migrate-to-deno

Migrating to Deno

Requires Deno 2.9 or later. For general Deno usage once migrated, see the deno skill.

Most Node projects already run under Deno

Deno reads an existing package.json, resolves the same npm packages, writes a real node_modules, runs the same scripts, and supports node: built-ins. TypeScript runs with no build step.

There is usually no code to change — only which binary you invoke. Don't start by rewriting imports to jsr:, swapping dependencies for Deno-specific ones, or restructuring directories. Proposing that is the most common way this goes wrong.

Migrate in rungs

Each rung is independently useful and reversible. Stop wherever suits the project; plenty of teams stop at rung 1.

Rung 1 — Deno as the package manager only

deno install

Reads package.json, resolves the same dependencies, writes node_modules, and creates deno.lock — seeded from any existing package-lock.json, yarn.lock, bun.lock, or pnpm lockfile, so pins and integrity hashes carry over instead of drifting.

The app still runs under node; teammates are unaffected. Commit deno.lock once verified. To back out: delete deno.lock and node_modules, then npm install.

Rung 2 — Run it with Deno

deno run -A main.js      # or: deno -A main.js
deno task build          # runs scripts.build from package.json

Use -A here. The goal is confirming the program works, not designing a permission policy — changing both at once makes failures ambiguous.

Rung 3 — Tighten permissions

Replace -A with the narrowest set that works: run it, read what it asks for, grant exactly that.

deno run --allow-net=api.example.com --allow-read=./config --allow-env=PORT main.js

This buys something Node cannot offer, and is worth doing before deploying.

Rung 4 — Optionally, adopt the built-in toolchain

deno fmt for prettier, deno lint for eslint, deno test for jest or vitest, deno check for tsc, deno watch for nodemon, deno compile for pkg.

Optional, and usually not worth it for an existing project. These are not drop-in replacements; parity is incomplete, so this is a real migration, not a config change. A project happy with prettier, eslint, and vitest should keep them and use Deno as runtime and package manager only. Prefer the built-in tools for new projects. If you do move an existing one, go a tool at a time.

Command equivalents

Task	npm	Yarn	pnpm	Bun	Deno
Install all	npm install	yarn install	pnpm install	bun install	deno install
Add	npm i <p>	yarn add <p>	pnpm add <p>	bun add <p>	deno add <p>
Add dev	npm i -D <p>	yarn add -D <p>	pnpm add -D <p>	bun add -d <p>	deno add -D <p>
Remove	npm uninstall <p>	yarn remove <p>	pnpm remove <p>	bun remove <p>	deno remove <p>
CI install	npm ci	yarn install --immutable†	pnpm i --frozen-lockfile	bun install --frozen-lockfile	deno ci
Run script	npm run <s>	yarn <s>	pnpm <s>	bun run <s>	deno task <s>
Run binary	npx <p>	yarn dlx <p>	pnpm dlx <p>	bunx <p>	dx <p>
Outdated	npm outdated	yarn outdated‡	pnpm outdated	bun outdated	deno outdated
Audit	npm audit	yarn npm audit†	pnpm audit	bun audit	deno audit
Why	npm ls <p>	yarn why <p>	pnpm why <p>	bun why <p>	deno why <p>
Run a file	node f.js			bun f.ts	deno f.ts
Run TS	ts-node f.ts			bun f.ts	deno f.ts
Watch	nodemon f.js			bun --watch f.ts	deno watch f.ts
Format	prettier			prettier	deno fmt
Lint	eslint				deno lint
Test	jest, vitest			bun test	deno test
Coverage	nyc, c8				deno coverage
Type-check	tsc --noEmit			tsc	deno check
Bundle binary	pkg, nexe			bun build --compile	deno compile

† Yarn Berry (v2+) spelling. Yarn Classic (v1) uses yarn install --frozen-lockfile and yarn audit.

‡ Yarn Classic only — Berry removed yarn outdated.

dx is a separate binary installed alongside Deno, and an alias for deno x. It does not appear in the top-level deno --help output. Like npx, it runs the package with the sandbox disabled.

The four things that actually break

Requires net access to "..." (or read, env, run)

Deno grants nothing by default. Add that specific permission, or -A while still establishing the program works at all.

ReferenceError: require is not defined

A file containing CommonJS is being parsed as ESM. .cjs is always CommonJS, .mjs always ESM; .js and .ts follow "type" in the nearest package.json. For a CommonJS project, set "type": "commonjs".

A dependency is broken, or postinstall never ran

Lifecycle scripts don't run by default. Native addons notice immediately. Approvals are recorded in the config file, so this is one-time:

deno approve-scripts                              # interactive picker
deno install --allow-scripts=npm:better-sqlite3   # or name them directly

A tool cannot find files inside node_modules

Deno's layout is pnpm-style: real files in node_modules/.deno/, exposed via symlinks. Tools assuming npm's flat hoisted tree need:

{ "nodeModulesLinker": "hoisted" }

What has no Deno equivalent

Say so rather than improvising a workaround that won't hold:

• Yarn Plug'n'Play. Deno creates a real node_modules; .pnp.cjs is unused and .yarnrc.yml resolver settings don't transfer.
• yarn patch / pnpm patched dependencies. Vendor or fork.
• overrides / resolutions. Pin via an import map entry instead.
• Registry and resolver tuning in .npmrc / .yarnrc.yml.
• Bun build features — macros, HTMLRewriter, HTML entrypoints.

Per-tool details

• references/FROM_NPM.md — lockfile seeding, node_modules layout, overrides
• references/FROM_YARN.md — Plug'n'Play, Berry vs Classic, workspaces
• references/FROM_PNPM.md — pnpm-workspace.yaml, catalog:, patches
• references/FROM_BUN.md — Bun API translation, bunfig.toml
• references/NODE_APIS.md — node: built-ins, DENO_COMPAT, CJS/ESM

Further reading

• https://docs.deno.com/runtime/migrate/ — official migration guides
• https://docs.deno.com/runtime/fundamentals/node/ — Node and npm compatibility
• https://docs.deno.com/runtime/reference/node_apis/ — per-module Node API status