Support for multiple tsconfig.json per project

[lazdmx]

Hi! Is it possible to use multiple tsconfig.json per project, that is some kind of project-wide tsconfig.json located in root directory and additional tsconfig.json files located in sub-directories which may override/tune some options for that dirs? Like .gitignore does.

It would be very usefull when, for instance, developing external module under node-environment. Such modules usually splited into multiple files (internal modules), but would be compiled into one big file during compilation stage.

[DanielRosenwasser]

Hey @lazutkin. Currently that's not supported, though I just want to link this issue to #2869 because it is somewhat related.

[mhegazy]

The compiler picks the closest tsconfig.json to the folder you are building if you are running tsc with no arguments in a folder. so if you have an inner directory with a tsconfig.json it will be picked up before the one in the outer directory.

I do not think we will support integration/overriding configuration from multiple tsconfig.json.

[Eisenspalter]

Multiple tsconfig files are indispensable for large enterprise apps.
Suggestion: Everytime tsc find a new tsconfig file in a subdirectory, tsc stopps here and create a new tsc process with its own tsconfig file.

[mhegazy]

@Eisenspalter this sounds like a build driver job something like grunt, gulp or msbuild.

[lazdmx]

@mhegazy I agree with @Eisenspalter because we both talk not about building process but about development process including sources writing, testing and other activities we need to complete before build. On all this intermediate steps we need to have support from typescript including intellisense, typechecking etc. Moreover as I said before, for different parts of project we would like to apply different source organizing techniques (external-internal modules, single output file, etc) and here we need some options to be overriden by separate tsconfig.

[Eisenspalter]

@mhegazy Why closed? Please reopen.

[mhegazy]

you can have multiple tsconfig today, each pointing to overlapping set of files. so one at src\tsconfig.json, one in tests\tsconfig.json, etc.. the compiler/tools will locate the file by walking up the directory tree to find the closest one. so you can have a third file at the root to catch all.

This all works today, in the compiler and the different IDEs. the original issue was about allowing a file to inherit from another. i do not think there is enough value there warrants the complexity.

For the second issue:

Everytime tsc find a new tsconfig file in a subdirectory, tsc stopps here and create a new tsc process with its own tsconfig file.

As i mentioned earlier, a tsconfig.json represents a single invocation to tsc.js/tsc.exe if you want to do multiple invocations you should use a build driver.

@lazutkin and @Eisenspalter does this answer the questions

[Ziink]

@mhegazy
Couldn't get multiple tsconfig.json to work. At least with TypeScript 1.7.3, only one tsconfig.json is read and that is expected to be in the root directory (or parent) of the project.

[mhegazy]

@Ziink my comment above was not about multiple tsconfigs in the same project. it was about multiple projects/directories, each with a different tsconfig. this how the ts project is layed out, see https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/tree/master/src, each folder under src, has a different tsconfig.json

[bartosz-k]

I have project that is written in TypeScript and I want to target both:

1. browser (let's say files in /browser) with ES5/AMD and
2. nodejs (files in server) with CommonJS and generators (and async/await in TS).

There are some shared files let's say in (/common) folder and there are imports from common to browser and server.
How can I achieve such config preserving IDE support, all the errors etc? I'm not sure if the discussion answered my doubts.

[mhegazy]

@Bartq With TS 1.8, I would create two tsconfig files, one for browser, and one for server, and add ///references in your files in both sub-projects to the common ones. give it a try and let us know if this addresses the scenario or there are still missing pieces.