diff --git a/development-setup.md b/development-setup.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..062b1258714
--- /dev/null
+++ b/development-setup.md
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+# Development setup
+
+(for https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app)
+
+
+## long story short
+
+```
+npm install -g create-react-app
+npm install -g verdaccio
+verdaccio
+npm set registry http://localhost:4873
+git clone https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app.git
+cd create-react-app/packages/react-scripts
+<make changes>
+npm version <major|minor|patch|...>
+npm adduser --registry http://localhost:4873/
+npm publish
+<make sure to publish in the tslint-config-react-app subdir as well>
+cd <somewhere else>
+create-react-app my-app --scripts-version @nlesc/react-scripts
+
+```
+
+
+
+## long story long
+
+A user who just wants to automatically generate an initial setup for a React app
+could do so by installing the ``create-react-app`` generator as follows:
+```
+npm install -g create-react-app
+```
+
+Afterwards, you will have a command available that will allow you to run the
+line below and create a new React app:
+```
+create-react-app <your-app-name>
+```
+
+This will create a directory ``your-app-name`` that contains a complete setup for
+developing the newly created React app, including testing, code coverage generation,
+bundling, minification, incremental buidling, linting, etc.
+
+Note that the above uses the ``npm`` registry at ``https://registry.npmjs.org/``.
+Now let's say you'd want to make changes to the template used to generate new
+apps, for example because you want new apps to be in TypeScript instead of the
+default JavaScript. For this, it is useful to run your own, local ``npm`` registry 
+using [verdaccio](https://github.com/verdaccio/verdaccio). Verdaccio sits between
+you and https://registry.npmjs.com. It lets you publish development versions of 
+your npm package to the local, private repo, while still being able to retrieve
+any other packages from the 'normal' registry at npmjs. 
+
+Install verdaccio with:
+
+```
+npm install -g verdaccio
+```
+
+Check to see if it works:
+
+```
+verdaccio
+```
+
+``verdaccio`` should tell you where its registry lives. Mine is at
+``http://localhost:4873/``. We will now tell ``npm`` to use the local
+``verdaccio`` registry instead of ``http://registry.npmjs.com``, as follows:
+```
+npm set registry http://localhost:4873
+```
+If you want to return to the normal setup at a later point in time, you can do
+so with:
+```
+npm set registry https://registry.npmjs.com
+```
+
+Let's say you now want to make some changes to the ``create-react-app``
+generator application. First get the source code of ``create-react-app`` using
+nlesc's fork. I'm checking out the source code into ``~/github/nlesc/``:
+```
+cd ~/github/nlesc/
+git clone https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app.git
+```
+
+Any changes you make will likely be in one of ``create-react-app``'s constituent
+packages, which are located at ``create-react-app/packages``. Each of its
+subdirectories is a separate ``npm`` package. Let's say you want to make changes
+to the App template from ``create-react-app/packages/react-scripts/template/src``.
+
+```
+cd create-react-app/packages/react-scripts/template/src
+<make changes>
+```
+
+Before publishing your changes, you need to:
+
+1. increment the semantic versioning of the package
+1. add yourself as a user to verdaccio's npm registry server
+
+Let's first check what the current semantic version number is, as follows. Walk
+up the directory tree until you find a ``package.json``. You should find one in
+``create-react-app/packages/react-scripts/``. Look up the value for ``version``.
+Now go back to the terminal and use ``npm version patch`` to increment the patch
+part of the semantic version number. The 'patch' part of the
+version value in package.json should have been incremented (reload your editor
+if necessary).
+
+Now let's add a user to verdaccio, as follows:
+```
+npm adduser --registry http://localhost:4873/
+```
+This will ask you to enter a user name, password, and e-mail address, which will
+be stored in verdaccio. It doesn't really matter what you enter on any of the
+three questions.
+
+
+Now look up the value for ``name`` in package.json. This will be the name the
+package is published under. For me, it's ``@nlesc/react-scripts``.
+
+Verify that verdaccio is the active npm registry with ``npm get registry``, and
+that verdaccio is in fact up and running, then publish the package to verdaccio
+with:
+
+```
+npm publish
+```
+
+You can point your browser to http://localhost:4873/ to get an overview of
+packages that are present in verdaccio's registry.
