deno compile, standalone executables

deno compile [OPTIONS] [SCRIPT_ARG]...

deno compile --allow-read --allow-net jsr:@std/http/file-server

deno compile --output file_server jsr:@std/http/file-server

Type checking options Jump to heading#

--check Jump to heading#

Set type-checking behavior. This subcommand type-checks local modules by default, so adding --check is redundant If the value of "all" is supplied, remote modules will be included. Alternatively, the 'deno check' subcommand can be used.

--no-check Jump to heading#

Skip type-checking. If the value of "remote" is supplied, diagnostic errors from remote modules will be ignored.

Dependency management options Jump to heading#

--cached-only Jump to heading#

Require that remote dependencies are already cached.

--frozen Jump to heading#

Error out if lockfile is out of date.

--import-map Jump to heading#

Load import map file from local file or remote URL.

--lock Jump to heading#

Check the specified lock file. (If value is not provided, defaults to "./deno.lock").

--no-lock Jump to heading#

Disable auto discovery of the lock file.

--no-npm Jump to heading#

Do not resolve npm modules.

--no-remote Jump to heading#

Do not resolve remote modules.

--node-modules-dir Jump to heading#

Sets the node modules management mode for npm packages.

--reload Jump to heading#

Short flag: -r

Reload source code cache (recompile TypeScript) no value Reload everything jsr:@std/http/file-server,jsr:@std/assert/assert-equals Reloads specific modules npm: Reload all npm modules npm:chalk Reload specific npm module.

--vendor Jump to heading#

Toggles local vendor folder usage for remote modules and a node_modules folder for npm packages.

Options Jump to heading#

--allow-scripts Jump to heading#

Allow running npm lifecycle scripts for the given packages Note: Scripts will only be executed when using a node_modules directory (--node-modules-dir).

--cert Jump to heading#

Load certificate authority from PEM encoded file.

--config Jump to heading#

Short flag: -c

Configure different aspects of deno including TypeScript, linting, and code formatting. Typically the configuration file will be called deno.json or deno.jsonc and automatically detected; in that case this flag is not necessary.

--env-file Jump to heading#

Load environment variables from local file Only the first environment variable with a given key is used. Existing process environment variables are not overwritten, so if variables with the same names already exist in the environment, their values will be preserved. Where multiple declarations for the same environment variable exist in your .env file, the first one encountered is applied. This is determined by the order of the files you pass as arguments.

--ext Jump to heading#

Set content type of the supplied file.

--location Jump to heading#

Value of globalThis.location used by some web APIs.

--no-code-cache Jump to heading#

Disable V8 code cache feature.

--no-config Jump to heading#

Disable automatic loading of the configuration file.

--seed Jump to heading#

Set the random number generator seed.

--v8-flags Jump to heading#

To see a list of all available flags use --v8-flags=--help Flags can also be set via the DENO_V8_FLAGS environment variable. Any flags set with this flag are appended after the DENO_V8_FLAGS environment variable.

Compile options Jump to heading#

--exclude Jump to heading#

Excludes a file/directory in the compiled executable. Use this flag to exclude a specific file or directory within the included files. For example, to exclude a certain folder in the bundled node_modules directory.

--icon Jump to heading#

Set the icon of the executable on Windows (.ico).

--include Jump to heading#

Includes an additional module or file/directory in the compiled executable. Use this flag if a dynamically imported module or a web worker main module fails to load in the executable or to embed a file or directory in the executable. This flag can be passed multiple times, to include multiple additional modules.

--no-terminal Jump to heading#

Hide terminal on Windows.

--output Jump to heading#

Short flag: -o

Output file (defaults to $PWD/).

--target Jump to heading#

Target OS architecture.

Flags Jump to heading#

As with deno install, the runtime flags used to execute the script must be specified at compilation time. This includes permission flags.

deno compile --allow-read --allow-net jsr:@std/http/file-server

Script arguments can be partially embedded.

deno compile --allow-read --allow-net jsr:@std/http/file-server -p 8080

./file_server --help

Cross Compilation Jump to heading#

You can cross-compile binaries for other platforms by using the --target flag.

# Cross compile for Apple Silicon
deno compile --target aarch64-apple-darwin main.ts

# Cross compile for Windows with an icon
deno compile --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc --icon ./icon.ico main.ts

Supported Targets Jump to heading#

Deno supports cross compiling to all targets regardless of the host platform.

Icons Jump to heading#

It is possible to add an icon to the executable by using the --icon flag when targeting Windows. The icon must be in the .ico format.

deno compile --icon icon.ico main.ts

# Cross compilation with icon
deno compile --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc --icon ./icon.ico main.ts

Dynamic Imports Jump to heading#

By default, statically analyzable dynamic imports (imports that have the string literal within the import("...") call expression) will be included in the output.

// calculator.ts and its dependencies will be included in the binary
const calculator = await import("./calculator.ts");

But non-statically analyzable dynamic imports won't:

const specifier = condition ? "./calc.ts" : "./better_calc.ts";
const calculator = await import(specifier);

To include non-statically analyzable dynamic imports, specify an --include <path> flag.

deno compile --include calc.ts --include better_calc.ts main.ts

Including Data Files or Directories Jump to heading#

Starting in Deno 2.1, you can include files or directories in the executable by specifying them via the --include <path> flag.

deno compile --include names.csv --include data main.ts

Then read the file relative to the directory path of the current module via import.meta.dirname:

// main.ts
const names = Deno.readTextFileSync(import.meta.dirname + "/names.csv");
const dataFiles = Deno.readDirSync(import.meta.dirname + "/data");

// use names and dataFiles here

Note this currently only works for files on the file system and not remote files.

Workers Jump to heading#

Similarly to non-statically analyzable dynamic imports, code for workers is not included in the compiled executable by default. There are two ways to include workers:

1. Use the --include <path> flag to include the worker code.

deno compile --include worker.ts main.ts

2. Import worker module using a statically analyzable import.

// main.ts
import "./worker.ts";

deno compile main.ts

Code Signing Jump to heading#

macOS Jump to heading#

By default, on macOS, the compiled executable will be signed using an ad-hoc signature which is the equivalent of running codesign -s -:

$ deno compile -o main main.ts
$ codesign --verify -vv ./main

./main: valid on disk
./main: satisfies its Designated Requirement

You can specify a signing identity when code signing the executable just like you would do with any other macOS executable:

codesign -s "Developer ID Application: Your Name" ./main

Refer to the official documentation for more information on codesigning and notarization on macOS.

Windows Jump to heading#

On Windows, the compiled executable can be signed using the SignTool.exe utility.

$ deno compile -o main.exe main.ts
$ signtool sign /fd SHA256 main.exe

Unavailable in executables Jump to heading#

• Web Storage API