deno fmt
Deno ships with a built-in code formatter based on dprint that auto-formats your code to a consistent style. For a broader overview, see Linting and Formatting.
Basic usage
Format all supported files in the current directory:
deno fmt
Format specific files or directories:
deno fmt main.ts src/
Watch mode
Automatically re-format files when they change:
deno fmt --watch
Check formatting in CI
Use --check to verify files are formatted without modifying them. The command exits with a non-zero status code if any files are unformatted:
deno fmt --check
Add --fail-fast to stop on the first unformatted file instead of reporting all of them, which is useful in large codebases:
deno fmt --check --fail-fast
Formatting stdin
Format code piped through stdin — useful for editor integrations:
cat main.ts | deno fmt -
Configuring the formatter
Customize formatting options in your deno.json:
{
"fmt": {
"useTabs": false,
"lineWidth": 80,
"indentWidth": 2,
"semiColons": true,
"singleQuote": false,
"proseWrap": "preserve"
}
}
See the Configuration page for all available options.
Inheriting settings from .editorconfig
deno fmt also reads .editorconfig files and uses them to fill in any formatting option you have not set elsewhere. The precedence, from highest to lowest, is:
- CLI flags (
--indent-width,--use-tabs, and so on) - The
fmtblock indeno.json .editorconfig- Built-in defaults
So .editorconfig only supplies values you have not already configured through a flag or deno.json. Properties such as indent_style, indent_size, and max_line_length map onto the corresponding deno fmt options.
Including and excluding files
Specify which files to format in deno.json:
{
"fmt": {
"include": ["src/"],
"exclude": ["src/testdata/", "src/generated/**/*.ts"]
}
}
You can also exclude files from the command line:
deno fmt --ignore=dist/,build/
Supported file types
| File Type | Extension | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JavaScript |
.js, .cjs, .mjs
| |
| TypeScript |
.ts, .mts, .cts
| |
| JSX | .jsx | |
| TSX | .tsx | |
| Markdown |
.md, .mkd, .mkdn, .mdwn, .mdown, .markdown
| |
| JSON | .json | |
| JSONC | .jsonc | |
| CSS | .css | |
| HTML | .html | |
| XML | .xml | |
| SVG | .svg | |
| Nunjucks | .njk | |
| Vento | .vto | |
| YAML |
.yml, .yaml
| |
| SCSS | .scss | |
| LESS | .less | |
| Jupyter Notebook | .ipynb | |
| Astro | .astro | Requires --unstable-component flag or "unstable": ["fmt-component"] config option. |
| Svelte | .svelte | Requires --unstable-component flag or "unstable": ["fmt-component"] config option. |
| Vue | .vue | Requires --unstable-component flag or "unstable": ["fmt-component"] config option. |
| SQL | .sql | Requires --unstable-sql flag or "unstable": ["fmt-sql"] config option. |
deno fmt can format code snippets in Markdown files. Snippets must be enclosed in triple backticks and have a language attribute.
The markup formatters (HTML, XML, SVG, and the --unstable-component formats) and the style formatters (CSS, SCSS, and Less) were rebuilt to only adjust whitespace. They never reorder or rewrite tokens, and they pass unknown syntax (vendor extensions, future at-rules, template expressions, even broken markup) through unchanged instead of erroring, so formatting is more robust on real-world files.
Ignoring code
JavaScript / TypeScript / JSONC
Ignore formatting code by preceding it with a // deno-fmt-ignore comment:
// deno-fmt-ignore
export const identity = [
1, 0, 0,
0, 1, 0,
0, 0, 1,
];
Or ignore an entire file by adding a // deno-fmt-ignore-file comment at the top of the file.
Markdown / HTML / CSS
Ignore formatting next item by preceding it with <!--- deno-fmt-ignore --> comment:
<html>
<body>
<p>
Hello there
<!-- deno-fmt-ignore -->
</p>
</body>
</html>
To ignore a section of code, surround the code with <!-- deno-fmt-ignore-start --> and <!-- deno-fmt-ignore-end --> comments.
Or ignore an entire file by adding a <!-- deno-fmt-ignore-file --> comment at the top of the file.
YAML
Ignore formatting next item by preceding it with # deno-fmt-ignore comment:
# deno-fmt-ignore aaaaaa: bbbbbbb
deno fmt [OPTIONS] [files]...Auto-format various file types.
deno fmt myfile1.ts myfile2.ts
Supported file types are:
JavaScript, TypeScript, Markdown, JSON(C) and Jupyter Notebooks
Supported file types which are behind corresponding unstable flags (see formatting options):
HTML, CSS, SCSS, LESS, YAML, Svelte, Vue, Astro and Angular
Format stdin and write to stdout:
cat file.ts | deno fmt -
Check if the files are formatted:
deno fmt --check
Ignore formatting code by preceding it with an ignore comment:
// deno-fmt-ignore
Ignore formatting a file by adding an ignore comment at the top of the file:
// deno-fmt-ignore-file
Options
--config, -c<FILE>
Configure different aspects of deno including TypeScript, linting, and code formatting. Typically the configuration file will be called deno.json or deno.jsonc and automatically detected; in that case this flag is not necessary.
--no-configDisable automatic loading of the configuration file.
--permit-no-filesDon't return an error code if no files were found.
Formatting options
--checkCheck if the source files are formatted.
--ext<ext>
Set content type of the supplied file.
--fail-fastStop checking files on first format error.
--ignore<ignore>
Ignore formatting particular source files.
--indent-width<indent-width>
Define indentation width [default: 2]
--line-width<line-width>
Define maximum line width [default: 80]
--no-editorconfigDon't read .editorconfig files to infer formatting options [default: false]
--no-semicolons<no-semicolons>optional
Don't use semicolons except where necessary [default: false]
--prose-wrap<prose-wrap>
Define how prose should be wrapped [default: always]
--single-quote<single-quote>optional
Use single quotes [default: false]
--unstable-componentEnable formatting Svelte, Vue, Astro and Angular files.
--unstable-sqlEnable formatting SQL files.
--use-tabs<use-tabs>optional
Use tabs instead of spaces for indentation [default: false]
File watching options
--no-clear-screenDo not clear terminal screen when under watch mode.
--watch<FILES>optional
Watch for file changes and restart process automatically. Local files from entry point module graph are watched by default. Additional paths might be watched by passing them as arguments to this flag.
--watch-exclude<FILES>optional
Exclude provided files/patterns from watch mode.
Last updated on
© 2018–2025 the Deno authors
Licensed under the MIT License.
https://docs.deno.com/runtime/reference/cli/fmt