+
+Now when we want to test if the new version of ``@nlesc/react-scripts`` does
+what we want it to do, we can ``cd`` to some other place, let's say ``~/tmp``:
+
+```
+cd ~/tmp
+```
+``npm install`` ``@nlesc/react-scripts`` locally (still using verdaccio's repo):
+```
+npm install @nlesc/react-scripts
+```
+
+You can now inspect the package at ``~/tmp/node_modules/@nlesc/react-scripts/``.
+
+The local install (``npm install`` without the ``-g`` flag) makes it a little
+easier to remove the ``node_modules`` directory when additional changes have
+been made to the package, and those changes have been ``npm publish``'ed to the
+verdaccio registry.
+
+
+Now create a new app using the updated generator as follows:
+```
+cd ~/tmp # or wherever you want the new app to be
+create-react-app the-new-app --scripts-version @nlesc/react-scripts
+```
+This uses the globally installed ``create-react-app``, but with the custom
+version of ``react-scripts``, namely ``@nlesc/react-scripts`` from verdaccio.
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/feature-matrix.md b/feature-matrix.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1585e4ea0ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/feature-matrix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+
+# legend
+
+The table records what is currently available and working _in the listed repo_, not what could work with some extra effort. Recording these facts helps to keep the discussions clean.
+
+- :grey_question: : unknown
+- :white_check_mark: : implemented
+- :x: : not implemented
+
+
+
+# general
+
+|feature description |  [create-react-app](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app) |  [punchcardjs](https://github.com/nlesc-sherlock/punchcardjs) |  [molviewer](https://github.com/3D-e-Chem/molviewer-tsx) |  [angular-cli](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli) |  [create-ts-app](https://github.com/vgmr/create-ts-app) | yeoman generator | issues |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| transpile from TS to JS | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| transpile TSX to JS | :x: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| transpile errors are terminal | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#5](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/5) |
+| doesn't use ``gulp`` | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| doesn't use ``grunt`` | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| doesn't use ``bower`` | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| doesn't use ``jspm`` | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| targets es5 | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| targets latest chrome | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| targets latest firefox | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| targets latest edge | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| automatic reload browser on code change | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| automatic rebuild on code changes, manual browser reload | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| fast rebuilds | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| can handle TS2 ``@types/`` | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#2](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/2) |
+| in-browser debugging of original source code | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#6](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/6) |
+| minification of js | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#6](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/6) |
+| minification of css | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| bundling of js | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| bundling of css | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| linting can run on Travis or similar | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#7](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/7) |
+| testing can run on Travis or similar | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| building can run on Travis or similar | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#8](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/8) |
+| has ``purge`` command: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#9](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/9) |
+| has deploy app to gh-pages command | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| has deploy docs to gh-pages command | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#10](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/10) |
+| has generate api docs command | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#11](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/11) |
+| can handle es7 object spread | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#12](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/12) |
+| can handle es7 decorators | :x: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#12](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/12) |
+| can handle es7 generator | :grey_question: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#12](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/12) |
+| can use untyped JS libs | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#13](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/13) |
+| can differentiate prod/dev | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#14](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/14) |
+| can access external api server | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+
+
+# testing
+
+|feature description |  [create-react-app](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app) |  [punchcardjs](https://github.com/nlesc-sherlock/punchcardjs) |  [molviewer](https://github.com/3D-e-Chem/molviewer-tsx) |  [angular-cli](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli) |  [create-ts-app](https://github.com/vgmr/create-ts-app) | yeoman generator | issues |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| unit testing | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#15](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/15) |
+| dom testing | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#15](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/15) |
+| e2e testing | :x: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#16](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/16) |
+| testing across browsers/OS/devices | :x: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#16](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/16) |
+| coverage of original code  | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#17](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/17) |
+| coverage includes untouched code  | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#18](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/18) |
