TypeScript single file build fails with 'Cannot use both outfile and outdir' error

[StfBauer]

Description

The TypeScript builder's buildFile method fails when processing individual TypeScript files during watch mode, throwing the error:

Cannot use both "outfile" and "outdir"

Additionally, the typescript.outDir configuration option is not respected for single file builds.

Root Causes

Issue 1: Conflicting esbuild options in buildFile method

Location: dist/builders/typescript.js:198-206

The buildFile method passes both outdir and outfile to esbuild, which is not allowed:

const buildOptions = {
    entryPoints: [filePath],
    outdir: path.dirname(outputPath),  // ❌ This line causes the conflict
    outfile: outputPath,
    format: 'esm',
    ...this.config.esbuild,
    tsconfig: await this.findTsConfig(),
    plugins,
};

Issue 2: Invalid path transformation in transformOutputPath plugin

Location: dist/builders/typescript.js:170-190

The outfile-transformer plugin returns relative paths instead of absolute paths, causing a secondary error:

Plugin "outfile-transformer" returned a non-absolute path: ./source/js/wf-block-overflow.ts

Issue 3: typescript.outDir not respected

Location: dist/builders/typescript.js:139-150

The getOutputPath method only uses config.output.path and ignores config.typescript.outDir, meaning the TypeScript-specific output directory configuration has no effect.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a TypeScript file in your source directory (e.g., source/ts/example.ts)
2. Configure ice-build with a TypeScript output directory:

   // ice.config.js
   module.exports = {
     typescript: {
       outDir: 'public/js',
     }
   }

3. Run ice-build watch
4. Save the TypeScript file to trigger a rebuild

Expected: File compiles successfully to public/js/example.js
Actual: Build fails with error: Cannot use both "outfile" and "outdir"

Proposed Fixes

Fix 1: Remove outdir from buildFile options

// dist/builders/typescript.js:198-206
const buildOptions = {
    entryPoints: [filePath],
    outfile: outputPath,  // Only use outfile for single file builds
    format: 'esm',
    ...this.config.esbuild,
    tsconfig: await this.findTsConfig(),
    plugins,
};

Fix 2: Simplify transformOutputPath method

The transformOutputPath method is unnecessary for single file builds since the output path is already calculated by getOutputPath. Replace it with a no-op:

// dist/builders/typescript.js:170-174
transformOutputPath(buildOptions) {
    // Path transformation handled by getOutputPath
    return buildOptions;
}

Fix 3: Respect typescript.outDir configuration

// dist/builders/typescript.js:139-154
getOutputPath(filePath) {
    const inputFileBaseName = path.basename(filePath, path.extname(filePath));
    let filenamePattern = '[name].js';
    if (this.config.output?.filenames?.js) {
        filenamePattern = this.config.output.filenames.js;
    }
    const outputFileNameWithSubDir = filenamePattern.replace('[name]', inputFileBaseName);

    // Use typescript.outDir if specified, otherwise fall back to this.outputPath
    let outputDir = this.outputPath;
    if (this.config.typescript?.outDir) {
        outputDir = this.config.typescript.outDir;
    }

    return path.join(outputDir, outputFileNameWithSubDir);
}

Environment

• ice-build version: 0.7.0
• Node version: 25.2.0
• Platform: macOS (Darwin)

Impact

This bug prevents TypeScript files from being compiled during watch mode, effectively breaking the development workflow for TypeScript projects using ice-build.

Workaround

Currently, the only workaround is to manually patch the node_modules/@n8d/ice-build/dist/builders/typescript.js file with the fixes described above.

[StfBauer]

Update: Additional Root Cause Found

After further investigation, I found a fifth critical bug that was the primary cause of the typescript.outDir configuration not being respected.

Issue 5: Config loader ignores typescript and esbuild sections

Location: dist/config/index.js:81-163 (the applyConfig method)

The applyConfig method in the ConfigManager only processes input, output, scss, and hotreload configuration sections. It completely ignores the typescript and esbuild sections from the user's ice.config.js, meaning these settings never make it into the final merged configuration.

This is why Issues 1-3 weren't sufficient to fix the problem - the configuration itself was being stripped out before it even reached the TypeScript builder.

Evidence:

# When checking the final merged config, the typescript section is missing:
🧊 [Config] Final merged config: {
  "input": {...},
  "output": {...},
  "scss": {...},
  "hotreload": {...}
  // ❌ No "typescript" section!
}

Proposed Fix:

Add support for typescript and esbuild configuration sections in the applyConfig method:

// dist/config/index.js:162-176
// Set TypeScript options
if (userConfig.typescript) {
    logger.debug(`User TypeScript options found: ${JSON.stringify(userConfig.typescript, null, 2)}`);
    this.config.typescript = { ...userConfig.typescript };
    logger.debug(`Applied TypeScript options: ${JSON.stringify(this.config.typescript, null, 2)}`);
}
else {
    logger.debug('No user TypeScript options found.');
}
// Set esbuild options
if (userConfig.esbuild) {
    logger.debug(`User esbuild options found: ${JSON.stringify(userConfig.esbuild, null, 2)}`);
    this.config.esbuild = { ...userConfig.esbuild };
    logger.debug(`Applied esbuild options: ${JSON.stringify(this.config.esbuild, null, 2)}`);
}

This should be added right after the hotreload configuration block (around line 161).

---

Complete Fix Summary

All 5 bugs must be fixed for TypeScript compilation to work correctly:

1. typescript.js:200 - Remove conflicting outdir from buildFile options
2. typescript.js:170-174 - Disable broken transformOutputPath plugin
3. typescript.js:149-151 - Make getOutputPath respect typescript.outDir config
4. typescript.js:32-56 - Make build method respect typescript.outDir config
5. config/index.js:162-176 - Add typescript and esbuild config support to applyConfig method (Critical)

Without fix #5, the user's typescript.outDir setting is silently discarded and never reaches the TypeScript builder, causing all files to be output to the wrong location.

Testing

After applying all 5 fixes, the build output shows the correct behavior:

🧊 [TypeScript] [DEBUG] typescript.outDir from config: public/js
🧊 [TypeScript] [TypeScript] Using outDir from ice.config.js: public/js
✅ [TypeScript] TypeScript build completed in 13ms

And the file is created in the correct location:

$ find public -name "wf-block-overflow.js"
public/js/wf-block-overflow.js  # ✅ Correct location