scriptc/packages/cli

scriptc

Compile ordinary TypeScript and JavaScript to small, fast native executables or WASI WebAssembly modules — no Node, no V8, no JavaScript engine in the artifact.

$ cat fib.ts
function fib(n: number): number {
  return n < 2 ? n : fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2);
}
console.log(fib(30));

$ scriptc run fib.ts
832040

$ scriptc build fib.ts -o fib && ./fib
832040

Install

$ npm install -g scriptc

Requires Node.js 24. Executable builds require a platform linker driver and SDK/sysroot. On supported macOS, Linux, and Windows hosts, LLVM-tier executables use the matching optional helper and precompiled runtime pack, so the driver only links; select that driver with SCRIPTC_LINKER. Explicit C builds, LLVM fallbacks, --sanitize, and the deprecated SCRIPTC_CC=clang|zigcc compatibility route still compile C. --emit=ir|c|llvm requires only Node, while --emit=asm|obj requires neither an external compiler nor a linker.

Builds use a bounded persistent cache by default. Exact unchanged library builds validate their recorded TypeScript/module-resolution inputs and restore the generated C/LLVM unit before starting the frontend. TypeScript comment-only edits can restore validated lowered IR instead, rebasing source locations and regenerating exact-source build identity before emission; directives, JSDoc-bearing JavaScript, token edits, configuration, package resolution, and newly appearing candidates still invalidate it. Library identity getters live in a tiny C translation unit, so build-id-only changes reuse the large compiled program object and compile only that small member before rearchiving. The native cache then applies its independent toolchain checks. Unchanged executables and library archives skip native code generation and linking after fresh compiler metadata probes, while edited builds reuse stable runtime objects. Experimental provenance-source builds bypass the early frontend tier because their fetched-source registry is process state. FFI builds with archive/object inputs or ambient system_libraries relink every time but still reuse runtime objects. Mutable compiler input paths such as CPATH and SDKROOT, and compiler wrappers, bypass persistent native artifacts and objects so same-path dependency edits cannot go stale. Opaque archiver wrappers rebuild library program members and archives while retaining runtime-object reuse. Direct Clang, Apple's system Clang shim, zig cc, trusted platform archivers, and zig ar retain their applicable persistent tiers. Set SCRIPTC_NO_CACHE=1 to bypass every cache or SCRIPTC_CACHE_DIR to choose its location; an existing POSIX override must already be private, otherwise caching is bypassed without changing its permissions.

Commands

• scriptc build <file.ts> — compile to a native executable or selected target artifact
• scriptc run <file.ts> — compile and run
• scriptc coverage <file.ts> — what compiles statically, and why the rest doesn't

scriptc build app.ts --emit=ir|c|llvm|asm|obj selects serialized typed IR, readable C, textual LLVM IR, target assembly, or a relocatable program object as the one primary artifact. --emit=exe is the default. Assembly/object emission uses the matching helper on supported macOS, Linux, and Windows hosts (and produces WASI artifacts when that target is selected). Objects retain undefined scr_* runtime references plus the scr_runtime_abi_v1 compatibility marker; they are not library archives. External consumption is experimental and requires the exact matching runtime. scriptc build app.ts --print=native-link-info -o app.o prints the versioned JSON target/runtime/link recipe without performing a link. --emit=asm|obj --sanitize is rejected until ASan pipeline parity is available.

For embedder-hosted modules that are not installed npm packages, coverage can map an exact bare specifier to a local declaration with repeatable --external-types <specifier=file.d.ts> options. This is analysis-only: the types unblock application measurement, while runtime module uses remain reported as blockers.

No annotations, no dialect, no special stdlib: the same TypeScript you run on Node, type-checked by the real TypeScript compiler. Programs outside the static tier can opt into --dynamic, which embeds a small JavaScript engine (~620KB) for the parts that can't be static; everything else fails the build with a specific error code and usually a rewrite hint.

WebAssembly is available as a production LLVM target: SCRIPTC_CC=zigcc SCRIPTC_TARGET=wasm32-wasi scriptc build app.ts. It emits a WASI Preview 1 .wasm module, and scriptc run supplies a WASI host. The complete executable language tier—including async, generators, timers, and --dynamic—is supported. APIs needing capabilities WASI P1 does not expose (network sockets/fetch, child processes, OS signals, and filesystem watching), sanitizer builds, native FFI, and library-mode archive builds are rejected with SC3002.

Native code can be called through an explicit, link-time C ABI manifest: declare the function signature in TypeScript, bind it to a C symbol, and build with --ffi <manifest.json>. See the Native FFI guide.

Docs: scriptc.dev