+| error stacktrace of original code  | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#17](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/17) |
+| tests written in TS  | :x: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#15](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/15) |
+| has ``it()`` and ``describe()`` or similar  | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| has command to run tests  | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| automatic run tests on source change | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| Advanced assertions, e.g. Chai  | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| Mocking ability, e.g. Sinon  | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+
+
+# linting
+
+|feature description |  [create-react-app](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app) |  [punchcardjs](https://github.com/nlesc-sherlock/punchcardjs) |  [molviewer](https://github.com/3D-e-Chem/molviewer-tsx) |  [angular-cli](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli) |  [create-ts-app](https://github.com/vgmr/create-ts-app) | yeoman generator | issues |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| tslint by editor plugin | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#19](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/19) |
+| csslint by editor plugin | :x: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#19](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/19) |
+| esjshint by editor plugin | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#19](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/19) |
+| prebuild linting | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#20](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/20) |
+| precommit linting | :grey_question: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| prerelease linting | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| tslint the TS src | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#20](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/20) |
+| eslint src | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| no conflicts between linters | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :white_check_mark: |
+| lint css | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#20](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/20) |
+| linter tsx aware | :x: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#20](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/20) |
+| has .editorconfig | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#21](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/21) |
+| lint errors are terminal | :grey_question: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | [#20](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues/20) |
+
+
+
+
+
+# Remaining
+
+* Not too many commands
+* Not too many config files
+* Minimize duplication, eg. installing library should not take many steps
+* Opening repo in editor should just work
+* Doucment how to install dependencies
+* Document usual suspects for routing/state/async/fetch: react-router, react-redux, redux-thunk, isomorphic-fetch
+* dependency management: npm, unpkg
+* autoprefixing vendor specific css ``-webkit-box-orient`` and such
+* static asset management, including fonts, images and such
+* avoid browser caching of static assets
+
+
+| allows offline mode | :white_check_mark: | :x: | :x: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: |
+| allows standalone mode | :grey_question: | :x: | :white_check_mark: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: | :grey_question: |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/README.md b/packages/react-scripts/README.md
index 845e546c67c..a2671bf55ab 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/README.md
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/README.md
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # react-scripts
 
+Fork which adds Typescript support to apps created with [Create React App](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app).
+
+The `@nlesc/react-scripts` package can be used by:
+
+```
+create-react-app my-app --scripts-version @nlesc/react-scripts
+```
+
 This package includes scripts and configuration used by [Create React App](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app).  
 Please refer to its documentation:
 
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js b/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js
index 58381833957..31b19689b5e 100755
--- a/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/bin/react-scripts.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ switch (script) {
 case 'build':
 case 'eject':
 case 'start':
+case 'lint':
 case 'test':
   var result = spawn.sync(
     'node',
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/jest/transform.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/jest/transform.js
index 11a0149f97d..8f7e381c208 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/jest/transform.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/jest/transform.js
@@ -6,8 +6,66 @@
  * of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
  */
 
+// This file is a merger between the original transform.js and ts-jest/dist/preprocessor.js (https://github.com/kulshekhar/ts-jest/blob/e1f95e524ed62091736f70abf63530f1f107ec03/src/preprocessor.ts)
+// The preprocessor from ts-jest could not be used directly,
+// because it did not use babel and
+// could not get configuration from the right place (../utils/createJestConfig.js)
+// instead it was retrieved from of argv which was incomplete
+
 const babelJest = require('babel-jest');
+const tsc = require('typescript');
+const glob = require('glob-all');
+const nodepath = require('path');
+const tsJestUtils = require('ts-jest/dist/utils');
+const getPackageRoot = require('jest-util').getPackageRoot;
+const root = getPackageRoot();
 
-module.exports = babelJest.createTransformer({
+const babelTransformer = babelJest.createTransformer({
   presets: [require.resolve('babel-preset-react-app')]
 });
+
+function initializeCache(config) {
+  const collectCoverage = config.collectCoverage;
+  const coverageDirectory = config.coverageDirectory;
+  const coverageReporters = config.coverageReporters;
+  const collectCoverageFrom = config.collectCoverageFrom;
+  const testResultsProcessor = config.testResultsProcessor;
+  global.__ts_coverage__cache__ = {};
+  global.__ts_coverage__cache__.sourceCache = {};
+  global.__ts_coverage__cache__.coverageConfig = { collectCoverage: collectCoverage, coverageDirectory: coverageDirectory, coverageReporters: coverageReporters };
+  global.__ts_coverage__cache__.coverageCollectFiles =
+    collectCoverage &&
+    testResultsProcessor &&
+    collectCoverageFrom &&
+    collectCoverageFrom.length ?
