# Nub

> An all-in-one Rust-powered toolkit that augments Node.js with TypeScript support, a fast package manager, script runner, bin runner, and Node version manager — no new runtime required.

Nub is a fast, all-in-one toolkit for Node.js written in Rust, published under the MIT license. It runs TypeScript files, executes `package.json` scripts, installs dependencies, and manages Node versions — all from a single binary that augments stock Node rather than replacing it. The project was created in June 2026 and reached v0.2.1 within weeks of launch.

## What It Is

Nub is a CLI toolchain that sits on top of the Node.js you already have. Instead of introducing a new JavaScript runtime, it uses Node's own public extension surfaces — `module.registerHooks()`, `--import` preloads, and N-API native addons — to add TypeScript/JSX support, faster script dispatch, and supply-chain-hardened package management. The result is described by the project as "a Bun-like DX on top of stock `node`, written in Rust."

The toolkit covers five distinct jobs:
- **File runner** (`nub <file>`) — runs `.ts`, `.tsx`, `.jsx`, and standard JS files on stock Node with full TypeScript support via the [oxc](https://oxc.rs/) transpiler compiled into a native Node addon
- **Script runner** (`nub run`) — a drop-in for `npm run` / `pnpm run`, benchmarked by the project at ~24× faster than `pnpm run` on warm dispatch
- **Bin runner** (`nubx`) — a drop-in for `npx` / `pnpm exec`, benchmarked at ~19× faster than `npx` for local bin invocation
- **Package manager** (`nub install`) — pnpm-compatible CLI powered by the [aube](https://github.com/jdx/aube) Rust resolver, benchmarked at ~2.5× faster than pnpm on warm frozen installs
- **Node version manager** (`nub node`) — reads `.node-version`, `.nvmrc`, or `package.json#engines` and auto-provisions the correct Node version from nodejs.org

## How It Augments Node Without Replacing It

Nub's core design principle is zero lock-in. There is no Nub global, no `nub:*` module namespace, no `@nub/*` npm scope, and no Nub-specific lockfile. Code transpiled by Nub runs on the real `node` binary. The project publishes a compatibility table showing Nub passing 98.8% of Deno's Node-compat corpus (4,315 / 4,368 tests), compared to Deno at 77.4% and Bun at 40.5%, with the small gap attributed to auto-enabling experimental features and loading native addons.

TypeScript support goes beyond Node's built-in type stripping: Nub handles enums, parameter properties, extensionless imports, `tsconfig.json` path aliases, decorators, `emitDecoratorMetadata`, JSX, and the `using` / `await using` explicit resource management syntax. It also auto-loads `.env`, `.env.local`, and `.env.[NODE_ENV]` files with variable expansion, matching Next.js and Vite behavior.

## Supply-Chain Security Model

The package manager ships with several hardened defaults that are off by default in npm and pnpm:
- **Deny-by-default build scripts** — `postinstall` scripts are skipped unless explicitly approved via `nub approve-builds`
- **OSV advisory checks** — queries [osv.dev](https://osv.dev) for known-malicious package versions on every fresh resolve
- **Provenance downgrade protection** — refuses a version whose publish trust evidence weakened compared to an earlier release
- **24-hour `minimumReleaseAge`** — holds back freshly-published versions, matching pnpm's default

## Compatibility and Integration

Nub's package manager detects the incumbent package manager from `package.json#packageManager` or existing lockfiles and operates in compat-mode: it reads and writes `package-lock.json`, `pnpm-lock.yaml`, and `bun.lock` in place, with yarn lockfiles supported as read-only. The script runner implements pnpm's full `--filter` grammar including graph selectors (`...@org/web`) and changed-since selectors (`[main]`). A GitHub Action (`nubjs/setup-nub`) is a one-to-one drop-in for `actions/setup-node`. An official Docker base image (`ghcr.io/nubjs/nub`) is also provided.

## Update: v0.2.1

The latest release is v0.2.1, published on June 25, 2026, roughly three weeks after the repository was created on June 3, 2026. The project accumulated over 2,000 GitHub stars in that window. The repository is actively maintained with 8 open issues and regular pushes. The project direction is toward a comprehensive Node.js toolchain replacement for `tsx`, `ts-node`, `nvm`, `fnm`, `npx`, and `pnpm` — without requiring users to abandon their existing runtime or lockfile format.

## Features
- TypeScript and JSX support on stock Node.js via oxc transpiler
- Run .ts, .tsx, .jsx, .js files with no build step
- Full tsconfig.json path alias resolution
- Automatic .env, .env.local, .env.[NODE_ENV] loading
- Support for enums, decorators, emitDecoratorMetadata, using/await using
- Import YAML, TOML, JSONC, JSON5, and .txt files natively
- Dependency-aware watch mode with auto-restart
- 24× faster script runner than pnpm run
- 19× faster bin runner than npx
- 2.5× faster package manager than pnpm
- pnpm-compatible CLI and lockfile round-trip for npm, pnpm, and bun
- Node version manager with auto-provisioning from nodejs.org
- Deny-by-default build scripts (postinstall blocked until approved)
- OSV advisory checks on every fresh resolve
- Provenance downgrade protection
- 24-hour minimumReleaseAge for new package versions
- Flag-for-flag compatible with node, pnpm run, pnpm exec, and pnpm dlx
- Monorepo workspace support with pnpm --filter grammar
- GitHub Action (nubjs/setup-nub) as drop-in for actions/setup-node
- Official Docker base image (ghcr.io/nubjs/nub)
- Polyfills for Temporal, URLPattern, Worker, and other modern APIs
- Unflags experimental Node.js features automatically
- Corepack-style package manager shims via nub pm shim
- Zero lock-in: no Nub-specific globals, namespaces, or lockfile format

## Integrations
Node.js, npm, pnpm, yarn, bun, oxc (Rust transpiler), aube (Rust package resolver), GitHub Actions, Docker, Homebrew, osv.dev (advisory database), tsconfig.json, dotenv / .env files, YAML, TOML, JSONC, JSON5

## Platforms
WINDOWS, MACOS, LINUX, API, CLI

## Pricing
Open Source

## Version
v0.2.1

## Links
- Website: https://nubjs.com
- Documentation: https://nubjs.com/docs
- Repository: https://github.com/nubjs/nub
- EveryDev.ai: https://www.everydev.ai/tools/nub