diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index eeb8a187b145..a214163a9cb3 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     "@angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "^2.3.0",
     "@angular/platform-server": "^2.3.0",
     "@angular/router": "^3.3.0",
+    "@types/chalk": "^0.4.31",
     "@types/fs-extra": "0.0.37",
     "@types/glob": "^5.0.30",
     "@types/gulp": "^3.8.32",
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@
     "autoprefixer": "^6.7.6",
     "axe-core": "^2.1.7",
     "axe-webdriverjs": "^0.5.0",
+    "chalk": "^1.1.3",
     "conventional-changelog": "^1.1.0",
     "dgeni": "^0.4.7",
     "dgeni-packages": "^0.16.5",
diff --git a/src/lib/tsconfig-srcs.json b/src/lib/tsconfig-srcs.json
deleted file mode 100644
index f90842dfd36f..000000000000
--- a/src/lib/tsconfig-srcs.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "compilerOptions": {
-    "declaration": true,
-    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
-    "experimentalDecorators": true,
-    "lib": ["es6", "es2015", "dom"],
-    "module": "es2015",
-    "moduleResolution": "node",
-    "noEmitOnError": true,
-    "noImplicitAny": true,
-    "outDir": "../../dist/@angular/material",
-    "rootDir": ".",
-    "sourceMap": true,
-    "target": "es5",
-    "inlineSources": true,
-    "stripInternal": false,
-    "typeRoots": [
-      "../../node_modules/@types/!(node)"
-    ]
-  },
-  "exclude": [
-    /* Exclude testing utilities in releases. */
-    "core/testing/",
-
-    "**/*.spec.*",
-    "system-config-spec.ts"
-  ],
-  "angularCompilerOptions": {
-    "genDir": "../../dist/@angular/material",
-    "skipTemplateCodegen": true,
-    "debug": true
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/lib/tsconfig.json b/src/lib/tsconfig.json
index 5940ef3eeb24..e5dc4507798a 100644
--- a/src/lib/tsconfig.json
+++ b/src/lib/tsconfig.json
@@ -4,19 +4,17 @@
     "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
     "experimentalDecorators": true,
     "lib": ["es6", "es2015", "dom"],
-    "module": "commonjs",
+    "module": "es2015",
     "moduleResolution": "node",
     "noEmitOnError": true,
     "noImplicitAny": true,
     "outDir": "../../dist/@angular/material",
     "rootDir": ".",
     "sourceMap": true,
-    "target": "es5",
+    "target": "es6",
     "inlineSources": true,
     "stripInternal": false,
     "baseUrl": "",
-    "paths": {
-    },
     "typeRoots": [
       "../../node_modules/@types/!(node)"
     ],
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/aot.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/aot.ts
index 5b1b1796d97f..93baf4d38bb9 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/aot.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/aot.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ task('aot:copy', [':build:devapp:scss', ':build:devapp:assets']);
  */
 task('aot:prepare', sequenceTask(
   'clean',
-  ['aot:copy', 'build:components:release', ':build:components:ngc'])
+  ['aot:copy', 'build:components', ':build:components:ngc'])
 );
 
 /** Builds the demo-app with the Angular compiler to verify that all components work. */
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/components.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/components.ts
index 282b83f2aada..3d2468a2ea52 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/components.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/components.ts
@@ -1,139 +1,150 @@
 import {task, watch, src, dest} from 'gulp';
+import {ScriptTarget, ModuleKind} from 'typescript';
 import * as path from 'path';
 
 import {
   DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, PROJECT_ROOT, COMPONENTS_DIR, HTML_MINIFIER_OPTIONS, LICENSE_BANNER
 } from '../constants';
 import {
-  sassBuildTask, tsBuildTask, execNodeTask, copyTask, sequenceTask,
+  sassBuildTask, tsBuildTask, execNodeTask, sequenceTask,
   triggerLivereload
 } from '../util/task_helpers';
 
-// No typings for these.
+// There are no type definitions available for these imports.
 const inlineResources = require('../../../scripts/release/inline-resources');
 const gulpRollup = require('gulp-better-rollup');
-const gulpMinifyCss = require('gulp-clean-css');
 const gulpMinifyHtml = require('gulp-htmlmin');
 const gulpIf = require('gulp-if');
 
+/** Path to tsconfig file for the components. */
+const tsconfigPath = path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, 'tsconfig.json');
 
