What is this?
Biome is a toolchain for web projects: one fast tool that both formats and lints JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, JSON, CSS and GraphQL, run from the CLI or your editor via LSP.
Biome is a toolchain for web projects: one fast tool that both formats and lints JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, JSON, CSS and GraphQL, run from the CLI or your editor via LSP.So is it an alternative to running Prettier and ESLint side by side?Essentially yes. It unifies the formatter and the linter — tools that used to be separate — on one shared base, so you get a single config, shared caching and parallel runs instead of a stitched-together toolchain.
Essentially yes. It unifies the formatter and the linter — tools that used to be separate — on one shared base, so you get a single config, shared caching and parallel runs instead of a stitched-together toolchain.How do I get started with it?Follow the Getting Started guide to add it to your project, or try it first in the online playground, which is compiled to WebAssembly. There is no mandatory configuration step: Biome has sane defaults and works without a config file.
Follow the Getting Started guide to add it to your project, or try it first in the online playground, which is compiled to WebAssembly. There is no mandatory configuration step: Biome has sane defaults and works without a config file.Do I need Node.js installed for it to work?No. Biome is written in Rust and does not require Node.js to function — you work with a standalone binary, no JS runtime needed.
No. Biome is written in Rust and does not require Node.js to function — you work with a standalone binary, no JS runtime needed.What if my file has syntax errors — does the formatter just refuse to run?It handles broken code rather than refusing it: the parser has top-notch error recovery, so Biome can format and lint malformed files, even while you are still typing them in the editor.
It handles broken code rather than refusing it: the parser has top-notch error recovery, so Biome can format and lint malformed files, even while you are still typing them in the editor.Is it a command-line thing, or can it live inside my editor?Both. It is designed from the start to be used interactively within an editor via first-class LSP support, with official VS Code and Open VSX extensions, while the CLI covers scripts and CI.
Both. It is designed from the start to be used interactively within an editor via first-class LSP support, with official VS Code and Open VSX extensions, while the CLI covers scripts and CI.How close is Biome's formatting to Prettier's?Very close: the formatter scores 97% compatibility with Prettier, so adopting Biome usually does not reformat your whole codebase.
Very close: the formatter scores 97% compatibility with Prettier, so adopting Biome usually does not reformat your whole codebase.Where do its lint rules come from?The linter features more than 500 rules drawn from ESLint, typescript-eslint and other sources, with detailed and contextualized diagnostics.
The linter features more than 500 rules drawn from ESLint, typescript-eslint and other sources, with detailed and contextualized diagnostics.Why build one tool instead of using Prettier plus ESLint?Separate tools mean separate configs, parsers and runs. Building everything on a shared base lets Biome provide a cohesive experience for processing code, displaying errors, parallelizing work and caching.
Separate tools mean separate configs, parsers and runs. Building everything on a shared base lets Biome provide a cohesive experience for processing code, displaying errors, parallelizing work and caching.Is it free to use, even for companies?Yes — it is dual-licensed under MIT or Apache 2.0. Companies can additionally sponsor the project or buy enterprise support, where core contributors work on company-focused projects.
Yes — it is dual-licensed under MIT or Apache 2.0. Companies can additionally sponsor the project or buy enterprise support, where core contributors work on company-focused projects.Which topics is it in?formatter, static-code-analysis, lsp, jsx, linter, vscode-extension, graphql, code-quality, wasm, json, css, web-development
formatter, static-code-analysis, lsp, jsx, linter, vscode-extension, graphql, code-quality, wasm, json, css, web-development