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Install the TypeScript SDK

How to install a Temporal SDK​

A Temporal SDK provides a framework for Temporal Application development.

An SDK provides you with the following:

NPM

This project requires Node.js 18 or later.

Create a project

npx @temporalio/create@latest ./your-app

Add to an existing project

npm install @temporalio/client @temporalio/worker @temporalio/workflow @temporalio/activity @temporalio/common
note

The TypeScript SDK is designed with TypeScript-first developer experience in mind, but it works equally well with JavaScript.

How to find the TypeScript SDK API reference​

The Temporal TypeScript SDK API reference is published to typescript.temporal.io.

Where are SDK-specific code examples?​

You can find a complete list of executable code samples in Temporal's GitHub repository.

Additionally, several of the Tutorials are backed by a fully executable template application.

Use the TypeScript samples library stored on GitHub to demonstrate various capabilities of Temporal.

Where can I find video demos?

Temporal TypeScript YouTube playlist.

How to import an ECMAScript module​

The JavaScript ecosystem is quickly moving toward publishing ECMAScript modules (ESM) instead of CommonJS modules. For example, node-fetch@3 is ESM, but node-fetch@2 is CommonJS.

For more information about importing a pure ESM dependency, see our Fetch ESM sample for the necessary configuration changes:

  • package.json must have include the "type": "module" attribute.
  • tsconfig.json should output in esnext format.
  • Imports must include the .js file extension.

Linting and types in TypeScript​

If you started your project with @temporalio/create, you already have our recommended TypeScript and ESLint configurations.

If you incrementally added Temporal to an existing app, we do recommend setting up linting and types because they help catch bugs well before you ship them to production, and they improve your development feedback loop. Take a look at our recommended .eslintrc file and tweak to suit your needs.