Chris Tate
aba8442ad0
Hash.update and Hmac.update accept every Buffer input encoding and any TypedArray or DataView. Hex input of odd length throws Node's ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE, an encoding Node does not know reads as UTF-8, and data of other types throws ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE. digest() returns a string for every Buffer encoding and a Buffer for a falsy or unknown one, and a repeated Hmac.digest() returns Node's empty result. createHash and hash.copy take options.outputLength for the SHAKE and KECCAK-KMAC digests, with Node 24.22's validation and its ERR_OSSL_EVP_NOT_XOF_OR_INVALID_LENGTH error, including the library and reason properties, for other digests. crypto.hash takes an output encoding or an options object with outputEncoding (including "buffer") and outputLength. The functionName and customization options are validated and then refused with Node 24.22's errors. createHmac takes TypedArray, DataView and ArrayBuffer keys and options.encoding for string keys, and checks them in Node's order. Calls whose encodings and options the compiler can resolve keep their typed fast paths. Other forms go through runtime entry points that apply Node's checks and return a string or Buffer, checked at the call's type. A literal digest encoding for which Node returns a Buffer is refused when the declared result is a string. The digest compression functions start on a cache line, so their speed no longer depends on the size of unrelated runtime code.
scriptc
scriptc compiles TypeScript and JavaScript to native executables and WebAssembly. It uses the types checked by the TypeScript compiler to generate machine code, and the output runs without Node.js installed. npm packages your program imports compile along with it. Code scriptc can't compile is reported at build time with a diagnostic and, where available, a rewrite hint.
scriptc is experimental and supports a subset of JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js APIs. Run scriptc coverage on an existing program to see how much of it compiles, and see the limitations and Node.js compatibility reference for details.
Installation
Install with Node.js 24 or later and npm:
$ npm install -g scriptc
The installed compiler runs natively on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Node.js is needed only to install it and to run WASI modules with scriptc run. Standalone compiler archives are also available from GitHub Releases.
Building executables requires a linker and the platform SDK or sysroot. See the quickstart for prerequisites and platform support for host requirements, cross-compilation, and WebAssembly.
Build a program
Create hello.ts:
const who = process.argv.length > 2 ? process.argv[2] : "world";
console.log(`hello, ${who}`);
scriptc run compiles the file and runs the result:
$ scriptc run hello.ts
hello, world
scriptc build writes an executable:
$ scriptc build hello.ts -o hello >/dev/null
$ ./hello scriptc
hello, scriptc
These examples use POSIX shell syntax. On Windows, build hello.exe and run it with .\hello.exe.
Use scriptc coverage hello.ts to check what compiles before you build. See coverage reports for details.
Use Node APIs
Supported Node APIs compile to the native runtime. For example, server.ts:
import { createServer } from "node:http";
const server = createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader("content-type", "application/json");
res.end(JSON.stringify({ path: req.url }));
});
server.listen(8080, () => {
console.log("listening on http://localhost:8080");
});
$ scriptc build server.ts -o server >/dev/null
$ ./server
listening on http://localhost:8080
Use npm packages
npm packages compile into the executable with your code, so it doesn't read node_modules at runtime.
Create cli.ts:
import pc from "picocolors";
console.log(pc.green("hello from scriptc"));
$ npm install picocolors
$ scriptc build cli.ts -o cli >/dev/null
$ ./cli
hello from scriptc
Package support is partial. See npm dependencies for which packages compile and how to check them.
Documentation
- Introduction: what scriptc is and what you can build.
- Quickstart: installation and your first executable.
- Coverage reports: check whether an existing program compiles.
- Platform support: cross-compilation and WebAssembly.
- CLI reference: commands, options, and output formats.
- Native program objects: use compiler output in external builds.
- Native FFI: call C ABI functions from compiled programs.
- WebAssembly modules: build and embed WASI modules.
- Examples: programs and integration examples in this repository.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for source setup, testing, native artifact builds, and docs development.