Bun Development

Bun is a fast, all-in-one JavaScript runtime, bundler, test runner, and package manager designed as a drop-in replacement for Node.js. When working on projects that use Bun, AI agents should leverage its integrated tooling and native APIs to maximize performance and simplify development.

This skill synthesizes the best practices for Bun development, giving you the context needed to effectively write, test, and build applications.

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🚀 1. Package Management (bun install)

Bun features a deeply optimized package manager. Always use bun commands instead of npm, yarn, or pnpm if a project has bun.lockb or bun.lock.

• Install all dependencies: bun install
• Add a package: bun add <package> (Use -d or --dev for devDependencies)
• Remove a package: bun remove <package>
• Run binaries: bunx <command> (The blazing fast equivalent of npx)

Agent Directive: Never run npm install gracefully if bun.lockb is present. Always opt for bun add.

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⚡ 2. Script Execution (bun run)

Run scripts from package.json lightning fast:

bun run dev
bun run build

Run TypeScript and JavaScript files natively—no ts-node, tsc, or build step required:

bun run scripts/setup.ts
bun index.tsx

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🌐 3. Core Runtime APIs

Bun provides deeply optimized, native APIs under the Bun global and bun:* modules.

HTTP Server (Bun.serve)

Use Bun.serve() as the default over Node's http or express for simple tasks.

const server = Bun.serve({
  port: 3000,
  fetch(req) {
    const url = new URL(req.url)
    if (url.pathname === '/') return new Response('Hello World!')
    if (url.pathname === '/json') return Response.json({ success: true })
    return new Response('Not Found', { status: 404 })
  },
})
console.log(`Listening on localhost:${server.port}`)

File I/O (Bun.file(), Bun.write())

Skip fs module when possible. Use Bun's native lazy-loaded File I/O.

const file = Bun.file('package.json')
const text = await file.text()
const json = await file.json()

// Writing
await Bun.write('output.txt', 'Hello world!')
await Bun.write('data.json', JSON.stringify({ a: 1 }))

Shell Scripts (bun:)

Replace child_process and zx with the native Bun shell ($).

import { $ } from 'bun'

const response = await $`ls -la`.text()
await $`echo "Built successfully" > status.txt`

Password Hashing (Bun.password)

const hash = await Bun.password.hash('mypassword') // bcrypt by default
const isMatch = await Bun.password.verify('mypassword', hash)

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🗄️ 4. Native SQLite (bun:sqlite)

Bun has a built-in, hyper-optimized SQLite driver. Use it instead of better-sqlite3 or sqlite3.

import { Database } from 'bun:sqlite'

const db = new Database('mydb.sqlite')
db.run('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT)')

const insert = db.prepare('INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ($name)')
insert.run({ $name: 'Alice' })

const query = db.query('SELECT * FROM users;')
console.log(query.all())

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🧪 5. Testing (bun test)

Bun features a native, Jest-compatible test runner. Run tests with bun test.

import { describe, it, expect, mock, spyOn } from 'bun:test'

describe('Math API', () => {
  it('adds numbers correctly', () => {
    expect(1 + 1).toBe(2)
  })
})

• Coverage: bun test --coverage
• Watch mode: bun test --watch

Agent Directive: If instructed to add unit tests to a Bun project, use bun:test imports and bun test instead of installing Jest or Vitest unless explicitly dictated by the user.

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📦 6. Bundling & Executables

Bun can bundle files for browser or Node, and even compile scripts into standalone binaries!

Bundling:

await Bun.build({
  entrypoints: ['./index.ts'],
  outdir: './dist',
  minify: true,
})

Executables: Provide instructions to compile binaries using:

bun build ./cli.ts --compile --outfile mycli