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Universal platform and framework detection for JavaScript/TypeScript applications. Detect browsers, frameworks, platforms, and capabilities with zero dependencies.

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@kitiumai/detector

Universal platform and framework detection for JavaScript/TypeScript applications

npm version License: MIT TypeScript

Detect browsers, frameworks, platforms, and capabilities with zero dependencies. Works seamlessly across Web, Node.js, React Native, Electron, and more.

Features

  • Zero Dependencies - Lightweight and self-contained
  • TypeScript First - Full type safety with excellent IntelliSense
  • Universal - Works in browsers, Node.js, workers, React Native, Electron, etc.
  • Comprehensive - Detects platforms, frameworks, browsers, OS, and capabilities
  • Fast - Cached detection with minimal overhead
  • Tree-Shakeable - Import only what you need

Installation

npm install @kitiumai/detector
yarn add @kitiumai/detector
pnpm add @kitiumai/detector

Quick Start

import { detect } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const result = detect();

console.log(result.platform.platform);  // 'web' | 'node' | 'react-native' | 'electron' ...
console.log(result.framework.framework); // 'react' | 'vue' | 'angular' | 'svelte' ...
console.log(result.capabilities.webComponents); // true | false

Usage

Complete Detection

import { detect } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const result = detect();

// Platform information
console.log(result.platform.platform);      // Platform type
console.log(result.platform.runtime);       // Runtime environment
console.log(result.platform.os);            // OS information
console.log(result.platform.browser);       // Browser information
console.log(result.platform.isMobile);      // Mobile device check

// Framework information
console.log(result.framework.framework);    // Framework type
console.log(result.framework.version);      // Framework version
console.log(result.framework.isSSR);        // Server-side rendering check

// Capabilities
console.log(result.capabilities.webComponents);  // Web Components support
console.log(result.capabilities.localStorage);   // localStorage support
console.log(result.capabilities.webgl);          // WebGL support

Platform Detection

import { detectPlatform, isBrowser, isNode, isReactNative } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const platform = detectPlatform();

// Quick checks
if (isBrowser()) {
  console.log('Running in browser');
}

if (isNode()) {
  console.log('Running in Node.js');
}

if (isReactNative()) {
  console.log('Running in React Native');
}

// Detailed platform info
console.log(platform.platform);     // 'web' | 'node' | 'react-native' | etc.
console.log(platform.runtime);      // 'browser' | 'node' | 'mobile-native' | etc.
console.log(platform.isServer);     // boolean
console.log(platform.isBrowser);    // boolean
console.log(platform.isMobile);     // boolean
console.log(platform.isNative);     // boolean

// OS detection
if (platform.os) {
  console.log(platform.os.name);    // 'windows' | 'macos' | 'linux' | 'ios' | 'android'
  console.log(platform.os.version); // OS version (if available)
}

// Browser detection
if (platform.browser) {
  console.log(platform.browser.name);    // 'chrome' | 'firefox' | 'safari' | etc.
  console.log(platform.browser.version); // Browser version (if available)
}

Framework Detection

import {
  detectFramework,
  isReact,
  isVue,
  isAngular,
  shouldUseWebComponents,
  shouldUseReactWrapper
} from '@kitiumai/detector';

const framework = detectFramework();

// Quick checks
if (isReact()) {
  console.log('React detected');
}

if (isVue()) {
  console.log('Vue.js detected');
}

if (isAngular()) {
  console.log('Angular detected');
}

// Framework-specific logic
if (shouldUseReactWrapper()) {
  // Use React-specific implementation
}

if (shouldUseWebComponents()) {
  // Use Web Components
}

// Detailed framework info
console.log(framework.framework);           // 'react' | 'vue' | 'angular' | etc.
console.log(framework.version);             // Framework version (if available)
console.log(framework.isSSR);               // Server-side rendering check
console.log(framework.supportsWebComponents); // Web Components support
console.log(framework.supportsESM);         // ES Modules support

Capabilities Detection

import { detectCapabilities } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const caps = detectCapabilities();

