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name: bun-runtime description: Bun as runtime, package manager, bundler, and test runner. When to choose Bun vs Node, migration notes, and Vercel support. origin: ECC

Bun Runtime

Bun is a fast all-in-one JavaScript runtime and toolkit: runtime, package manager, bundler, and test runner.

When to Use

• Prefer Bun for: new JS/TS projects, scripts where install/run speed matters, Vercel deployments with Bun runtime, and when you want a single toolchain (run + install + test + build).
• Prefer Node for: maximum ecosystem compatibility, legacy tooling that assumes Node, or when a dependency has known Bun issues.

Use when: adopting Bun, migrating from Node, writing or debugging Bun scripts/tests, or configuring Bun on Vercel or other platforms.

How It Works

• Version baseline: guidance below targets Bun 1.4.x. Check the actual version with bun --version before relying on flag names, since CLI flags can change between releases.
• Runtime: Drop-in Node-compatible runtime, built on JavaScriptCore. As of Bun 1.4 the runtime itself is implemented in Rust (migrated from Zig). Not 100% Node-compatible — some native addons, less-common node: internal APIs, and packages that depend on Node-specific internals can still fail; verify before depending on it in production.
• Package manager: Bun includes a package manager; installation performance depends on the project, network conditions, and cache state. Lockfile is bun.lock (text) by default in current Bun; older versions used bun.lockb (binary) — Bun still reads that format for migration, but new projects should use bun.lock.
• Bundler: Built-in bundler and transpiler for apps and libraries.
• Test runner: Built-in bun test with a Jest-like API.

Migration from Node: Replace node script.js with bun run script.js or bun script.js. Run bun install in place of npm install; most packages work. Use bun run for npm scripts; bun x for npx-style one-off runs. Node built-ins are supported; prefer Bun APIs where they exist for better performance.

Package and workspace commands: bun add <pkg> / bun remove <pkg> / bun update [pkg] manage dependencies; bun outdated lists stale deps. bun pm ls lists project dependencies and resolved versions using the lockfile; --all includes transitive dependencies. It is not an integrity check of installed file contents. bun audit queries registry advisories using package names and versions from bun.lock; it does not modify package.json, bun.lock, or node_modules. Review approved destinations before sending private package metadata. Packages whose scoped registry lacks an advisory endpoint are skipped and do not affect the exit code. bun audit fix upgrades and installs dependencies, changing the lockfile and installed packages and sometimes direct version pins; review it as a modifying install operation, including applicable lifecycle scripts. bun dedupe collapses duplicate installs, and bun prune removes packages no longer referenced. Monorepos use a root workspaces array in package.json (same convention as npm/yarn); run a script in one workspace with bun run --filter <pkg-name> <script>.

Built-in APIs: reach for these before adding a dependency — Bun.file / Bun.write for file I/O, bun:sqlite for an embedded SQLite database, Bun.serve for an HTTP/WebSocket server, Bun.sql for SQL databases, Bun.redis for Redis, and Bun.S3Client for S3-compatible object storage. See the 1.4 release notes for the rest of what's new.

Vercel: Set bunVersion: "1.4.x" in vercel.json to use Bun 1.4 (Rust runtime). See Vercel's Bun runtime docs. Build: bun run build or bun build ./src/index.ts --outdir=dist. Install: bun install --frozen-lockfile for reproducible deploys.

Reference: Bun 1.4 release notes.

Examples

Run and install

# Install dependencies (creates/updates bun.lock)
bun install

# Run a script or file
bun run dev
bun run src/index.ts
bun src/index.ts

Scripts and env

bun run --env-file=.env dev
FOO=bar bun run script.ts

Testing

bun test
bun test --watch

For CI on Bun 1.4, available options include bun test --changed[=<ref>] for affected tests, bun test --isolate for per-file globals, bun test --parallel[=<n>] for worker processes, and bun test --shard=<n>/<count> for CI partitioning. --isolate creates a fresh JavaScript global for each file in the same process and cleans up documented per-file resources; it is not a process or security sandbox. --parallel enables it by default. --timings=<file> reads prior durations for scheduling; --update-timings records durations. Example: bun test --parallel --timings=./test-timings.json --update-timings. Check the installed version's help and documentation before choosing timing-file paths for a multi-shard workflow.

// test/example.test.ts
import { expect, test } from "bun:test";

test("add", () => {
  expect(1 + 2).toBe(3);
});

Runtime API

const file = Bun.file("package.json");
const json = await file.json();

Bun.serve({
  port: 3000,
  fetch(req) {
    return new Response("Hello");
  },
});

Best Practices

• Commit the lockfile (bun.lock) for reproducible installs.
• Prefer bun run for scripts. For TypeScript, Bun runs .ts natively.
• Keep dependencies up to date; Bun and the ecosystem evolve quickly.