npmCLI & Toolingupdated 05 Aug 2026

@biomejs/biome

Item: @biomejs/biome
Rating: 4.3
Author: Keyoor

Biome is a formatter and linter for JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, JSON, CSS, and GraphQL shipped as a single fast native binary written in Rust. The formatter scores 97% compatibility with Prettier; the linter carries more than 500 rules ported from ESLint, typescript-eslint, and other sources, with detailed diagnostics and safe autofixes. It is built for editor-first use through LSP and replaces the usual ESLint plus Prettier plus plugin stack with one tool and one config file.

@biomejs/biome · v2.5.7 · 12.3M/wk · ★ 25,498 · pushed 05 Aug 2026 · biomejs/biome · docs · reviewed by Keyoor

Verdict

The strongest single-tool replacement for the ESLint plus Prettier stack today: one fast binary, one config, very good defaults. Check the rule and plugin coverage against your current setup before migrating, because that gap is the whole decision.

API stability4/5CLI verbs have stayed stable, but the 1.x to 2.0 jump renamed config sections (ignore lists became files.includes, import sorting moved under assist); biome migrate exists for a reason

Docs4/5biomejs.dev has guides, a per-rule reference with examples, and a WebAssembly playground; migration edge cases still route you to GitHub discussions

Maintenance5/5Daily activity, a funded core team via Open Collective and GitHub Sponsors, an enterprise support program, and translated docs in a dozen languages

Ecosystem4/5First-party VS Code and Open VSX extensions plus broad LSP editor support, but the third-party rule and plugin ecosystem is young next to ESLint's

Use it if

You want to collapse ESLint, Prettier, and their config sprawl into one tool with a single biome.json
Lint and format time in CI or pre-commit hooks is a real cost on a large codebase or monorepo
You want sane defaults without assembling plugins; biome check --write formats, lints, and organizes imports in one pass
You need the same binary in the editor, in scripts, and in CI (biome ci), including machines without Node.js

Skip it if

Your lint setup depends on ESLint plugins with no Biome equivalent, including custom in-house rules written for ESLint's API
You rely on the full depth of type-aware linting from typescript-eslint; Biome's type inference covers a narrower slice
You format languages Biome does not handle, such as Markdown or YAML, so you would keep Prettier anyway and end up running both tools
Your team treats formatting diffs as sacred: 97% Prettier compatibility means some files will change on migration, so budget a one-shot reformat commit

Setup reality

npm install --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome fetches a platform-specific native binary, and biome init writes a starter biome.json. biome migrate eslint --write and biome migrate prettier --write translate existing configs, but rule mapping is not one-to-one, so expect a triage pass of re-enabling rules and adding suppressions. In editors you must disable the ESLint and Prettier extensions or they will fight Biome over formatting. The README's --save-exact hint matters: formatter and rule output can shift between releases, so pin it.

Patterns

Format files in placeformat-files

npx @biomejs/biome format --write

Without --write it only prints the diff and exits non-zero when files would change.

Lint and apply safe fixeslint-fix

npx @biomejs/biome lint --write

--write applies only fixes marked safe; add --unsafe to apply the rest, and review that diff.

Format, lint, and organize imports in one passcheck-all

npx @biomejs/biome check --write

check is the everyday command; it runs the formatter, linter, and assist actions together.

Fail CI on formatting or lint issuesci-check

npx @biomejs/biome ci

ci never writes files and exits non-zero on any diagnostic, which is exactly what you want in a pipeline.

Create a starter biome.jsoninit-config

npx @biomejs/biome init

Biome works with zero config; init just gives you a file with the schema reference to grow into.

Import an existing ESLint or Prettier configmigrate-eslint

npx @biomejs/biome migrate eslint --write
npx @biomejs/biome migrate prettier --write

Rules without a Biome equivalent are dropped silently, so diff the generated biome.json against expectations.

Turn individual lint rules on or offconfigure-rules

{
  "linter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "rules": {
      "recommended": true,
      "suspicious": { "noExplicitAny": "off" },
      "style": { "useConst": "error" }
    }
  }
}

Rules live in groups (suspicious, style, correctness, and so on) with severities off, warn, or error.

Suppress a rule on one linesuppress-line

// biome-ignore lint/suspicious/noExplicitAny: third-party payload is untyped
const data: any = JSON.parse(raw);

The full rule path is required and the explanation after the colon is expected; biome-ignore-all at the top of a file covers the whole file.

Scope which files Biome touchesignore-files

{
  "files": {
    "includes": ["src/**", "!**/generated/**", "!**/dist/**"]
  }
}

Biome 2 replaced separate ignore lists with includes plus ! negation patterns; older files.ignore configs need biome migrate.

Respect .gitignore automaticallyvcs-gitignore

{
  "vcs": {
    "enabled": true,
    "clientKind": "git",
    "useIgnoreFile": true
  }
}

With useIgnoreFile on, build output ignored by git stays out of lint runs without duplicating globs in biome.json.

Enable import sortingorganize-imports

{
  "assist": {
    "actions": {
      "source": { "organizeImports": "on" }
    }
  }
}

In Biome 2 import sorting is an assist action that runs during check, not a standalone command.

Alternatives

Package	Registry	Pick it when
eslint	npm	You depend on its plugin ecosystem or need custom rules beyond what Biome has ported
prettier	npm	You only want formatting, with the widest language and ecosystem coverage including Markdown and YAML
oxlint	npm	You want a fast native linter but plan to keep Prettier as your formatter