-// NOTE: there are two build "modes" in this file, based on which tsconfig is used.
-// When `tsconfig.json` is used, we are outputting ES6 modules and a UMD bundle. This is used
-// for serving and for release.
-//
-// When `tsconfig-spec.json` is used, we are outputting CommonJS modules. This is used
-// for unit tests (karma).
-
-/** Path to the tsconfig used for ESM output. */
-const tsconfigPath = path.relative(PROJECT_ROOT, path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, 'tsconfig-srcs.json'));
+/** Asset files to be added to the components output. */
+const assetFiles = [
+  path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.html'),
+  path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, 'package.json'),
+  path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'README.md'),
+  path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'LICENSE'),
+];
 
+/** Builds components to UMD bundle. */
+task('build:components', [':build:components:bundle:umd']);
 
-/** [Watch task] Rebuilds (ESM output) whenever ts, scss, or html sources change. */
-task(':watch:components', () => {
-  watch(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.ts'), ['build:components', triggerLivereload]);
-  watch(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.scss'), ['build:components', triggerLivereload]);
-  watch(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.html'), ['build:components', triggerLivereload]);
-});
-
+/** Builds components for Angular Material releases */
+task(':build:components:release', sequenceTask(
+  ':build:components:bundle:umd',
+  ':build:components:bundle:esm',
+  ':build:components:ngc'
+));
 
-/** Builds component typescript only (ESM output). */
-task(':build:components:ts', tsBuildTask(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, 'tsconfig-srcs.json')));
+/** Builds components typescript in ES5, ES6 target. For specs Karma needs CJS output. */
+task(':build:components:ts:es5', tsBuildTask(tsconfigPath, { target: ScriptTarget.ES5 }));
+task(':build:components:ts:es6', tsBuildTask(tsconfigPath, { target: ScriptTarget.ES6 }));
+task(':build:components:ts:spec', tsBuildTask(tsconfigPath, {
+  target: ScriptTarget.ES5, module: ModuleKind.CommonJS
+}));
 
-/** Builds components typescript for tests (CJS output). */
-task(':build:components:spec', tsBuildTask(COMPONENTS_DIR));
+/** Tasks to create a UMD or ES bundle */
+task(':build:components:bundle:umd', sequenceTask(
+  ':build:components:ts:es5', ':build:components:inline', ':build:components:rollup:umd'
+));
 
-/** Copies assets (html, markdown) to build output. */
-task(':build:components:assets', copyTask([
-  path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.!(ts|spec.ts)'),
-  path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'README.md'),
-  path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'LICENSE'),
-], DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT));
+task(':build:components:bundle:esm', sequenceTask(
+  ':build:components:ts:es6', ':build:components:inline', ':build:components:rollup:esm'
+));
 
-/** Minifies the HTML and CSS assets in the distribution folder. */
-task(':build:components:assets:minify', () => {
-  return src('**/*.+(html|css)', { cwd: DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT})
-    .pipe(gulpIf(/.css$/, gulpMinifyCss(), gulpMinifyHtml(HTML_MINIFIER_OPTIONS)))
+/** Copies all component assets to the build output. */
+task(':build:components:assets', () => {
+  return src(assetFiles)
+    .pipe(gulpIf(/.html$/, gulpMinifyHtml(HTML_MINIFIER_OPTIONS)))
     .pipe(dest(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT));
 });
 
-/** Builds scss into css. */
-task(':build:components:scss', sassBuildTask(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, COMPONENTS_DIR));
-
-/** Builds the UMD bundle for all of Angular Material. */
-task(':build:components:rollup', () => {
-  const globals: {[name: string]: string} = {
-    // Angular dependencies
-    '@angular/core': 'ng.core',
-    '@angular/common': 'ng.common',
-    '@angular/forms': 'ng.forms',
-    '@angular/http': 'ng.http',
-    '@angular/platform-browser': 'ng.platformBrowser',
-    '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic': 'ng.platformBrowserDynamic',
-
-    // Rxjs dependencies
-    'rxjs/Subject': 'Rx',
-    'rxjs/add/observable/fromEvent': 'Rx.Observable',
-    'rxjs/add/observable/forkJoin': 'Rx.Observable',
-    'rxjs/add/observable/of': 'Rx.Observable',
-    'rxjs/add/observable/merge': 'Rx.Observable',
-    'rxjs/add/observable/throw': 'Rx.Observable',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/auditTime': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/toPromise': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/map': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/filter': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/do': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/share': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/finally': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/catch': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/first': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/startWith': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/add/operator/switchMap': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
-    'rxjs/Observable': 'Rx'
-  };
-
-  const rollupOptions = {
-    context: 'this',
-    external: Object.keys(globals)
-  };
-
-  const rollupGenerateOptions = {
-    // Keep the moduleId empty because we don't want to force developers to a specific moduleId.
-    moduleId: '',
-    moduleName: 'ng.material',
-    format: 'umd',
-    globals,
-    banner: LICENSE_BANNER,
-    dest: 'material.umd.js'
-  };
+/** Compiles the components SCSS into minified CSS. */
+task(':build:components:scss', sassBuildTask(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, COMPONENTS_DIR, true));
 