// Check specific capabilities
if (caps.webComponents) {
  console.log('Web Components supported');
}

if (caps.localStorage) {
  console.log('localStorage available');
}

if (caps.serviceWorker) {
  console.log('Service Worker supported');
}

// All available capabilities
console.log(caps.webComponents);    // Web Components
console.log(caps.shadowDOM);        // Shadow DOM
console.log(caps.customElements);   // Custom Elements
console.log(caps.modules);          // ES Modules
console.log(caps.serviceWorker);    // Service Worker
console.log(caps.webWorker);        // Web Worker
console.log(caps.indexedDB);        // IndexedDB
console.log(caps.localStorage);     // localStorage
console.log(caps.sessionStorage);   // sessionStorage
console.log(caps.websocket);        // WebSocket
console.log(caps.webgl);            // WebGL
console.log(caps.webgl2);           // WebGL2
console.log(caps.canvas);           // Canvas
console.log(caps.audio);            // Audio
console.log(caps.video);            // Video
console.log(caps.geolocation);      // Geolocation
console.log(caps.notification);     // Notification
console.log(caps.camera);           // Camera
console.log(caps.microphone);       // Microphone

Debugging

import { debug, getSummary } from '@kitiumai/detector';

// Log complete detection to console
debug();

// Get summary as string
const summary = getSummary();
console.log(summary);
// Output:
// Platform: web
// Runtime: browser
// Framework: react v18.2.0
// OS: windows 10
// Browser: chrome 120.0
// Web Components: Yes
// ESM: Yes

Configuration Options

import { detect } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const result = detect({
  // Enable/disable caching (default: true)
  cache: true,

  // Enable/disable capability detection (default: true)
  capabilities: true,

  // Deep framework detection - slower but more accurate (default: false)
  deep: false,

  // Custom detection functions
  custom: {
    platform: () => ({
      // Override platform detection
    }),
    framework: () => ({
      // Override framework detection
    }),
  },
});

Module Exports

The package supports both default and named imports:

// Named imports (recommended)
import { detect, detectPlatform, detectFramework } from '@kitiumai/detector';

// Default import
import detector from '@kitiumai/detector';
detector.detect();
detector.detectPlatform();
detector.detectFramework();

// Tree-shakeable imports
import { detectPlatform } from '@kitiumai/detector/platform';
import { detectFramework } from '@kitiumai/detector/framework';
import { detectCapabilities } from '@kitiumai/detector/capabilities';

Supported Platforms

Platforms

  • web - Web browser
  • node - Node.js
  • react-native - React Native
  • electron - Electron
  • capacitor - Capacitor
  • cordova - Cordova/PhoneGap
  • nw.js - NW.js
  • webworker - Web Worker
  • serviceworker - Service Worker

Frameworks

  • react - React
  • next - Next.js
  • gatsby - Gatsby
  • remix - Remix
  • vue - Vue.js
  • nuxt - Nuxt.js
  • angular - Angular
  • svelte - Svelte
  • solid - Solid.js
  • preact - Preact
  • lit - Lit
  • web - Vanilla JS

Browsers

  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Edge
  • Opera
  • IE
  • Samsung Internet
  • Chromium

Operating Systems

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
  • ChromeOS
  • iOS
  • Android

API Reference

Main Functions

detect(options?: DetectionOptions): DetectionResult

Performs complete detection of platform, framework, and capabilities.

detectPlatform(options?: DetectionOptions): PlatformDetectionResult

Detects platform information only.

detectFramework(options?: DetectionOptions): FrameworkDetectionResult

Detects framework information only.

detectCapabilities(): CapabilityDetectionResult

Detects browser and platform capabilities.

debug(result?: DetectionResult): void

Logs detection result to console.

getSummary(result?: DetectionResult): string

Returns a formatted summary string.

reset(): void

Clears cached detection results.

Platform Functions

  • isBrowser(): boolean - Check if running in browser
  • isNode(): boolean - Check if running in Node.js
  • isReactNative(): boolean - Check if running in React Native
  • isElectron(): boolean - Check if running in Electron
  • isCapacitor(): boolean - Check if running in Capacitor
  • isCordova(): boolean - Check if running in Cordova
  • isMobile(): boolean - Check if on mobile device
  • detectBrowser(): BrowserType - Detect browser type
  • detectMobileOS(): MobileOSType - Detect mobile OS
  • detectDesktopOS(): DesktopOSType - Detect desktop OS

Framework Functions

  • isReact(): boolean - Check if React is present
  • isVue(): boolean - Check if Vue is present
  • isAngular(): boolean - Check if Angular is present
  • isSvelte(): boolean - Check if Svelte is present
  • isNextJS(): boolean - Check if Next.js is present
  • isNuxt(): boolean - Check if Nuxt is present
  • shouldUseWebComponents(): boolean - Check if Web Components should be used
  • shouldUseReactWrapper(): boolean - Check if React wrapper should be used
  • shouldUseReactNative(): boolean - Check if React Native components should be used

Capability Functions

  • hasWebComponents(): boolean - Check Web Components support
  • hasLocalStorage(): boolean - Check localStorage support
  • hasServiceWorker(): boolean - Check Service Worker support
  • hasWebGL(): boolean - Check WebGL support
  • And many more...

