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OpenSpace typescript-compile-check-resilient

TypeScript compile-checking in projects where npx and node_modules/.bin symlinks fail, with a filtering technique to isolate errors from only newly-created or task-specific files — ignoring pre-existing legacy errors.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenSpace
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenSpace "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/showcase/skills/typescript-compile-check-resilient" ~/.claude/skills/hkuds-openspace-typescript-compile-check-resilient && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: showcase/skills/typescript-compile-check-resilient/SKILL.md
source content

TypeScript Compile-Check (Resilient) with File-Scoped Error Filtering

Use this workflow when you need to validate TypeScript changes in a project but the standard 

npx tsc
or 
node_modules/.bin/tsc
invocations fail due to broken symlinks, missing PATH entries, or environment issues.

When to Use This Skill

  • npx tsc
    fails with "command not found" or permission errors
  • node_modules/.bin/tsc
    symlink is broken or unresolvable
  • You need to validate only newly-created or task-specific files without being blocked by pre-existing compile errors in the broader codebase

Step 1 — Invoke tsc Directly via node_modules

Bypass 

npx
and symlinks entirely by calling the TypeScript binary directly:

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1; echo EXIT:$?

Why this works: The 

tsc
CLI entry point is a plain Node.js script at 
node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc
. It does not depend on symlinks or PATH resolution. The 
--noEmit
flag checks types without writing output files. Capturing 
EXIT:$?
lets you programmatically detect success (
EXIT:0
) vs failure (
EXIT:1
or higher).

If the project uses a custom 

tsconfig
, specify it explicitly:

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit --project tsconfig.json 2>&1; echo EXIT:$?

Step 2 — Filter Output to Task-Specific Files Only

When a legacy codebase has pre-existing errors, the full 

tsc
output will be noisy and may cause false negatives. Pipe through 
grep
to isolate errors from only the files you created or modified:

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1 \
  | grep -E "(file-pattern)" ; echo EXIT:${PIPESTATUS[0]}

Examples

Single new file:

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1 \
  | grep -E "settings-store\.ts"

Multiple new files (pipe-delimited pattern):

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1 \
  | grep -E "(settings-keys|settings-store|preferences|SettingsModal)"

All files in a specific directory:

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1 \
  | grep -E "src/features/my-feature/"

Check: no output = no errors in your files (success).

Step 3 — Capture Exit Code Correctly Through a Pipe

When grepping, the shell exit code reflects 

grep
, not 
tsc
. Use 
${PIPESTATUS[0]}
(bash) to recover the original 
tsc
exit code:

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1 \
  | grep -E "(my-file-pattern)"; echo "TSC_EXIT:${PIPESTATUS[0]}"

Or store errors explicitly:

TSC_OUTPUT=$(node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1)
TSC_EXIT=$?
echo "$TSC_OUTPUT" | grep -E "(settings-keys|settings-store|preferences|SettingsModal)"
echo "TSC_EXIT:$TSC_EXIT"

The second approach (storing output in a variable) is the most reliable since 

$?
is captured before the pipe.

Step 4 — Interpret Results

ConditionMeaning
TSC_EXIT:0
, no grep output		✅ Full project clean, your files are fine
TSC_EXIT:1
, no grep output		✅ Your files are fine; pre-existing errors elsewhere (acceptable)
TSC_EXIT:1
, grep output present		❌ Your files have errors — fix them
TSC_EXIT:2
❌ tsc configuration error (bad tsconfig, missing typescript package)

Fallback: Verify TypeScript Is Installed

If 

node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc
does not exist:

# Check if typescript is installed
ls node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc 2>/dev/null || echo "TypeScript not installed"

# Install if needed
npm install --save-dev typescript
# or
yarn add --dev typescript

Full Example

# Store full tsc output and exit code
TSC_OUTPUT=$(node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit 2>&1)
TSC_EXIT=$?

# Show only errors in newly-created files
NEW_FILE_ERRORS=$(echo "$TSC_OUTPUT" | grep -E "(settings-keys|settings-store|preferences|SettingsModal)")

if [ -z "$NEW_FILE_ERRORS" ]; then
  echo "✅ No TypeScript errors in new files (TSC_EXIT:$TSC_EXIT)"
else
  echo "❌ TypeScript errors in new files:"
  echo "$NEW_FILE_ERRORS"
  exit 1
fi

Notes

  • This technique is safe for CI and local environments alike.
  • The direct 
    node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc
    path works on macOS, Linux, and Windows (via 
    node node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc
    on Windows CMD).
  • On Windows, replace the bash script with: 
    node node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --noEmit
  • Always prefer 
    --noEmit
    for validation-only checks to avoid side effects.