+/** Builds a ES6 bundle for all components. */
+task(':build:components:rollup:esm', () => {
   return src(path.join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, 'index.js'))
-    .pipe(gulpRollup(rollupOptions, rollupGenerateOptions))
+    .pipe(createRollupBundle('es', 'material.js'))
     .pipe(dest(path.join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, 'bundles')));
 });
 
-/** Builds components with resources (html, css) inlined into the built JS (ESM output). */
+/** Builds a UMD bundle (ES5) for all components. */
+task(':build:components:rollup:umd', () => {
+  return src(path.join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, 'index.js'))
+  .pipe(createRollupBundle('umd', 'material.umd.js'))
+  .pipe(dest(path.join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, 'bundles')));
+});
+
+
+/** Builds components with resources (html, css) inlined into the built JS. */
 task(':build:components:inline', sequenceTask(
-  [':build:components:ts', ':build:components:scss', ':build:components:assets'],
+  [':build:components:scss', ':build:components:assets'],
   ':inline-resources',
 ));
 
-/** Builds components with minified HTML and CSS inlined into the built JS. */
-task(':build:components:inline:release', sequenceTask(
-  [':build:components:ts', ':build:components:scss', ':build:components:assets'],
-  ':build:components:assets:minify',
-  ':inline-resources'
-));
-
-/** Inlines resources (html, css) into the JS output (for either ESM or CJS output). */
+/** Inlines resources (html, css) into the JS output. */
 task(':inline-resources', () => inlineResources(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT));
 
-/** Builds components to ESM output and UMD bundle. */
-task('build:components', sequenceTask(':build:components:inline', ':build:components:rollup'));
-task('build:components:release', sequenceTask(
-  ':build:components:inline:release', ':build:components:rollup'
-));
-
 /** Generates metadata.json files for all of the components. */
-task(':build:components:ngc', ['build:components:release'], execNodeTask(
+task(':build:components:ngc', ['build:components'], execNodeTask(
   '@angular/compiler-cli', 'ngc', ['-p', tsconfigPath]
 ));
+
+/** [Watch task] Rebuilds (ESM output) whenever ts, scss, or html sources change. */
+task(':watch:components', () => {
+  watch(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.ts'), ['build:components', triggerLivereload]);
+  watch(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.scss'), ['build:components', triggerLivereload]);
+  watch(path.join(COMPONENTS_DIR, '**/*.html'), ['build:components', triggerLivereload]);
+});
+
+const ROLLUP_GLOBALS = {
+  // Angular dependencies
+  '@angular/core': 'ng.core',
+  '@angular/common': 'ng.common',
+  '@angular/forms': 'ng.forms',
+  '@angular/http': 'ng.http',
+  '@angular/platform-browser': 'ng.platformBrowser',
+  '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic': 'ng.platformBrowserDynamic',
+
+  // Rxjs dependencies
+  'rxjs/Subject': 'Rx',
+  'rxjs/add/observable/fromEvent': 'Rx.Observable',
+  'rxjs/add/observable/forkJoin': 'Rx.Observable',
+  'rxjs/add/observable/of': 'Rx.Observable',
+  'rxjs/add/observable/merge': 'Rx.Observable',
+  'rxjs/add/observable/throw': 'Rx.Observable',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/auditTime': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/toPromise': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/map': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/filter': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/do': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/share': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/finally': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/catch': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/first': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/startWith': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/add/operator/switchMap': 'Rx.Observable.prototype',
+  'rxjs/Observable': 'Rx'
+};
+
+/** Creates a rollup bundles of the Material components.*/
+function createRollupBundle(format: string, outFile: string) {
+  let rollupOptions = {
+    context: 'this',
+    external: Object.keys(ROLLUP_GLOBALS)
+  };
+
+  let rollupGenerateOptions = {
+    // Keep the moduleId empty because we don't want to force developers to a specific moduleId.
+    moduleId: '',
+    moduleName: 'ng.material',
+    banner: LICENSE_BANNER,
+    format: format,
+    dest: outFile,
+    globals: ROLLUP_GLOBALS,
+  };
+
+  return gulpRollup(rollupOptions, rollupGenerateOptions);
+}
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/development.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/development.ts
index c8d318899b0d..bb3265236f1b 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/development.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/development.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ task(':watch:devapp', () => {
   watch(path.join(appDir, '**/*.html'), [':build:devapp:assets', triggerLivereload]);
 });
 
