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A fast all-in-one toolkit that augments Node.js instead of replacing it
A Bun-like DX on top of stock node, written in Rust. nub index.ts # TypeScript-first Node.js runtime nub run dev # 24× faster pnpm run nubx prisma generate # 19× faster npx nub install # 2.5× faster pnpm install nub watch src/server.ts # native watch mode nub pm shim # built-in Corepack-style shims nub node install 26 # Node version manager nub upgrade # self update One tool to run your files and scripts, install dependencies, and manage Node itself. No new runtime, no vendor-specific API surface, no lock-in.
Nub Instead of
nub <file> node, tsx, ts-node, dotenv-cli
nub run <script> npm run, pnpm run
nubx npx, pnpm dlx / exec
nub install npm, pnpm
nub watch nodemon, node --watch, tsx watch
nub node nvm, fnm, n, volta
nub pm corepack
Install # macOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://nubjs.com/install.sh | bash
# Windows (PowerShell) irm https://nubjs.com/install.ps1 | iex
# Or via npm (pnpm / yarn global add work too) npm install -g --ignore-scripts=false @nubjs/nub For GitHub Actions, use nubjs/setup-nub in place of actions/setup-node. It's one-to-one compatible. - - uses: actions/setup-node@v4 + - uses: nubjs/setup-nub@v0
File runner — nub <file> Run a file. Supports .js, .ts, .mjs, .cjs, .mts, .cts, .jsx, and .tsx. Flag-for-flag and var-for-var drop-in compatible with node (mostly via passthrough).
nub index.ts # TypeScript, JSX, no build step nub --watch app.ts # same path, restart-on-change It augments stock Node with some of Bun/Deno's best features:
🦆 Full TypeScript support, including enum, namespace 🧭 TypeScript-friendly resolution: extensionless imports, tsconfig.json#paths ⚛ JSX / TSX 🎂 Decorators and emitDecoratorMetadata 🆕 Modern syntax like using (downleveled in transpiler when needed) 🔐 Automatic .env* loading — Next.js/Vite parity 🗂 Built-in loaders for common data formats — .yaml, .toml, .jsonc, .json5, .txt 🌐 Polyfills for Temporal, Worker, URLPattern, WebSocket, EventSource (when needed) 🔥 Unflags experimental features like node:sqlite, vm.Module, localStorage ⚡ 2.9× faster startup than tsx
How it works — Nub takes advantage of Node extension surfaces that mostly didn't exist when Deno and Bun were built:
--import/--require preloads module.registerHooks() for transpilation and resolution N-API native addons: Nub embeds oxc for pre-transpilation
Node provisioning When you run a file with nub, it infers the version of Node your project expects and auto-installs it if needed.
It respects (in precedence order):
NODE_EXECUTABLE (override) package.json#devEngines .node-version .nvmrc package.json#engines
This resolved version of Node is installed and your file is executed with it (with Nub's augmentations). $ echo 26 > .node-version $ nub hello.ts Using Node.js 26.3.0 (resolved from .node-version) Installed in 9.8s Hello world! Modern APIs Modern API work out of the box under Nub. Node.js experimental APIs are unflagged, others are auto-polyfilled (e.g. Temporal on Node 25 and earlier), and others are downleveled in the transpiler (using).
API How
Temporal polyfilled below Node 26, native above
URLPattern polyfilled below Node 24, native above
RegExp.escape polyfilled below Node 24, native above
Error.isError polyfilled below Node 24, native above
Promise.try polyfilled below Node 24, native above
Float16Array polyfilled below Node 24, native above
navigator.locks polyfilled below Node 24.5, native above
reportError polyfilled
vm.Module unflagged
ShadowRealm unflagged
Wasm module imports unflagged below Node 24.5 (22.19 on the 22.x line), native above
WebSocket unflagged from Node 20.10, native from Node 22
EventSource unflagged from Node 20.18, native above
node:sqlite unflagged from Node 22.5, native from Node 22.13
addon imports unflagged from Node 22.20, never native
Watch mode Restart-on-change driven by the resolved
dependency graph plus the off-graph files that still invalidate a run — no glob list to maintain: nub watch src/server.ts nub --watch src/server.ts # same path
👀 Tracks the resolved dependency graph automatically 🧷 Also watches the off-graph invalidators — .env*, the tsconfig.json extends chain, package.json ⚙ Runs on Node's own --watch engine, preserving output by default
View the full runtime docs 👉.
Script runner — nub run A drop-in for npm run and pnpm run. The runner is a Rust binary with no JavaScript startup of its own, so it dispatches a warm script roughly 24× faster than pnpm run: nub run build nub run -r --filter "@org/*" test # supports --filter It's fast compared to existing JavaScript-based script runners.