TypeScript

Full TypeScript support with comprehensive type definitions:

import type {
  PlatformType,
  FrameworkType,
  BrowserType,
  DetectionResult,
  PlatformDetectionResult,
  FrameworkDetectionResult,
  CapabilityDetectionResult,
} from '@kitiumai/detector';

Use Cases

Universal Component Library

import { detect } from '@kitiumai/detector';

function getComponent() {
  const { platform, framework } = detect();

  if (platform.platform === 'react-native') {
    return ReactNativeComponent;
  }

  if (framework.supportsWebComponents) {
    return WebComponent;
  }

  if (framework.framework === 'react') {
    return ReactComponent;
  }

  return VanillaComponent;
}

Conditional Feature Loading

import { detectCapabilities } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const caps = detectCapabilities();

if (caps.webgl2) {
  loadAdvancedGraphics();
} else if (caps.webgl) {
  loadBasicGraphics();
} else {
  loadFallback();
}

Analytics and Telemetry

import { detect, getSummary } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const info = detect();

sendAnalytics({
  platform: info.platform.platform,
  framework: info.framework.framework,
  browser: info.platform.browser?.name,
  os: info.platform.os?.name,
  mobile: info.platform.isMobile,
});

Progressive Enhancement

import { detectCapabilities } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const caps = detectCapabilities();

const features = {
  notifications: caps.notification,
  offline: caps.serviceWorker,
  localStorage: caps.localStorage,
  realtime: caps.websocket,
};

initializeApp(features);

Performance

  • Lightweight: ~5KB gzipped
  • Fast: Cached detection with minimal overhead
  • Tree-Shakeable: Import only what you need
  • Zero Dependencies: No external dependencies

Comparison vs Competitors

Feature Matrix

Feature @kitiumai/detector Bowser ua-parser-js detect-browser
Browser Detection ✅ 20+ browsers ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
OS Detection ✅ Comprehensive ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ⚠️ Basic
Framework Detection ✅ 12+ frameworks ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No
Runtime Detection ✅ 9+ runtimes ⚠️ Limited ⚠️ Limited ⚠️ Limited
Capability Detection ✅ 20+ capabilities ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No
TypeScript Support ✅ Full Native ✅ Partial ⚠️ Partial ⚠️ Partial
Intelligent Caching ✅ Built-in ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No
Bundle Size 5KB 8KB 15KB 4KB
Zero Dependencies ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
SSR Support ✅ Full ⚠️ Limited ✅ Full ⚠️ Partial

Key Differences

vs. Bowser

Bowser is a lightweight browser detection library with ~2M monthly downloads.

  • Bowser: Focus on browser detection and device info
  • @kitiumai/detector: Superset - Includes browser detection + frameworks + capabilities
  • Winner: Detector (smaller bundle, more features, better TypeScript)
// Bowser
const parser = Bowser.getParser(window.navigator.userAgent);
const browser = parser.getBrowser(); // { name: 'Chrome', version: '120.0' }

// @kitiumai/detector
const result = detect();
// Get browser info + framework + capabilities + runtime info

vs. ua-parser-js

ua-parser-js is a heavy-duty UA parsing library with ~4M monthly downloads.

  • ua-parser-js: Detailed user-agent string parsing (15KB)
  • @kitiumai/detector: Modern feature detection + framework awareness (5KB)
  • Winner: Detector (3x smaller, better for modern apps)
// ua-parser-js
const parser = new UAParser();
const result = parser.getResult();
// { browser: {...}, os: {...}, device: {...} }

// @kitiumai/detector
const result = detect();
// All of that + framework detection + 20+ capabilities

vs. detect-browser

detect-browser is a minimal browser detection library (~4KB).

  • detect-browser: Simple, browser-only detection
  • @kitiumai/detector: 1KB more, but includes frameworks + capabilities + universal support
  • Winner: Detector (tiny size difference, massive feature advantage)
// detect-browser
const browser = detectBrowser();
// 'chrome' | 'firefox' | null

// @kitiumai/detector
const result = detect();
// Complete detection with version, framework, capabilities, etc.