+    glob.sync(collectCoverageFrom).map(function (x) { return nodepath.resolve(root, x); }) : [];
+}
+
+function tsProcess(src, path, config) {
+  if (path.endsWith('.ts') || path.endsWith('.tsx')) {
+    if (config.testResultsProcessor && !global.__ts_coverage__cache__) {
+      // initialize only once
+      initializeCache(config);
+    }
+    var transpiled = tsc.transpileModule(src, {
+      compilerOptions: tsJestUtils.getTSConfig(config.globals, config.collectCoverage),
+      fileName: path
+    });
+    if (global.__ts_coverage__cache__) {
+      if (!config.testRegex || !path.match(config.testRegex)) {
+        global.__ts_coverage__cache__.sourceCache[path] = transpiled.outputText;
+      }
+    }
+    var modified = "require('ts-jest').install();" + transpiled.outputText;
+    return modified;
+  }
+  return src;
+}
+
+// transpile the source with TypeScript, if needed, and then with Babel
+module.exports = {
+  process(src, path, config) {
+    src = tsProcess(src, path, config);
+    return babelTransformer.process(src, path);
+  },
+};
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
index 1c154c36164..cfeb2c9062f 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/paths.js
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ module.exports = {
   appBuild: resolveApp('build'),
   appPublic: resolveApp('public'),
   appHtml: resolveApp('public/index.html'),
-  appIndexJs: resolveApp('src/index.js'),
+  appIndexJs: resolveApp('src/index.tsx'),
   appPackageJson: resolveApp('package.json'),
   appSrc: resolveApp('src'),
   testsSetup: resolveApp('src/setupTests.js'),
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ module.exports = {
   appBuild: resolveApp('build'),
   appPublic: resolveApp('public'),
   appHtml: resolveApp('public/index.html'),
-  appIndexJs: resolveApp('src/index.js'),
+  appIndexJs: resolveApp('src/index.tsx'),
   appPackageJson: resolveApp('package.json'),
   appSrc: resolveApp('src'),
   testsSetup: resolveApp('src/setupTests.js'),
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ if (__dirname.indexOf(path.join('packages', 'react-scripts', 'config')) !== -1)
     appBuild: resolveOwn('../../../build'),
     appPublic: resolveOwn('../template/public'),
     appHtml: resolveOwn('../template/public/index.html'),
-    appIndexJs: resolveOwn('../template/src/index.js'),
+    appIndexJs: resolveOwn('../template/src/index.tsx'),
     appPackageJson: resolveOwn('../package.json'),
     appSrc: resolveOwn('../template/src'),
     testsSetup: resolveOwn('../template/src/setupTests.js'),
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js
index c2b544cca54..d83efb87081 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.dev.js
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ module.exports = {
     // We also include JSX as a common component filename extension to support
     // some tools, although we do not recommend using it, see:
     // https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/issues/290
-    extensions: ['.js', '.json', '.jsx', ''],
+    extensions: ['.js', '.json', '.jsx', '.ts', '.tsx', ''],
     alias: {
       // Support React Native Web
       // https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-glimpse-into-the-future-with-react-native-for-web/
@@ -101,8 +101,13 @@ module.exports = {
   // @remove-on-eject-end
   module: {
     // First, run the linter.
-    // It's important to do this before Babel processes the JS.
