The best TypeScript loader for Webpack

TypeScript loader for Webpack. This project was started as a fork of https://github.com/andreypopp/typescript-loader. Thanks to @andreypopp for the great project.

The main goal of this loader is to support the watch mode and webpack-dev-server with incremental compilation. There are a lot of problems in other TypeScript loaders that are fixed here.

Installation

npm install awesome-typescript-loader --save-dev

Differences between ts-loader

awesome-typescript-loader loader was created mostly to speed-up compilation in my own projects. Some of them are quite big and I wanted to have full control on how my files are compiled. There are three major points:

1. awesome-typescript-loader (atl) uses dependency resolution to build modules dependency graph at early stages. This speeds up build process in some corner cases (minimizes module resoltions, mimizes createProgram calls), but adds a lot of additional complexity. Also it can re-emit all related files which is also useful in some corner cases.

2. atl has first-class integration with Babel and enables caching possibilities. This can be useful for those who uses Typescript with Babel. When useBabel and useCache flags are enabled, typescript's emit will be transplied with Babel and cached. So next time if source file (+environment) has the same checksum we can totally skip typescript's and babel's transpiling. This significantly reduces build time in this scenario.

3. atl is able to fork type-checker to a separate process, which also speeds-up some development scenarios (e.g. react with react-hot-loader) So your webpack compilation will end earlier and you can explore compiled version in your browser while your files are typecheked.

Configuration

1. Add .ts as a resolvable extension.
2. Configure all files with a .ts extension to be handled by awesome-typescript-loader.

webpack.config.js

module.exports = {

  // Currently we need to add '.ts' to the resolve.extensions array.
  resolve: {
    extensions: ['', '.ts', '.webpack.js', '.web.js', '.js']
  },

  // Source maps support ('inline-source-map' also works)
  devtool: 'source-map',

  // Add the loader for .ts files.
  module: {
    loaders: [
      {
        test: /\.ts$/,
        loader: 'awesome-typescript-loader'
      }
    ]
  }
};

After that, you will be able to build TypeScript files with webpack.

TS defaults

• target = 'es5'

tsconfig.json

You can use the tsconfig.json file to configure your compiler and loader:

{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "noImplicitAny": true,
        "removeComments": true,
    },
    "awesomeTypescriptLoaderOptions": {
        /* ... */
    }
}

Loader options

compiler (string) (default='typescript')

Allows use of TypeScript compilers other than the official one. Must be set to the NPM name of the compiler, e.g. ntypescript or the path to a tsc file. Note that the compiler must be installed in your project. You can also use nightly versions.

emitRequireType (boolean) (default=false)

Specify whether or not the loader emits webpacks's require type.

library (string) (default='es5' possible='es6')

Allows the use of libraries other than the target's default one. Useful when you want to use ES6 library with ES5 target. Additionally you might use library=es6 with Node.

instanceName (string) (default='default')

Allows the use of several TypeScript compilers with different settings in one app. Override instanceName to initialize another instance.

reEmitDependentFiles (boolean) (default=false')

Collect file dependency graph and re-emit all dependent files along with the changed file.

tsconfig (string) (default='tsconfig.json')

Specifies the path to a TS config file. This is useful when you have multiple config files. This setting is useless inside a TS config file.

useWebpackText (boolean) (default=false)

Use this setting to force the loader to use webpack's method of loading files. Useful only with ts-jsx-loader. Builds may become slower.

externals (array)

Array of paths to .d.ts files that must be included in program. Useful with rewriteImports.

doTypeCheck (boolean) (default=true)

Use this setting to disable type checking.

forkChecker (boolean) (default=false)

Do type checking in a separate process, so webpack doesn't need to wait. Significantly improves development workflow with tools like react-hot-loader.

Works only with ForkCheckerPlugin:

var ForkCheckerPlugin = require('awesome-typescript-loader').ForkCheckerPlugin;

plugins: [
    new ForkCheckerPlugin(),
]

forkCheckerSilent (boolean) (default=false)

Less logging from the checker.

useBabel (boolean) (default=false)

Invoke Babel to transpile files. Useful with ES6 target. Please see useCache option which can improve warm-up time.

babelOptions (object) (default=null)

Use this option to pass some options to Babel (e.g. presets). Please note that .babelrc file is more universal way to do this.

useCache (boolean) (default=false)

Use internal file cache. This is useful with Babel, when processing takes a long time to complete. Improves warm-up time.

usePrecompiledFiles (boolean) (default=false)

Use pre-compiled files if any. Files must be named as {filename}.js and {filename}.map.

cacheDirectory (string) (default='.awcache')

Directory when cache is stored.

resolveGlobs (string) (default=true)

Invoke glob resolver using 'filesGlob' and 'exclude' sections of tsconfig.

skipDeclarationFilesCheck (string) (default=fase)

Skip declaration files typechecking. Use this only if you understand consequences.

Compiler options

You can pass compiler options inside loader query string or in tsconfig file.

Using with --watch or webpack-dev-server

This loader supports both --watch and webpack-dev-server modes. It handles file dependencies using internal webpack dependency markers. When you change a file, the loader recompiles all the dependencies.

External Modules

The most natural way to structure your code with TypeScript and webpack is to use external modules, and these work as you would expect.

npm install --save react

import * as React from 'react';

Internal Modules

This project doesn't aim to support internal modules, because it's hard to resolve dependencies for the watch mode. Of course, you can still use them without watch, but this function is unstable.

Declaration files

All declaration files should be resolvable from the entry file. The easiest way to do this is to create a references.d.ts file which contains references to all of your declaration files. Then reference references.d.ts from your entry file.