Compile a script into an executable
The deno compile subcommand turns a script and all of its dependencies into a single self-contained binary. The result runs on machines that do not have Deno installed, which makes it a simple way to ship command line tools.
Any script can be compiled. This one greets whoever is named in the first command line argument.
const name = Deno.args[0] ?? "world";
console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);Compile it. Deno bundles the script together with the runtime and writes an executable named after the file: deno compile greet.ts Compile greet.ts to greet Embedded Files greet └── greet.ts (70B) Files: 1.53KB Metadata: 1.38KB Remote modules: 12B
The binary is a normal executable. It is large, roughly 70 MB, because the whole JavaScript runtime is embedded in it. ./greet Hello, world! ./greet Deno Hello, Deno!
Use the --output flag to pick a different name or path for the binary: deno compile --output hello greet.ts
Permission flags given at compile time are baked into the binary. This program fetches a page, so it is compiled with -N for network access. Whoever runs the binary is never prompted, and the program can never exceed the permissions it was compiled with. deno compile -N --output check_site server.ts Check server.ts Compile server.ts to check_site ./check_site 200
Data files are not picked up automatically, because only imported modules are bundled. The --include flag embeds extra files into the binary. The program reads them with regular file APIs, resolved against import.meta.url: const banner = await Deno.readTextFile( new URL("./banner.txt", import.meta.url), ); deno compile --include banner.txt --output app app.ts Compile app.ts to app Embedded Files app ├── app.ts (377B) └── banner.txt (20B) ./app Welcome to the show
Cross-compilation produces binaries for other platforms. The --target flag accepts these values: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu x86_64-pc-windows-msvc x86_64-apple-darwin aarch64-apple-darwin
On the first use of a foreign target, Deno downloads the runtime for that platform and caches it. This Linux binary was produced on a Mac: deno compile --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --output greet-linux greet.ts Compile greet.ts to greet-linux Download https://dl.deno.land/.../denort-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip file greet-linux greet-linux: ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64 ...
Run this example locally using the Deno CLI:
deno run https://docs.deno.com/examples/scripts/deno_compile.ts Deno