An all-in-one toolkit for Node.js. One Rust binary to run your files and scripts, install dependencies, and manage Node itself — a Bun-like modern DX on top of the node you already have. There's no new runtime to adopt and no lock-in: every augmentation rides on Node's own public extension surfaces.

Documentation: https://nubjs.com/docs

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://nubjs.com/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://nubjs.com/install.ps1 | iex

# Or via npm (pnpm / yarn global add work too)
npm install -g --ignore-scripts=false @nubjs/nub

That puts nub and nubx on your PATH.

For GitHub Actions, use nubjs/setup-nub in place of actions/setup-node:

- - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+ - uses: nubjs/setup-nub@v1

It installs Nub, can pre-provision the project's Node, and can cache Nub's store.

nub index.ts             # run a TypeScript file on stock Node
nub run dev              # run a package.json script (~24× faster than pnpm run)
nubx prisma generate     # run a CLI from node_modules/.bin (~19× faster than npx)
nub install              # install dependencies (pnpm-shaped, lockfile-compatible)
nub watch src/server.ts  # restart on file changes
nub pm shim              # route bare npm/pnpm/yarn through the project's pin
nub node install 22      # provision a Node version

A flag-for-flag drop-in for node <file> that also runs TypeScript and JSX directly — no tsconfig, no build step. The whole TS surface works, including non-erasable syntax (enum, namespace, parameter properties) and legacy decorators with emitDecoratorMetadata. Imports resolve the way your editor does (extensionless, .js → .ts, tsconfig paths), .env* files load automatically with ${VAR} expansion, and data files import as parsed values:

import config from "./config.yaml";  // .yaml, .toml, .jsonc, .json5, .txt — default import

Modern globals are present even on older Node — Temporal, URLPattern, WebSocket, EventSource, node:sqlite, Web Workers, and more — each polyfilled (feature-detected, native wins) or flag-injected per Node-version band. Source maps surface in error traces. sessionStorage works out of the box; persistent localStorage is opt-in (it needs a backing file). See Runtime.

A drop-in for npm run and pnpm run, roughly 24× faster on the cold path. Lifecycle pre/post hooks, the full npm_* environment, node_modules/.bin on PATH, and arg-forwarding without the -- separator. The complete pnpm workspace surface is preserved — -r / --recursive, --filter (pnpm's grammar verbatim, including graph and changed-since selectors), --parallel, --workspace-concurrency, --resume-from, --stream. See Script runner.

nub run build
nub run -r --filter "@org/*" test

A drop-in for npx and pnpm dlx, local-first with a registry fallback. It resolves node_modules/.bin in Rust and exec's the binary directly, so the per-call Node bootstrap that npx pays disappears (~19× lighter). When a bin isn't installed, nubx fetches and runs it. See Package runner.

nubx eslint . --fix
nubx cowsay@1.5.0 "hi"   # fetched from the registry, then discarded

Nub has its own pnpm-shaped install engine (the vendored aube engine, embedded as a library). The CLI follows pnpm's spellings; the lockfile stays in your project's native format — npm, pnpm, and Bun round-trip cleanly, Yarn is read-only. Nub infers the incumbent package manager and mirrors it; it never asks. Packages dedupe through a global content-addressed store and materialize by reflink/hardlink.

nub install                    # alias: nub i  ·  also: nub ci, --frozen-lockfile
nub add -D vitest              # add / remove / update / dedupe / import
nub remove lodash

Dependency build scripts are deny-by-default: a script runs only on an explicit allow (pnpm.onlyBuiltDependencies, trustedDependencies, nub approve-builds) or when a curated default-trust floor vouches for it under registry-provenance, advisory-vetting, and cooling-window gates. See Package manager.

Corepack's job, in native Rust: provision and run the exact pnpm / npm / yarn your project pins. Nub reads the pin (packageManager, devEngines, or Yarn Berry's yarnPath), fetches that version integrity-verified, caches it, and runs it on the project's Node — no corepack enable, no baked version table.

nub pm use pnpm@9.15.4   # declare the project's PM, align the lockfile
nub pm shim              # bare npm/pnpm/yarn route through the pin

See Package meta-manager.

Pin a version (.node-version, .nvmrc, or engines.node) and the matching stock Node is fetched from nodejs.org, SHA-256-verified, cached, and run — in the same breath as your code, no second command. The subcommands cover the cases automatic provisioning can't reach.

nub node install 22     # also: ls, uninstall, pin, which
nub node pin lts

With no pin, Nub adopts whatever node is on your PATH. See Node manager.

Restart-on-change driven by the resolved dependency graph plus the off-graph files that still invalidate a run (.env*, the tsconfig.json extends chain, package.json) — no glob list to maintain. Runs on Node's own --watch engine, preserving output by default. nub --watch <file> is the same path. See Watch mode.

Nub is not a Node fork. It's a Rust CLI that orchestrates your installed Node through Node's own extension surfaces — module.registerHooks() for TS transpilation and resolution, --import preloads for polyfills, V8 flag injection for unflagging experimental features, an oxc-based N-API addon for fast transpilation, and a per-invocation PATH shim so subprocesses stay augmented. Code targeting Node runs on Nub byte-for-byte.

The --node flag is the escape hatch: it runs with zero augmentation — no load hook, no preload, no flag injection, no .env loading — on the project's pinned Node, which makes it the tool for differential debugging.

nub --node script.js     # the project's pinned Node, vanilla

• Node 18.19+. 18.19–22.14 use the compatibility tier (async module.register() loader-worker); 22.15+ use the fast path (sync module.registerHooks()).
• macOS (arm64, x64), Linux (x64, arm64), Windows (x64, arm64).

Ambient TypeScript declarations for the modern globals ship via @types/node 25; reportError lives in @nubjs/types.

MIT