Command Time Relative
nub run 14.7 ms —
npm run 329.9 ms 22×
pnpm run 442.7 ms 30×
script dispatch · warm · 50 runs · macOS — view benchmark
🚀 Feels instantaneous — 14ms vs a detectable 300ms+ lag for npm/pnpm 🔁 Full lifecycle support — pre/post hooks and the complete npm_* environment 🧰 Local node_modules/.bin on PATH, with args forwarded without the -- separator 🗃 The full pnpm workspace surface — -r, --filter, --parallel, --workspace-concurrency, --resume-from, --stream 🎯 pnpm's --filter grammar verbatim — graph (...@org/web) and changed-since ([main]) selectors
View the full script runner docs 👉.
Package runner — nubx / nub dlx A drop-in for npx and pnpm dlx. Local-first with a download-and-execute registry fallback (same as npx). Eliminating the double-Node.js-spawn performance penalty paid by JavaScript-based tools like npx and pnpm.
nubx eslint . --fix nubx -y cowsay@1.5.0 "hi" # fetched from the registry (auto-approved via -y)
Command Time Relative
nubx esbuild --version 11 ms —
pnpm exec esbuild --version 191 ms 17×
npx esbuild --version 226 ms 19×
esbuild --version · macOS — view benchmark
⚡ Runs a local bin ~19× faster than npx, with no Node in the wrapper 🔎 Resolves node_modules/.bin regardless of which package manager installed it 🌐 Registry fallback for uninstalled bins — fetched, run, then discarded 🧩 Full pnpm exec / pnpm dlx flag parity, shell mode included 🪜 Walks the resolution chain — member .bin, then workspace root, then ancestors
View the full package runner docs 👉.
Package manager — nub install Nub is a package manager powered by the Aube engine. The CLI is flag-for-flag compatible with pnpm for muscle memory, but nub install nub ci nub add -E -D --save-catalog react nub remove lodash nub update nub dedupe It's fast — avoids the per-command Node.js bootstrap lag incurred by JS-based package managers.
Tool Time Relative
nub 1122 ms —
bun 1444 ms 29% slower
pnpm 2847 ms 2.5×
npm 4163 ms 3.7×
warm frozen install · create-t3-app · 222 deps · macOS — view benchmark
Security
🛡 Blocks postinstall by default 🦠 Checks osv.dev for known-malicious package versions during resolution by default 🔻 Refuses provenance downgrades by default ⏳ 24-hour minimumReleaseAge by default
Compatibility When you run nub install inside a project, it detects the incumbent package manager (based on your package.json#packageManager or any detected lockfiles). It then runs in compat-mode, respecting the config files and environment variables for that package manager.
Under each incumbent, Nub reads that tool's branded config and no other's; the neutral .npmrc cascade and npm_config_* are read under every one.
Incumbent Config it reads
npm package-lock.json, .npmrc, overrides, workspaces, engines/os/cpu/libc
pnpm pnpm-lock.yaml, pnpm-workspace.yaml, .pnpmfile.cjs, package.json#pnpm, resolutions, catalog:, .npmrc
Yarn (read-only) yarn.lock, a .yarnrc.yml / .yarnrc subset, YARN_*, resolutions, packageExtensions, .npmrc
Bun bun.lock, bunfig.toml [install], trustedDependencies, overrides, patchedDependencies, catalog:, .npmrc
Nub neutral only — .npmrc, npm_config_*, overrides / resolutions / catalog / workspaces
View the full package manager docs 👉.
Package meta-manager — nub pm Corepack's job, in native Rust: provision and run the exact pnpm / npm / yarn your project pins: nub pm shim # registers global shims (Corepack-style) Like corepack enable, this registers global shims for npm, yarn, and pnpm. When you run a command using one of these shim aliases anywhere on your file system, the shim will:
Detect the version used in your project Install that version if needed Run the command using the proper version
Nub provides this functionality as a convenience for users who prefer to keep their current package manager. Corepack itself was unbundled from Node itself in v25. View the full nub pm docs 👉.
Node version manager — nub node Though Node.js versions will generally be auto-installed and cached as needed, you can manage versions manually as well. $ nub node -h nub node — manage Node versions
Usage: nub node <command>
Commands: which print the resolved Node binary path (why → stderr) install [<version>...] provision version(s) into nub's cache ls list versions in nub's cache uninstall <version> remove a version from nub's cache pin <version> write the project's Node pin View the full nub node docs 👉.
License MIT