TypeScript Tips for CLI Tool Development

TypeScript Tips for CLI Tool Development TypeScript makes CLI tools more reliable, but getting the setup right requires knowing a few non-obvious patterns. This article covers the TypeScript-specific decisions that matter most when building CLI tools — from project configuration to type-safe argument parsing to publishing compiled output. 1. The Right tsconfig.json for CLI Tools { "compilerOptions" : { "target" : "ES2022" , "module" : "NodeNext" , "moduleResolution" : "NodeNext" , "outDir" : "dist" , "rootDir" : "src" , "declaration" : true , "declarationMap" : true , "sourceMap" : true , "strict" : true , "esModuleInterop" : true , "skipLibCheck" : true , "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames" : true , "resolveJsonModule" : true }, "include" : [ "src" ], "exclude" : [ "node_modules" , "dist" , "test" ] } Key choices: module: "NodeNext" — enables native ESM with .js extension imports target: "ES2022" — gives you top-level await , structuredClone , and other modern features declaration: tru