+    // It's important to do this before Babel or TypeScript processes the JS/TS.
     preLoaders: [
+      {
+        test: /\.(ts|tsx)$/,
+        loader: 'tslint',
+        include: paths.appSrc
+      },
       {
         test: /\.(js|jsx)$/,
         loader: 'eslint',
@@ -110,6 +115,24 @@ module.exports = {
       }
     ],
     loaders: [
+      // Process TS with TypeScript and then with Babel
+      {
+        test: /\.(ts|tsx)$/,
+        include: paths.appSrc,
+        loader: 'awesome-typescript',
+        query: {
+          // when TypeScript emits a file, pass it to Babel to provide backwards compatibility
+          useBabel: true,
+          // uses the cache to improve dev performance
+          useCache: true,
+          babelOptions: {
+            // @remove-on-eject-begin
+            babelrc: false,
+            presets: [require.resolve('babel-preset-react-app')],
+            // @remove-on-eject-end
+          }
+        }
+      },
       // Process JS with Babel.
       {
         test: /\.(js|jsx)$/,
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
index e0141b851b4..b1bdd96c4ce 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/config/webpack.config.prod.js
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ module.exports = {
     // We also include JSX as a common component filename extension to support
     // some tools, although we do not recommend using it, see:
     // https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/issues/290
-    extensions: ['.js', '.json', '.jsx', ''],
+    extensions: ['.js', '.json', '.jsx', '.ts', '.tsx', ''],
     alias: {
       // Support React Native Web
       // https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/a-glimpse-into-the-future-with-react-native-for-web/
@@ -107,8 +107,13 @@ module.exports = {
   // @remove-on-eject-end
   module: {
     // First, run the linter.
-    // It's important to do this before Babel processes the JS.
+    // It's important to do this before Babel or TypeScript processes the JS/TS.
     preLoaders: [
+      {
+        test: /\.(ts|tsx)$/,
+        loader: 'tslint',
+        include: paths.appSrc
+      },
       {
         test: /\.(js|jsx)$/,
         loader: 'eslint',
@@ -116,6 +121,21 @@ module.exports = {
       }
     ],
     loaders: [
+      // Process TS with TypeScript and then with Babel
+      {
+        test: /\.(ts|tsx)?$/,
+        include: paths.appSrc,
+        loader: 'awesome-typescript',
+        query: {
+          // when TypeScript emits a file, pass it to Babel to provide backwards compatibility
+          useBabel: true,
+          babelOptions: {
+            // @remove-on-eject-begin
+            presets: [require.resolve('babel-preset-react-app')],
+            // @remove-on-eject-end
+          }
+        }
+      },
       // Process JS with Babel.
       {
         test: /\.(js|jsx)$/,
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/package.json b/packages/react-scripts/package.json
index b4cad963979..7c84d945ba2 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/package.json
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/package.json
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 {
-  "name": "react-scripts",
-  "version": "0.7.0",
-  "description": "Configuration and scripts for Create React App.",
-  "repository": "facebookincubator/create-react-app",
+  "name": "@nlesc/react-scripts",
+  "version": "0.0.15",
+  "description": "Configuration and scripts for Create React App with Typescript.",
+  "repository": "NLeSC/create-react-app",
   "license": "BSD-3-Clause",
   "engines": {
     "node": ">=4"
   },
   "bugs": {
-    "url": "https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/issues"
+    "url": "https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues"
   },
   "files": [
     ".babelrc",
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@
     "react-scripts": "./bin/react-scripts.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
+    "@nlesc/tslint-config-react-app": "^1.0.1",
+    "@types/jest": "^15.1.32",
     "autoprefixer": "6.5.1",
+    "awesome-typescript-loader": "^2.2.4",
     "babel-core": "6.17.0",
     "babel-eslint": "7.0.0",
     "babel-jest": "16.0.0",
@@ -61,6 +64,10 @@
     "rimraf": "2.5.4",
     "strip-ansi": "3.0.1",
     "style-loader": "0.13.1",
+    "tslint": "^3.15.1",
+    "tslint-loader": "^2.1.5",
+    "ts-jest": "^0.1.13",
+    "typescript": "^2.0.7",
     "url-loader": "0.5.7",
     "webpack": "1.13.2",
     "webpack-dev-server": "1.16.2",
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js
index fa42f6dcee6..41185ae7022 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/init.js
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ module.exports = function(appPath, appName, verbose, originalDirectory) {
     'start': 'react-scripts start',
     'build': 'react-scripts build',
     'test': 'react-scripts test --env=jsdom',
-    'eject': 'react-scripts eject'
+    'eject': 'react-scripts eject',
+    'lint': 'react-scripts lint',
   };
 
   fs.writeFileSync(
@@ -72,7 +73,25 @@ module.exports = function(appPath, appName, verbose, originalDirectory) {
   var proc = spawn('npm', args, {stdio: 'inherit'});
   proc.on('close', function (code) {
     if (code !== 0) {
-      console.error('`npm ' + args.join(' ') + '` failed');
+    console.error('`npm ' + args.join(' ') + '` failed');
+    return;
+    }
+
+  // Run another npm install for react and react-dom typescript type definitions
+  console.log('Installing @types/react and @types/react-dom from npm...');
+  console.log();
+  // TODO: having to do two npm installs is bad, can we avoid it?
