Registry / testing / detective-typescript

detective-typescript

library14.1.1jsnpmunverified

detective-typescript is a utility library designed to extract the static dependencies from TypeScript module source code or its Abstract Syntax Tree (AST). It provides a programmatic API to analyze imports and exports, including support for various TypeScript features like type-only imports, dynamic imports, and JSX syntax. The current stable version is 14.1.1, with releases occurring somewhat regularly to support newer TypeScript versions and Node.js environments, and to address bug fixes and performance improvements. It differentiates itself by offering fine-grained control over dependency extraction through options like `skipTypeImports`, `mixedImports`, and `skipAsyncImports`, making it suitable for tools that need to build dependency graphs or perform static analysis on TypeScript projects. Its dependency extraction mechanism is robust, relying on AST parsing provided by `@typescript-eslint/typescript-estree`, and it is often used by build tools, bundlers, and linters for static code analysis.

testing

npm install detective-typescript

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · DETECTIVE-TYPESCRI

detective-typescript

testingjavascriptv14.1.1

Install

—

Import

—

Disk

—

Pass rate

0/ 6

Env Coverage0 / 6

glibc

18–22

musl

18–22

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v? · npm install

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

node 18–226 runs

build_error

glibc

node 18–226 runs

build_error

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

detective

✓ import detective from 'detective-typescript';

✗ import { detective } from 'detective-typescript';

The main export is a default function, not a named export.

detective

✓ const detective = require('detective-typescript');

✗ import detective from 'detective-typescript';

CommonJS syntax shown in older documentation, still supported for Node.js environments.

Demonstrates extracting static and dynamic dependencies from TypeScript code using various options.

import fs from 'node:fs'; import path from 'node:path'; import detective from 'detective-typescript'; // Example TypeScript code with various import types const tsSourceCode = ` import { SomeType } from './types'; import { utilityFunction } from '@scope/utils'; import defaultExport from 'my-module'; import * as all from './all-exports'; const dynamicImport = import('./lazy-module'); interface MyInterface extends SomeType {} export class MyClass { constructor() { utilityFunction(); console.log(defaultExport); } } `; // Create a dummy file to simulate reading from disk const filePath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'temp-file.ts'); fs.writeFileSync(filePath, tsSourceCode, 'utf8'); try { const mySourceCode = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'); // Get all dependencies, including dynamic imports const dependencies = detective(mySourceCode, { skipAsyncImports: false }); console.log('All dependencies:', dependencies); // Expected: [ './types', '@scope/utils', 'my-module', './all-exports', './lazy-module' ] // Get only static dependencies (excluding dynamic imports) const staticDependencies = detective(mySourceCode, { skipAsyncImports: true }); console.log('Static dependencies:', staticDependencies); // Expected: [ './types', '@scope/utils', 'my-module', './all-exports' ] // Skip type-only imports (if 'SomeType' was a type-only import) const nonTypeDependencies = detective(mySourceCode, { skipTypeImports: true }); console.log('Non-type dependencies:', nonTypeDependencies); } catch (error) { console.error('Error processing file:', error); } finally { fs.unlinkSync(filePath); }

Debug

Known issues

breakingStarting with v13.0.0, the `typescript` package is no longer a direct dependency but a peer dependency. Users must install `typescript` explicitly in their project.

fix

Run `npm install typescript` or `yarn add typescript` in your project alongside `detective-typescript`.

affects: >=13.0.0

breakingVersion 12.0.0 dropped support for Node.js versions older than 18. Running the package on unsupported Node.js versions will result in errors.

fix

Ensure your Node.js environment is version 18 or newer. Update Node.js if necessary.

affects: >=12.0.0

gotchaThe `mixedImports` option defaults to `false`. This means that CommonJS `require()` calls are not included in the dependency list by default. If you need to detect both ESM `import` and CJS `require` statements, you must explicitly set this option to `true`.

fix

When calling `detective(sourceCode, { mixedImports: true })`, ensure `mixedImports` is set to `true`.

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchaOptions such as `skipAsyncImports`, `onFile`, and `onAfterFile` were incorrectly forwarded to internal parser/walker constructors in versions prior to v14.1.1. This could lead to unexpected behavior or options not being applied correctly.

fix

Upgrade to `detective-typescript@14.1.1` or newer to ensure correct handling of these options.

affects: <14.1.1

Errors

Common errors & fixes

Error: Cannot find module 'typescript'

The `typescript` package is a peer dependency and was not installed in the project.

fix

Install TypeScript in your project: `npm install typescript` or `yarn add typescript`.

SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'export' (or similar parsing errors for modern TS features)

The Node.js version is too old (e.g., <18) or the `typescript` peer dependency installed is incompatible with the TypeScript features used in the source code.

fix

Update Node.js to version 18 or newer. Ensure your installed `typescript` version (`npm view detective-typescript peerDependencies.typescript`) matches the supported range and can parse your source code.

TypeError: detective is not a function

Incorrect import statement. The `detective-typescript` package exports its main function as a default export, not a named export.

fix

Use `import detective from 'detective-typescript';` for ESM or `const detective = require('detective-typescript');` for CommonJS.

Upgrade

Version history

14.1.1latest on npm

Audit

Dependencies

typescriptrequiredRequired for parsing TypeScript syntax; moved to peer dependency in v13.0.0.

Agent activity

6 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/dependents/detective-typescript ↗

packagehttps://www.npmjs.com/package/detective-typescript ↗