mastering-typescript

name	mastering-typescript
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "write typescript", "configure typescript project", "add type hints", "use generics", "migrate to typescript", "set up vite with typescript", "implement type-safe patterns", "use satisfies operator", "configure eslint for typescript", or needs guidance on enterprise TypeScript 5.9+ development with React, NestJS, or LangChain.js.
version	1.0.0
category	programming-languages
triggers	["typescript","ts","type-safe","generics","nestjs typescript","react typescript","typescript migration","tsconfig","type guards","mapped types","conditional types","satisfies operator","zod validation"]
author	Richard Hightower
license	MIT
tags	["typescript","type-safety","enterprise","react","nestjs","langchain","vite"]

Mastering Modern TypeScript

Build enterprise-grade, type-safe applications with TypeScript 5.9+.

Compatibility: TypeScript 5.9+, Node.js 22 LTS, Vite 7, NestJS 11, React 19

Quick Start

# Initialize TypeScript project with ESM
pnpm create vite@latest my-app --template vanilla-ts
cd my-app && pnpm install

# Configure strict TypeScript
cat > tsconfig.json << 'EOF'
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2024",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "strict": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
    "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  }
}
EOF

When to Use This Skill

Use when:

• Building type-safe React, NestJS, or Node.js applications
• Migrating JavaScript codebases to TypeScript
• Implementing advanced type patterns (generics, mapped types, conditional types)
• Configuring modern TypeScript toolchains (Vite, pnpm, ESLint)
• Designing type-safe API contracts with Zod validation
• Comparing TypeScript approaches with Java or Python

Project Setup Checklist

Before starting any TypeScript project:

- [ ] Use pnpm for package management (faster, disk-efficient)
- [ ] Configure ESM-first (type: "module" in package.json)
- [ ] Enable strict mode in tsconfig.json
- [ ] Set up ESLint with @typescript-eslint
- [ ] Add Prettier for consistent formatting
- [ ] Configure Vitest for testing

Type System Quick Reference

Primitive Types

const name: string = "Alice";
const age: number = 30;
const active: boolean = true;
const id: bigint = 9007199254740991n;
const key: symbol = Symbol("unique");

Union and Intersection Types

// Union: value can be one of several types
type Status = "pending" | "approved" | "rejected";

// Intersection: value must satisfy all types
type Employee = Person & { employeeId: string };

// Discriminated union for type-safe handling
type Result<T> =
  | { success: true; data: T }
  | { success: false; error: string };

function handleResult<T>(result: Result<T>): T | null {
  if (result.success) {
    return result.data; // TypeScript knows data exists here
  }
  console.error(result.error);
  return null;
}

Type Guards

// typeof guard
function process(value: string | number): string {
  if (typeof value === "string") {
    return value.toUpperCase();
  }
  return value.toFixed(2);
}

// Custom type guard
interface User { type: "user"; name: string }
interface Admin { type: "admin"; permissions: string[] }

function isAdmin(person: User | Admin): person is Admin {
  return person.type === "admin";
}

The satisfies Operator (TS 5.0+)

Validate type conformance while preserving inference:

// Problem: Type assertion loses specific type info
const colors1 = {
  red: "#ff0000",
  green: "#00ff00"
} as Record<string, string>;

colors1.red.toUpperCase(); // OK, but red could be undefined

// Solution: satisfies preserves literal types
const colors2 = {
  red: "#ff0000",
  green: "#00ff00"
} satisfies Record<string, string>;

colors2.red.toUpperCase(); // OK, and TypeScript knows red exists

Generics Patterns

Basic Generic Function

function first<T>(items: T[]): T | undefined {
  return items[0];
}

const num = first([1, 2, 3]);     // number | undefined
const str = first(["a", "b"]);   // string | undefined

Constrained Generics

interface HasLength {
  length: number;
}

function logLength<T extends HasLength>(item: T): T {
  console.log(item.length);
  return item;
}

logLength("hello");     // OK: string has length
logLength([1, 2, 3]);   // OK: array has length
logLength(42);          // Error: number has no length

Generic API Response Wrapper

interface ApiResponse<T> {
  data: T;
  status: number;
  timestamp: Date;
}

async function fetchUser(id: string): Promise<ApiResponse<User>> {
  const response = await fetch(`/api/users/${id}`);
  const data = await response.json();
  return {
    data,
    status: response.status,
    timestamp: new Date()
  };
}

Utility Types Reference

Type	Purpose	Example
Partial<T>	All properties optional	Partial<User>
Required<T>	All properties required	Required<Config>
Pick<T, K>	Select specific properties	Pick<User, "id" | "name">
Omit<T, K>	Exclude specific properties	Omit<User, "password">
Record<K, V>	Object with typed keys/values	Record<string, number>
ReturnType<F>	Extract function return type	ReturnType<typeof fn>
Parameters<F>	Extract function parameters	Parameters<typeof fn>
Awaited<T>	Unwrap Promise type	Awaited<Promise<User>>