+  var targs = [
+    'install',
+    '@types/react',
+    '@types/react-dom',
+    '--save-dev',
+    verbose && '--verbose'
+  ].filter(function(e) { return e; });
+  var proc = spawn('npm', targs, {stdio: 'inherit'});
+  proc.on('close', function (code) {
+    if (code !== 0) {
+      console.error('`npm ' + targs.join(' ') + '` failed');
       return;
     }
 
@@ -115,4 +134,5 @@ module.exports = function(appPath, appName, verbose, originalDirectory) {
     console.log();
     console.log('Happy hacking!');
   });
+  });
 };
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/scripts/lint.js b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/lint.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0a2d708dd41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/scripts/lint.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+var spawn = require('cross-spawn');
+
+var args = [
+    '--config',
+    'tslint.json',
+    '--exclude',
+    'src/**/*.d.ts',
+    'src/**/*.ts',
+    'src/**/*.tsx'
+];
+var proc = spawn('tslint', args, {
+    stdio: 'inherit'
+});
+proc.on('exit', (code) => {
+    process.exit(code);
+});
+
+// TODO also run eslint
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md b/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md
index 3203c5fcbb9..fe08db70f04 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-This project was bootstrapped with [Create React App](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app).
+This project was bootstrapped with [Create React App](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app) using scripts package [@nlesc/react-scripts](https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app).
 
 Below you will find some information on how to perform common tasks.<br>
 You can find the most recent version of this guide [here](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app/blob/master/packages/react-scripts/template/README.md).
@@ -187,6 +187,25 @@ The generated project includes React and ReactDOM as dependencies. It also inclu
 npm install --save <library-name>
 ```
 
+### External Typescript typings
+
+When dependency does not include a Typescript typings try to install it from http://microsoft.github.io/TypeSearch/
+Typings can be installed with `npm`:
+
+```
+npm install --save-dev @types/<library-name>
+```
+
+If library does not have typings, it possible to add the typings manually to `src/typings.d.ts` file:
+```
+// in src/typings.d.ts
+declare module 'typeless-package';
+
+// in src/app/app.component.ts
+import * as typelessPackage from 'typeless-package';
+typelessPackage.method();
+```
+
 ## Importing a Component
 
 This project setup supports ES6 modules thanks to Babel.<br>
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/gitignore b/packages/react-scripts/template/gitignore
index 6c96c5cff12..2e16bab8441 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/template/gitignore
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/gitignore
@@ -13,3 +13,9 @@ build
 .DS_Store
 .env
 npm-debug.log
+
+# awesome typescript loader cache
+.awcache
+
+# Editor
+.vscode
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.test.js b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.test.tsx
similarity index 67%
rename from packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.test.js
rename to packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.test.tsx
index b84af98d720..1513e54691f 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.test.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.test.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import React from 'react';
-import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
+import * as React from 'react';
+import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
+
 import App from './App';
 
 it('renders without crashing', () => {
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.js b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.tsx
similarity index 66%
rename from packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.js
rename to packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.tsx
index d7d52a7f38a..f5710d71ed4 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/App.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-import React, { Component } from 'react';
-import logo from './logo.svg';
+import * as React from 'react';
+
 import './App.css';
+import logo from './logo.svg';
 
-class App extends Component {
+export class App extends React.Component<{}, {}> {
   render() {
     return (
       <div className="App">
@@ -11,11 +12,9 @@ class App extends Component {
           <h2>Welcome to React</h2>
         </div>
         <p className="App-intro">
-          To get started, edit <code>src/App.js</code> and save to reload.
