `./some-module.tsx`
import { someFn } from './some-module.js';
```

Rsbuild supports this feature through Rspack's [extensionAlias](https://rspack.rs/config/resolve#resolveextensionalias) configuration. In TypeScript projects, Rsbuild adds the following configuration by default:

```js
const rspackConfig = {
  resolve: {
    extensionAlias: {
      '.js': ['.js', '.ts', '.tsx'],
      '.jsx': ['.jsx', '.tsx'],
    },
  },
};
```

This means:

* You can use the `.js` extension to import `.ts` or `.tsx` files.
* You can use the `.jsx` extension to import `.tsx` files.

## Decorators version

Rsbuild does not read the `experimentalDecorators` option in `tsconfig.json`, instead, it provides the [decorators.version](/config/source/decorators.md#decoratorsversion) configuration to specify the decorator version.

By default, Rsbuild uses the `2022-03` version of the decorators, you can also set it to `legacy` to use the legacy decorators:

```ts title="rsbuild.config.ts"
export default {
  source: {
    decorators: {
      version: 'legacy',
    },
  },
};
```