Conditional Types

// Basic conditional type
type IsString<T> = T extends string ? true : false;

// Extract array element type
type ArrayElement<T> = T extends (infer E)[] ? E : never;

type Numbers = ArrayElement<number[]>; // number
type Strings = ArrayElement<string[]>; // string

// Practical: Extract Promise result type
type UnwrapPromise<T> = T extends Promise<infer R> ? R : T;

Mapped Types

// Make all properties readonly
type Immutable<T> = {
  readonly [K in keyof T]: T[K];
};

// Make all properties nullable
type Nullable<T> = {
  [K in keyof T]: T[K] | null;
};

// Create getter functions for each property
type Getters<T> = {
  [K in keyof T as `get${Capitalize<string & K>}`]: () => T[K];
};

interface Person { name: string; age: number }
type PersonGetters = Getters<Person>;
// { getName: () => string; getAge: () => number }

Framework Integration

React with TypeScript

// Typed functional component
interface ButtonProps {
  label: string;
  onClick: () => void;
  variant?: "primary" | "secondary";
}

const Button: React.FC<ButtonProps> = ({ label, onClick, variant = "primary" }) => (
  <button className={variant} onClick={onClick}>
    {label}
  </button>
);

// Typed hooks
const [count, setCount] = useState<number>(0);
const userRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);

NestJS with TypeScript

// Type-safe DTO with class-validator
import { IsString, IsEmail, MinLength } from 'class-validator';

class CreateUserDto {
  @IsString()
  @MinLength(2)
  name: string;

  @IsEmail()
  email: string;
}

// Or with Zod (modern approach)
import { z } from 'zod';

const CreateUserSchema = z.object({
  name: z.string().min(2),
  email: z.string().email()
});

type CreateUserDto = z.infer<typeof CreateUserSchema>;

See react-integration.md and nestjs-integration.md for detailed patterns.

Validation with Zod

import { z } from 'zod';

// Define schema
const UserSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string().uuid(),
  name: z.string().min(1).max(100),
  email: z.string().email(),
  role: z.enum(["user", "admin", "moderator"]),
  createdAt: z.coerce.date()
});

// Infer TypeScript type from schema
type User = z.infer<typeof UserSchema>;

// Validate at runtime
function parseUser(data: unknown): User {
  return UserSchema.parse(data); // Throws ZodError if invalid
}

// Safe parsing (returns result object)
const result = UserSchema.safeParse(data);
if (result.success) {
  console.log(result.data); // Typed as User
} else {
  console.error(result.error.issues);
}

Modern Toolchain (2025)

Tool	Version	Purpose
TypeScript	5.9+	Type checking and compilation
Node.js	22 LTS	Runtime environment
Vite	7.x	Build tool and dev server
pnpm	9.x	Package manager
ESLint	9.x	Linting with flat config
Vitest	3.x	Testing framework
Prettier	3.x	Code formatting

ESLint Flat Config (ESLint 9+)

// eslint.config.js
import eslint from '@eslint/js';
import tseslint from 'typescript-eslint';

export default tseslint.config(
  eslint.configs.recommended,
  ...tseslint.configs.strictTypeChecked,
  {
    languageOptions: {
      parserOptions: {
        projectService: true,
        tsconfigRootDir: import.meta.dirname,
      },
    },
  }
);

Migration Strategies

Incremental Migration

1. Add allowJs: true and checkJs: false to tsconfig.json
2. Rename files from .js to .ts one at a time
3. Add type annotations gradually
4. Enable stricter options incrementally

JSDoc for Gradual Typing

// Before full migration, use JSDoc
/**
 * @param {string} name
 * @param {number} age
 * @returns {User}
 */
function createUser(name, age) {
  return { name, age };
}

See enterprise-patterns.md for comprehensive migration guides.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
Using any liberally	Defeats type safety	Use unknown and narrow
Ignoring strict mode	Misses null/undefined bugs	Enable all strict options
Type assertions (as)	Can hide type errors	Use satisfies or guards
Enum for simple unions	Generates runtime code	Use literal unions instead
Not validating API data	Runtime type mismatches	Use Zod at boundaries

Cross-Language Comparison

Feature	TypeScript	Java	Python
Type System	Structural	Nominal	Gradual (duck typing)
Nullability	Explicit (T | null)	@Nullable annotations	Optional via typing
Generics	Type-level, erased	Type-level, erased	Runtime via typing
Interfaces	Structural matching	Must implement	Protocol (3.8+)
Enums	Avoid (use unions)	First-class	Enum class

Reference Files

• type-system.md — Complete type system guide
• generics.md — Advanced generics patterns
• enterprise-patterns.md — Error handling, validation, architecture
• react-integration.md — React + TypeScript patterns
• nestjs-integration.md — NestJS API development
• toolchain.md — Modern build tools configuration

Assets

• tsconfig-template.json — Strict enterprise config
• eslint-template.js — ESLint 9 flat config

Scripts

• validate-setup.sh — Verify TypeScript environment