+/** Path to the demo-app tsconfig file. */
+const tsconfigPath = path.join(appDir, 'tsconfig.json');
 
 task(':build:devapp:vendor', vendorTask());
-task(':build:devapp:ts', tsBuildTask(appDir));
+task(':build:devapp:ts', tsBuildTask(tsconfigPath));
 task(':build:devapp:scss', sassBuildTask(outDir, appDir));
 task(':build:devapp:assets', copyTask(appDir, outDir));
 task('build:devapp', buildAppTask('devapp'));
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/docs.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/docs.ts
index aaee62a585b0..00b0a40bf274 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/docs.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/docs.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import {Dgeni} from 'dgeni';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import {HTML_MINIFIER_OPTIONS} from '../constants';
 
-// Node packages that lack of types.
+// There are no type definitions available for these imports.
 const markdown = require('gulp-markdown');
 const transform = require('gulp-transform');
 const highlight = require('gulp-highlight-files');
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/e2e.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/e2e.ts
index 009dc1bbe3a0..2cd78f2c0f34 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/e2e.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/e2e.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ const appDir = path.join(SOURCE_ROOT, 'e2e-app');
 const outDir = DIST_ROOT;
 const PROTRACTOR_CONFIG_PATH = path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'test/protractor.conf.js');
 
+const tsconfigPath = path.join(appDir, 'tsconfig.json');
+
 task(':watch:e2eapp', () => {
   watch(path.join(appDir, '**/*.ts'), [':build:e2eapp:ts']);
   watch(path.join(appDir, '**/*.html'), [':build:e2eapp:assets']);
@@ -23,7 +25,7 @@ task(':watch:e2eapp', () => {
 task(':build:e2eapp:vendor', vendorTask());
 
 /** Builds e2e app ts to js. */
-task(':build:e2eapp:ts', tsBuildTask(appDir));
+task(':build:e2eapp:ts', tsBuildTask(tsconfigPath));
 
 /** Copies e2e app assets (html, css) to build output. */
 task(':build:e2eapp:assets', copyTask(appDir, outDir));
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/payload.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/payload.ts
index d7054da3621a..fcb2e3f245c9 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/payload.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/payload.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {spawnSync} from 'child_process';
 import {isTravisPushBuild} from '../util/travis-ci';
 import {openFirebaseDashboardDatabase} from '../util/firebase';
 
-// Those imports lack types.
+// There are no type definitions available for these imports.
 const uglifyJs = require('uglify-js');
 
 const BUNDLE_PATH = join(DIST_COMPONENTS_ROOT, 'bundles', 'material.umd.js');
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts
index e6bcce200de4..a02c62cfc580 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/release.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ task('build:release', function(done: () => void) {
   // Synchronously run those tasks.
   gulpRunSequence(
     'clean',
-    ':build:components:ngc',
+    ':build:components:release',
     ':build:release:clean-spec',
     done
   );
diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts
index 40908baf9301..dda92efb825c 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ gulp.task(':test:deps', sequenceTask(
     ':build:test:vendor',
     ':build:components:assets',
     ':build:components:scss',
-    ':build:components:spec',
+    ':build:components:ts:spec',
   ]
 ));
 
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ gulp.task('test', [':test:deps'], () => {
   server.on('browser_register', runTests);
 
   // Watch for file changes, rebuild and run the tests.
-  gulp.watch(patternRoot + '.ts', () => runSequence(':build:components:spec', runTests));
+  gulp.watch(patternRoot + '.ts', () => runSequence(':build:components:ts:spec', runTests));
   gulp.watch(patternRoot + '.scss', () => runSequence(':build:components:scss', runTests));
   gulp.watch(patternRoot + '.html', () => runSequence(':build:components:assets', runTests));
 });
diff --git a/tools/gulp/util/task_helpers.ts b/tools/gulp/util/task_helpers.ts
index 8558d3072703..8913ef2a44be 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/util/task_helpers.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/util/task_helpers.ts
@@ -3,18 +3,20 @@ import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as gulp from 'gulp';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import {NPM_VENDOR_FILES, PROJECT_ROOT, DIST_ROOT} from '../constants';
+import {CompilerOptions} from 'typescript';
+import {compileProject} from './ts-compiler';
 
