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Error out if lockfile is out of date.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#

--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.

--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-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#

--icon Jump to heading#

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

--include Jump to heading#

Includes an additional module in the compiled executable's module graph. Use this flag if a dynamically imported module or a web worker main module fails to load 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@1.0.0/file-server

Script arguments can be partially embedded.

deno compile --allow-read --allow-net jsr:@std/http@1.0.0/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

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