typescript-best-practices

name	typescript-best-practices
description	TypeScript/Node.js best practices. Use when writing or reviewing TypeScript code. Covers type safety, async patterns, and error handling.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"plan-cascade","version":"1.0.0"}

TypeScript Best Practices

Code Style

Rule	Guideline
Formatter	Prettier
Linter	ESLint + @typescript-eslint
Strict mode	strict: true in tsconfig

Type Safety

Rule	Guideline
Avoid any	Use unknown + narrowing
Type guards	Custom predicates
Discriminated unions	For variants

type Result<T> = { success: true; data: T } | { success: false; error: Error };

function isUser(v: unknown): v is User {
  return typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && 'id' in v;
}

Error Handling

class ApiError extends Error {
  constructor(message: string, public status: number) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'ApiError';
  }
}

async function fetchUser(id: string): Promise<User> {
  const res = await fetch(`/api/users/${id}`);
  if (!res.ok) throw new ApiError('Failed', res.status);
  return res.json();
}

Project Structure

src/{index.ts, types/, services/, utils/}
tests/
package.json, tsconfig.json

Async Patterns

Pattern	Usage
Promise.all	Parallel operations
AbortController	Cancellation

const [user, settings] = await Promise.all([fetchUser(id), fetchSettings(id)]);

Anti-Patterns

Avoid	Use Instead
as assertions	Type guards
! non-null	?. and ??
any	unknown + narrowing

// Bad: data as User, user!.name
// Good:
if (isUser(data)) { /* data is User */ }
const name = user?.name ?? 'Unknown';

Testing (Vitest)

describe('Service', () => {
  it('should create', async () => {
    const mock = { save: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ id: '1' }) };
    const result = await new Service(mock).create({ name: 'Test' });
    expect(result.id).toBe('1');
  });
});