-
-/** Those imports lack typings. */
+/* Those imports lack typings. */
 const gulpClean = require('gulp-clean');
 const gulpMerge = require('merge2');
 const gulpRunSequence = require('run-sequence');
 const gulpSass = require('gulp-sass');
 const gulpSourcemaps = require('gulp-sourcemaps');
 const gulpConnect = require('gulp-connect');
-const resolveBin = require('resolve-bin');
-
+const gulpIf = require('gulp-if');
+const gulpCleanCss = require('gulp-clean-css');
 
+const resolveBin = require('resolve-bin');
 
 /** If the string passed in is a glob, returns it, otherwise append '**\/*' to it. */
 function _globify(maybeGlob: string, suffix = '**/*') {
@@ -32,17 +34,20 @@ function _globify(maybeGlob: string, suffix = '**/*') {
 
 
 /** Creates a task that runs the TypeScript compiler */
-export function tsBuildTask(tsConfigPath: string) {
-  return execNodeTask('typescript', 'tsc', ['-p', tsConfigPath]);
+export function tsBuildTask(tsConfigPath: string, extraOptions?: CompilerOptions) {
+  return () => {
+    compileProject(tsConfigPath, extraOptions);
+  };
 }
 
 
 /** Create a SASS Build Task. */
-export function sassBuildTask(dest: string, root: string) {
+export function sassBuildTask(dest: string, root: string, minify = false) {
   return () => {
     return gulp.src(_globify(root, '**/*.scss'))
-      .pipe(gulpSourcemaps.init())
+      .pipe(gulpSourcemaps.init({ loadMaps: true }))
       .pipe(gulpSass().on('error', gulpSass.logError))
+      .pipe(gulpIf(minify, gulpCleanCss()))
       .pipe(gulpSourcemaps.write('.'))
       .pipe(gulp.dest(dest));
   };
diff --git a/tools/gulp/util/ts-compiler.ts b/tools/gulp/util/ts-compiler.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6045b7aee64b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/gulp/util/ts-compiler.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import * as ts from 'typescript';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import * as chalk from 'chalk';
+
+/** Compiles a TypeScript project with possible extra options. */
+export function compileProject(project: string, options: ts.CompilerOptions) {
+  let parsed = parseProjectConfig(project, options);
+  let program = ts.createProgram(parsed.fileNames, parsed.options);
+
+  // Report any invalid TypeScript options for the project.
+  checkDiagnostics(program.getOptionsDiagnostics());
+
+  let emitResult = program.emit();
+
+  checkDiagnostics(emitResult.diagnostics);
+}
+
+/** Parses a TypeScript project configuration. */
+function parseProjectConfig(project: string, options: ts.CompilerOptions) {
+  let config = ts.readConfigFile(project, ts.sys.readFile).config;
+  let basePath = path.dirname(project);
+
+  let host = {
+    useCaseSensitiveFileNames: true,
+    fileExists: ts.sys.fileExists,
+    readDirectory: ts.sys.readDirectory,
+    readFile: ts.sys.readFile
+  };
+
+  return ts.parseJsonConfigFileContent(config, host, basePath, options);
+}
+
+/** Formats the TypeScript diagnostics into a error string. */
+export function formatDiagnostics(diagnostics: ts.Diagnostic[]): string {
+  return diagnostics.map(diagnostic => {
+    let res = ts.DiagnosticCategory[diagnostic.category];
+
+    if (diagnostic.file) {
+      let {line, character} = diagnostic.file.getLineAndCharacterOfPosition(diagnostic.start);
+
+      res += ` at ${diagnostic.file.fileName}(${line + 1},${character + 1}):`;
+    }
+    res += ` ${ts.flattenDiagnosticMessageText(diagnostic.messageText, '\n')}`;
+
+    return res;
+  }).join('\n');
+}
+
+/** Checks diagnostics and throws errors if present. */
+export function checkDiagnostics(diagnostics: ts.Diagnostic[]) {
+  if (diagnostics && diagnostics.length && diagnostics[0]) {
+    console.error(formatDiagnostics(diagnostics));
+    console.error(chalk.red('TypeScript compilation failed. Exiting process.'));
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}