Prerequisite

Bun

Bun is the default runtime for Milkio. It is a fast JavaScript runtime that is compatible with Node.js and can directly run TypeScript.

If you are using the Windows operating system, I suggest using WSL2 for development. Don’t worry about WSL2 affecting your development experience, you can install the VS Code WSL Extension to conveniently develop as if you were working directly on your local machine.

Note

Although you may eventually want to run Milkio on different runtimes, Bun is essential during our development phase! This is because Milkio’s generation phase relies on Bun’s ability to directly run TypeScript code to automatically generate many TypeScript glue codes for you. Don’t worry, when your Milkio project is tested/run locally or on a server, it will use the runtime you want to use, not Bun.

VS Code Extension

Milkio’s VS Code extension allows you to pre-generate resources required for future runtime when idle, and seamlessly integrates testing capabilities with your editor. You can install it from here.

Note

The VS Code extension is mandatory to install because Milkio’s development relies on it.

Milkio integrates features like automatic reloading into the VS Code extension, making it easy to switch runtimes without relying on a specific runtime or automatic reloading tool. This allows Milkio to easily switch runtimes, even if you ultimately use Vercel Edge or Cloudflare Worker. Additionally, Milkio has a generation phase, a feature that other frameworks do not have. The generation phase helps you automatically generate routes and type-safe code, and these operations rely on Milkio’s VS Code extension. Therefore, to use Milkio, the VS Code extension is essential, which is different from other frameworks.