Bun Plugin Env Types

Get autocomplete for your environment variables without manual configuration.

Overview

I just wanted type-safe environment variables availabe on process.env and Bun.env without having to manually add themm. So, I figure why not use the Bun plugin system to make a plugin that does this on the fly.

Can be used in 3 ways:

1. Runtime Plugins - generate the env.d.ts file whenever you use a bun command. i.e. bun run, bun build, bun ./script.ts, etc.
2. Build Plugins - generate the file whenever you run your build script (like an esbuild plugin).
3. [Npx/Bunx] - just run the plugin directly with bunx bun-plugin-env-types and it will generate the file for you.

Installation

bun add -d bun-plugin-env-types

Usage

You have 2 options:

1. Use as a runtime plugin in bunfig.toml
2. Use as a Bun.build plugin

---

Runtime Plugin

Runtime Plugins are cool bc they allow you to run files when other bun processes run. In particular, it is most handy to use the preload functionality so it runs before any other process runs. You just add the file to the preload array in the bunfig.toml file.

Example

1. create a file to preload like preload.ts.
2. import and call the plugin:

// ./preload.ts
import envPlugin from 'bun-plugin-env-types'

envPlugin()

3.add the file to the bunfig.toml file in the preload array:

preload = [
  "./preload.ts"
]

---

Build Plugin

Build Plugins run alongside the bundler, whenever your build script runs. To use it:

// ./build.ts
import envPlugin from 'bun-plugin-env-types'

Bun.build({
    entrypoints: ['src/index.ts'],
    plugins: [envPlugin()]
})

Thats pretty much it. You will end up with an env.d.ts file in your project that looks like this

# ./.env
SECRET_KEY="sshhhhh"
DB_URL="https://long-production-url.com"

// ./env.d.ts
declare namespace NodeJS {
    export interface ProcessEnv {
        SECRET_KEY: string
        DB_URL: string
    }
}

---

Notes

• You can modify the generated d.ts file and your changes will not be overwritten.
• You can access your environment variables via process.env, Bun.env, or import.meta.env with autocomplete.

Npx/Bunx

You can also run the plugin directly with bunx bun-plugin-env-types and it will generate the file for you.

# Generate type definitions for all .env files
bunx bun-plugin-env-types

# Generate type definitions for a specific environment
bunx bun-plugin-env-types --env production

# Generate type definitions for a specific environment with custom output file
bunx bun-plugin-env-types custom-env.d.ts --env development

The --env flag can be used with any environment name that corresponds to a matching .env.[environment] file in your project.

This allows you to generate type definitions for any specific environment rather than merging all environment variables from different .env files.