ts-macros is a typescript transformer which allows you to create function macros that expand to javascript code during the transpilation phase of your program.
All macro names must start with a dollar sign ($
) and must be declared using the function keyword. Macros can then be called just like a normal function, but with a !
after it's name: $macro!(params)
.
To read more about ts-macros features, visit the documentation, or you can check out the interactive playground if you want to play with macros without having to set up an enviourment!
What you can do with ts-macros:
- Generate repetitive code
- Generate code conditionally, based on enviourment variables or other configuration files
- Generate types which you can use in your code (read more here)
- Create abstractions without the runtime cost
npm i --save-dev ts-macros
Usage with ts-patch
npm i --save-dev ts-patch
and add the ts-macros transformer to your tsconfig.json:
"compilerOptions": {
//... other options
"plugins": [
{ "transform": "ts-macros" }
]
}
Afterwards you can either:
- Transpile your code using the
tspc
command that ts-patch provides. - Patch the instance of typescript that's in your
node_modules
folder with thets-patch install
command and then use thetsc
command to transpile your code.
Usage with ts-loader
const TsMacros = require("ts-macros").default;
options: {
getCustomTransformers: program => {
before: [TsMacros(program)]
}
}
Usage with ts-node
To use transformers with ts-node, you'll have to change the compiler in the tsconfig.json
:
npm i --save-dev ts-node
"ts-node": {
"compiler": "ts-patch/compiler"
},
"compilerOptions": {
"plugins": [
{ "transform": "ts-macros" }
]
}
Usage with vite
If you want to use ts-macros with vite, you'll have to use the @rollup/plugin-typescript
plugin. Here is an example repository which sets up a basic vite project which includes ts-macros.
Note: Macros and dev
mode do not work well together. If your macro is in one file, and you're using it in a different file, and you want to change some code inside the macro, you'll also have to change some code in the file the macro's used in so you can see the change. It could be adding an empty line or a space somewhere, the change doesn't matter, the file just needs to be transpiled again for the changes in the macro to happen.
This library has 2 built-in macros ($raw
and $comptime
) which execute arbitrary code during transpile time. The code is not sandboxed in any way and has access to your file system and all node modules.
If you're transpiling an untrusted codebase which uses this library, make sure to set the noComptime
option to true
. Enabling it will replace all calls to these macros with null
without executing the code inside them. It's always best to review all call sites to $$raw
and $$comptime
yourself before transpiling any untrusted codebases.
ttypescript/ts-patch:
"plugins": [
{ "transform": "ts-macros", "noComptime": true }
]
manually creating the factory:
TsMacros(program, { noComptime: true });
ts-macros
is being maintained by a single person. Contributions are welcome and appreciated. Feel free to open an issue or create a pull request at https://github.com/GoogleFeud/ts-macros.