David Wells

Builder of things

Software architect
& product wrangler

Software architect & product wrangler

@davidwells/extract-deps

dev-toolsstatic-analysisautomation

@davidwells/extract-deps extracts imports, requires, and exports from JavaScript and TypeScript source without building a full AST.

It is useful for tooling that needs a fast, practical view of dependency relationships: build systems, CI change detection, documentation tools, and agent workflows that need to understand code structure.

Full documentation, synced from the package README:

A lightweight utility for extracting imports, requires, and exports from JavaScript/TypeScript code without using AST parsing.

Features

  • Extract ES6 imports (static and dynamic)
  • Extract CommonJS requires (static and dynamic)
  • Extract ES6 exports (default, named, namespace, type exports)
  • Parse code without AST for better performance
  • Support for destructuring in imports/requires
  • TypeScript support for type exports and imports
  • Handles complex patterns like re-exports and aliased exports

Installation

npm install @davidwells/extract-deps

Usage

Basic Usage

const { extractDeps } = require('@davidwells/extract-deps')

const code = `
import { test } from 'uvu'
import assert from 'uvu/assert'
const { execSync } = require('child_process')
const fs = require('fs')

export const myFunction = () => {}
export default class MyClass {}
`

const { imports, requires, exports } = extractDeps(code)

console.log('Imports:', imports)
console.log('Requires:', requires)  
console.log('Exports:', exports)

Extract Imports Only

const { getImports, getStaticImports, getDynamicImports } = require('@davidwells/extract-deps')

const code = `
import { test } from 'uvu'
import assert from 'uvu/assert'

// Dynamic imports
const dynamicModule = await import('./utils')
const config = await import('./config.js')
`

// Get all imports
const allImports = getImports(code)

// Get only static imports
const staticImports = getStaticImports(code)

// Get only dynamic imports  
const dynamicImports = getDynamicImports(code)

console.log('All imports:', allImports)
console.log('Static imports:', staticImports)
console.log('Dynamic imports:', dynamicImports)

Extract Requires Only

const { getRequires, getStaticRequires, getDynamicRequires } = require('@davidwells/extract-deps')

const code = `
const { test } = require('uvu')
const assert = require('uvu/assert')
const fs = require('fs')
`

// Get all requires
const allRequires = getRequires(code)

// Get only static requires
const staticRequires = getStaticRequires(code)

// Get only dynamic requires
const dynamicRequires = getDynamicRequires(code)

console.log('All requires:', allRequires)
console.log('Static requires:', staticRequires)
console.log('Dynamic requires:', dynamicRequires)

Extract Exports Only

const { 
  getExports, 
  getDefaultExports, 
  getNamedExports,
  getNamespaceExports,
  getTypeExports 
} = require('@davidwells/extract-deps')

const code = `
// Default exports
export default function myFunction() {}
export default class MyClass {}

// Named exports
export const myVariable = 'value'
export function myFunction() {}

// Named declaration exports
export { myFunction, anotherFunction }
export { myFunction as aliasedFunction }

// Re-exports
export * from './module'
export * as namespace from './module'

// Type exports
export type MyType = string
export interface MyInterface {}
`

// Get all exports
const allExports = getExports(code)

// Get specific export types
const defaultExports = getDefaultExports(code)
const namedExports = getNamedExports(code)
const namespaceExports = getNamespaceExports(code)
const typeExports = getTypeExports(code)

console.log('All exports:', allExports)
console.log('Default exports:', defaultExports)
console.log('Named exports:', namedExports)
console.log('Namespace exports:', namespaceExports)
console.log('Type exports:', typeExports)

API Reference

extractDeps(code)

Main function that extracts all imports, requires, and exports from the given code.

Parameters:

  • code (string): The JavaScript/TypeScript code to analyze

Returns:

  • Object with imports, requires, and exports arrays

Import Functions

  • getImports(code) - Get all imports (static and dynamic)
  • getStaticImports(code) - Get only static imports
  • getDynamicImports(code) - Get only dynamic imports

Require Functions

  • getRequires(code) - Get all requires (static and dynamic)
  • getStaticRequires(code) - Get only static requires
  • getDynamicRequires(code) - Get only dynamic requires

Export Functions

  • getExports(code) - Get all exports
  • getDefaultExports(code) - Get only default exports
  • getNamedExports(code) - Get only named exports
  • getNamedDeclarationExports(code) - Get named declaration exports
  • getAllExports(code) - Get all exports (alias for getExports)
  • getNamespaceExports(code) - Get namespace exports (export * as)
  • getTypeExports(code) - Get TypeScript type exports

Data Structure

Each import/require/export object contains:

{
  moduleSpecifier: string,    // The module being imported/required
  exportType: string,         // Type of export (for exports)
  exportName: string,         // Name of export (for exports)
  definitions: Array,         // Destructuring and variable definitions
  // ... other properties specific to the type
}

Examples

You can find more examples in the examples/ directory and usage examples in _usage.js.

Performance

This library avoids AST parsing for better performance when you only need to extract dependency information. It uses regex-based parsing optimized for common JavaScript/TypeScript patterns.

Alternative Approaches

License

MIT