+          To get started, edit <code>src/App.tsx</code> and save to reload.
         </p>
       </div>
     );
   }
 }
-
-export default App;
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/index.js b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 54c5ef1a427..00000000000
--- a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-import React from 'react';
-import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
-import App from './App';
-import './index.css';
-
-ReactDOM.render(
-  <App />,
-  document.getElementById('root')
-);
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/index.tsx b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/index.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bcb37f87608
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/index.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import * as React from 'react';
+import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
+
+import { App } from './App';
+import './index.css';
+
+ReactDOM.render(
+  <App />,
+  document.getElementById('root')
+);
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/src/typings.d.ts b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/typings.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..15d09c92849
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/src/typings.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+/* import all svg files as strings */
+declare module '*.svg' {
+    const __path__: string;
+    export default __path__;
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/tsconfig.json b/packages/react-scripts/template/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6b578647e64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{
+    "compilerOptions": {
+        "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
+        "jsx": "preserve",
+        "module": "es6",
+        "moduleResolution": "node",
+        "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
+        "noImplicitAny": true,
+        "noImplicitThis": true,
+        "noImplicitReturns": true,
+        "noUnusedLocals": false,
+        "noUnusedParameters": true,
+        "strictNullChecks": true,
+        "target": "es6"
+    },
+    "files": [
+        "src/typings.d.ts",
+        "src/index.tsx"
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/template/tslint.json b/packages/react-scripts/template/tslint.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0672ad04fd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/template/tslint.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+    "extends": [
+        "@nlesc/tslint-config-react-app"
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-scripts/utils/createJestConfig.js b/packages/react-scripts/utils/createJestConfig.js
index df0238f2587..8bbb721c8e4 100644
--- a/packages/react-scripts/utils/createJestConfig.js
+++ b/packages/react-scripts/utils/createJestConfig.js
@@ -11,15 +11,23 @@
 
 const pathExists = require('path-exists');
 const paths = require('../config/paths');
+const path = require('path');
 
 module.exports = (resolve, rootDir, isEjecting) => {
   // Use this instead of `paths.testsSetup` to avoid putting
   // an absolute filename into configuration after ejecting.
   const setupTestsFile = pathExists.sync(paths.testsSetup) ? '<rootDir>/src/setupTests.js' : undefined;
 
+  const compilerOptions = require(path.resolve('./tsconfig.json')).compilerOptions;
+  // Jest gives `SyntaxError: Unexpected token import` error when ES6 module are emitted
+  compilerOptions.module = "commonjs";
+  // Expected Babel transformer to convert jsx to js
+  // but Jest gives `SyntaxError: Unexpected token <` error when set to preserve
+  compilerOptions.jsx = "react";
+
   const config = {
-    collectCoverageFrom: ['src/**/*.{js,jsx}'],
-    moduleFileExtensions: ['jsx', 'js', 'json'],
+    collectCoverageFrom: ['src/**/*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}', '!src/**/*.d.ts'],
+    moduleFileExtensions: ['jsx', 'js', 'json', 'ts', 'tsx'],
     moduleNameMapper: {
       '^.+\\.(ico|jpg|jpeg|png|gif|eot|otf|webp|svg|ttf|woff|woff2|mp4|webm|wav|mp3|m4a|aac|oga)$': resolve('config/jest/FileStub.js'),
       '^.+\\.css$': resolve('config/jest/CSSStub.js')
@@ -28,14 +36,15 @@ module.exports = (resolve, rootDir, isEjecting) => {
     setupTestFrameworkScriptFile: setupTestsFile,
     testPathIgnorePatterns: ['<rootDir>/(build|docs|node_modules)/'],
     testEnvironment: 'node',
+    testRegex: "(/__tests__/.*|\.(test|spec))\.(ts|tsx|js|jsx)$",
+    testResultsProcessor: require.resolve("ts-jest/coverageprocessor"),
+    scriptPreprocessor: resolve('config/jest/transform.js'),
+    globals: {
+      "__TS_CONFIG__": compilerOptions
+    }
   };
   if (rootDir) {
     config.rootDir = rootDir;
   }
-  if (!isEjecting) {
-    // This is unnecessary after ejecting because Jest
-    // will just use .babelrc in the project folder.