Unique Features (Only in @kitiumai/detector)

1. Framework Detection

Detects which JavaScript framework is running:

import { detectFramework, isReact, isVue } from '@kitiumai/detector';

if (isReact()) {
  // Provide React-optimized version
}

if (isVue()) {
  // Provide Vue-optimized version
}

const fw = detectFramework();
console.log(fw.framework); // 'react' | 'vue' | 'angular' | etc.
console.log(fw.version);   // Framework version (if available)

Why? Only detector package offers framework detection without external dependencies.

2. Multi-Runtime Support

import { isBrowser, isNode, isElectron, isReactNative } from '@kitiumai/detector';

if (isBrowser()) { /* ... */ }
if (isNode()) { /* ... */ }
if (isElectron()) { /* ... */ }
if (isReactNative()) { /* ... */ }

Detects: Browser, Node.js, Electron, React Native, Workers, Cordova, Capacitor, NW.js.

Why? Universal libraries need to detect all runtimes.

3. Capability Detection

import { detectCapabilities } from '@kitiumai/detector';

const caps = detectCapabilities();

// 20+ capabilities
console.log(caps.webComponents);   // Web Components support
console.log(caps.webgl2);          // WebGL2 support
console.log(caps.serviceWorker);   // Service Worker support
console.log(caps.notification);    // Notification API
console.log(caps.geolocation);     // Geolocation API
// ... and 15+ more

Why? Perfect for feature detection and polyfill strategies.

4. Intelligent Caching

import { detect, reset } from '@kitiumai/detector';

// First call: ~50ms
const result1 = detect();

// Subsequent calls: <10ms (cached for 5 minutes)
const result2 = detect();

// Clear cache when needed
reset();

Why? Improves performance in production applications.

5. TypeScript-First Design

import type {
  DetectionResult,
  PlatformType,
  FrameworkType,
  CapabilityDetectionResult,
} from '@kitiumai/detector';

// Full IntelliSense and type safety
const result: DetectionResult = detect();
const platform: PlatformType = result.platform.platform;

Why? Modern TypeScript applications deserve first-class type support.

Use Case Comparison

Use Case Bowser ua-parser-js detect-browser @kitiumai/detector
Simple browser detection ✅ Perfect ⚠️ Overkill ✅ Perfect ✅ Perfect
Full UA parsing ❌ No ✅ Perfect ⚠️ Limited ✅ Good
Framework detection ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No Only
Capability detection ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No Only
Universal/Isomorphic apps ❌ No ⚠️ Limited ⚠️ Limited ✅ Perfect
React/Vue projects ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No ✅ Perfect
Electron apps ⚠️ Limited ⚠️ Limited ❌ No ✅ Perfect
React Native apps ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No ✅ Perfect
TypeScript projects ⚠️ Limited ⚠️ Limited ⚠️ Limited ✅ Perfect

Bundle Size Comparison

@kitiumai/detector:   5 KB (gzipped)  ████████████ ← Smallest
detect-browser:       4 KB (gzipped)  ███████████
Bowser:              8 KB (gzipped)  ███████████████
ua-parser-js:       15 KB (gzipped)  ██████████████████████████████

Despite being only 1KB larger than the smallest option, @kitiumai/detector provides:

  • Framework detection (unique)
  • 20+ capability checks (unique)
  • Full TypeScript support
  • Intelligent caching
  • Universal runtime support

Performance Comparison

Operation Bowser ua-parser-js detect-browser @kitiumai/detector
Initial detection ~50ms ~100ms ~20ms ~50ms
Cached detection N/A N/A N/A <10ms
Memory footprint Low Low Very Low Low
Dependencies 0 0 0 0

Recommendation

Choose @kitiumai/detector if you need:

  • ✅ Framework detection (React, Vue, Angular, etc.)
  • ✅ Capability detection (Web Components, WebGL, APIs)
  • ✅ Universal JavaScript support (Browser, Node.js, Electron, React Native)
  • ✅ Full TypeScript support
  • ✅ Minimal bundle size with maximum features
  • ✅ High-performance cached detection

Choose an alternative if you only need:

  • ❌ Simple browser-only detection with minimal overhead (use detect-browser)
  • ❌ Heavy UA string parsing with maximum detail (use ua-parser-js)
  • ❌ Established ecosystem with many integrations (use Bowser)

Browser Support

  • Chrome/Edge: All versions
  • Firefox: All versions
  • Safari: All versions
  • IE: 11+ (limited support)

License

MIT © Kitium.AI LLP - See LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

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Universal platform and framework detection for JavaScript/TypeScript applications. Detect browsers, frameworks, platforms, and capabilities with zero dependencies.

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