How To Set Up a tsconfig For Nodejs

Do you hate dealing with tsconfig files? My problem is that I just don't spend enough time with them to learn all the settings. I create the config once for a new project, usually leaving most things as default, then never touch it again.

Fortunately, I recently discovered that Microsoft has created a collection of platform-specific presets to base your tsconfig on. The preset is installed as an npm package and referenced using the extends property in your tsconfig.

To setup a typescript project for node 14 install the @tsconfig/node14 preset.

npm install --save-dev @tsconfig/node14

Now your tsconfig can be as simple as one property, but any settings in your tsconfig will override the preset values.

{
  "extends": "@tsconfig/node14/tsconfig.json"
}

The power behind the extends property is that you can easily get started on a project with optimized settings, and if you have multiple TypeScript projects you can create your own tsconfig preset!