-    config.scriptPreprocessor = resolve('config/jest/transform.js');
-  }
   return config;
 };
diff --git a/packages/tslint-config-react-app/README.md b/packages/tslint-config-react-app/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..98b1240c9a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tslint-config-react-app/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+TSlint configuration used in `@nlesc/react-scripts` package.
+
+TSlint ruleset which combines:
+
+* tslint-microsoft-contrib
+* tslint-react
+* tslint:latest
+
+To use in `create-react-app` we overridden several rules to make it compatible with webpack and have similar rules to eslint-config-react-app package.
+
+# Overridden rules
+
+* import-name, webpack allows for import of assets like svg and css
+* jsx-alignment, want linting on jsx
+* jsx-no-lambda, want linting on jsx
+* jsx-no-string-ref, want linting on jsx
+* jsx-no-multiline-js, want linting on jsx
+* jsx-self-close, want linting on jsx
+* member-access, everything that has no access modifier is public implicitly, so no need to specify public again
+* missing-jsdoc, not useful for an application, it would be for a library
+* no-any, not everything has to be to typed to allow for incrementally introduction of types for eg. 3rd party libraries
+* no-relative-imports, not practical for an application, it would be for a library because it has a package name
+* no-for-in-array, tslint in create-react-app does not do typecheck
+* no-reserved-keywords, redux requires `type` keyword for a action, the rule doesn't allow us to whitelist `type` so we disabled whole rule
+* no-unused-variable:[true, "react"], allow React to be marked used by jsx tags
+* restrict-plus-operands, tslint in create-react-app does not do typecheck
+* quotemark
+
+    * single, single quote because its less typing
+    * jsx-double, jsx-double because thats the html way
+    * avoid-escape, part of tslint:latest
+
+* variable-name
+
+    * removed check-format, both camelCased and UPPER_CASED vars in same file
+    * removed allow-pascal-case, PascalCase is reserved for classes
diff --git a/packages/tslint-config-react-app/package.json b/packages/tslint-config-react-app/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d2618b37100
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tslint-config-react-app/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{
+  "name": "@nlesc/tslint-config-react-app",
+  "version": "1.0.1",
+  "description": "TSLint configuration used by Create React App",
+  "main": "tslint.json",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
+  },
+  "repository": "NLeSC/create-react-app",
+  "bugs": {
+      "url": "https://github.com/NLeSC/create-react-app/issues"
+  },
+  "license": "Apache-2.0",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "tslint-microsoft-contrib": "^2.0.13",
+    "tslint-react": "^1.1.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/tslint-config-react-app/tslint.json b/packages/tslint-config-react-app/tslint.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..11be5024604
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tslint-config-react-app/tslint.json
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+{
+    "extends": [
+        "tslint-microsoft-contrib",
+        "tslint-react",
+        "tslint:latest"
+    ],
+    "rules": {
+        "import-name": false,
+        "jsx-alignment": true,
+        "jsx-no-lambda": true,
+        "jsx-no-string-ref": true,
+        "jsx-no-multiline-js": true,
+        "jsx-self-close": true,
+        "member-access": false,
+        "missing-jsdoc": false,
+        "no-any": false,
+        "no-relative-imports": false,
+        "no-for-in-array": false,
+        "no-reserved-keywords": false,
+        "no-unused-variable": [true, "react"],
+        "restrict-plus-operands": false,
+        "quotemark": [
+            true,
+            "single",
+            "jsx-double",
+            "avoid-escape"
+        ],
+        "variable-name": [
+            true,
+            "ban-keywords"
+        ]
+    }
+}