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vinesh eg
vinesh eg

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Stop Wasting Time on Dev Tooling Setup: Meet dev-forge

#javascript #productivity #tooling #showdev

The Problem Every Developer Faces

Picture this: You're excited to start a new project. You create a new repository, run npm init, and then... the dreaded tooling setup begins.

npm install --save-dev eslint prettier husky lint-staged
npm install --save-dev @typescript-eslint/parser @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin
npm install --save-dev stylelint stylelint-config-standard
npm install --save-dev commitlint @commitlint/config-conventional
# ... 20 more packages and counting
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Then comes the configuration files:

  • .eslintrc.json
  • .prettierrc
  • .huskyrc
  • .lintstagedrc
  • .stylelintrc
  • commitlint.config.js

Each with dozens of configuration options. Each needing to work together. Each requiring maintenance.

Two hours later, you still haven't written a single line of actual code.

Sound familiar?

The Real Cost of Developer Tooling

Let's be honest about what this costs:

  1. Time Lost: 2-4 hours per project setup
  2. Inconsistency: Every project configured slightly differently
  3. Maintenance Burden: Updating 10+ dependencies regularly
  4. Onboarding Friction: New team members confused by configuration
  5. Cognitive Load: Remembering what all these tools do

For a team of 5 developers starting 10 projects a year:

  • 100-200 hours spent just on tooling setup
  • That's 2.5-5 weeks of productive development time lost

And that's just setup. Add maintenance, debugging configuration conflicts, and keeping up with best practices? The real cost is even higher.

Introducing @vinesheg/dev-forge

What if you could get enterprise-grade developer tooling with a single command?

npm install --save-dev @vinesheg/dev-forge
npx forge init
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That's it. 30 seconds and you're done.

dev-forge is a zero-configuration developer toolkit that bundles and pre-configures six essential development tools into one package:

  1. Biome - Lightning-fast linting and formatting (10-100x faster than ESLint)
  2. Knip - Find unused files, dependencies, and exports
  3. Lefthook - High-performance Git hooks (faster than Husky)
  4. Commitlint - Enforce conventional commit messages
  5. Stylelint - Professional CSS/SCSS linting
  6. npm-package-json-lint - Validate your package.json structure

Why This Matters

1. Zero Configuration

No configuration files to create. No options to remember. No decisions to make. It just works.

The package includes battle-tested defaults that follow industry best practices. You can override anything if needed, but 95% of projects won't need to.

2. Single Dependency

Instead of installing and managing 10+ packages:

Before:

{
  "devDependencies": {
    "eslint": "^8.0.0",
    "prettier": "^3.0.0",
    "husky": "^8.0.0",
    "lint-staged": "^13.0.0",
    "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^6.0.0",
    "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^6.0.0",
    "eslint-config-prettier": "^9.0.0",
    "stylelint": "^15.0.0",
    "stylelint-config-standard": "^34.0.0",
    "@commitlint/cli": "^17.0.0",
    "@commitlint/config-conventional": "^17.0.0"
  }
}
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After:

{
  "devDependencies": {
    "@vinesheg/dev-forge": "^1.0.0"
  }
}
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3. Built on Speed

dev-forge uses the fastest tools available:

  • Biome (written in Rust) is 10-100x faster than ESLint
  • Lefthook (written in Go) outperforms Husky significantly
  • Parallel execution by default for even faster checks

On a medium-sized project:

  • ESLint + Prettier: ~8 seconds
  • Biome: ~0.5 seconds

That's a 16x speedup on every commit, every save, every check.

4. Automatic Git Hooks

Git hooks are installed automatically and run on every commit:

Pre-commit hook:

  • ✅ Lints and formats staged files
  • ✅ Checks CSS/SCSS
  • ✅ Validates package.json if changed
  • ✅ Auto-fixes issues when possible

Commit-msg hook:

  • ✅ Enforces Conventional Commits
  • ✅ Ensures clean commit history
  • ✅ Enables automatic changelog generation

No bad code reaches your repository. Ever.

5. Team Consistency

Every developer on your team gets the same setup:

# New team member joins
git clone your-repo
npm install  # Automatically runs 'forge init'
# ✅ Fully configured, ready to code
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No more "works on my machine" issues. No more style debates. No more inconsistent code.

Real-World Impact

Before dev-forge: 

Monday 9:00 AM: Start new microservice
Monday 9:05 AM: npm init
Monday 9:10 AM: Install ESLint, Prettier, Husky...
Monday 9:30 AM: Configure ESLint
Monday 10:00 AM: Configure Prettier
Monday 10:30 AM: Set up Husky + lint-staged
Monday 11:00 AM: Configure commitlint
Monday 11:30 AM: Fight with ESLint/Prettier conflicts
Monday 12:00 PM: Finally start coding
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After dev-forge: 

Monday 9:00 AM: Start new microservice
Monday 9:05 AM: npm install --save-dev @vinesheg/dev-forge
Monday 9:06 AM: npx forge init
Monday 9:07 AM: Start coding
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Time saved: 2 hours 53 minutes

How It Works

dev-forge uses a smart "extends" pattern for maximum flexibility:

  1. Installation creates minimal local configs that extend the toolkit's defaults
  2. All tools run from the toolkit's own dependencies
  3. Zero maintenance - update one package, update everything
  4. Customization - override any setting by editing the generated configs

Example generated biome.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://biomejs.dev/schemas/1.9.4/schema.json",
  "extends": ["./node_modules/@vinesheg/dev-forge/configs/biome.json"]
}
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Want to disable a rule? Just add it:

{
  "extends": ["./node_modules/@vinesheg/dev-forge/configs/biome.json"],
  "linter": {
    "rules": {
      "suspicious": {
        "noExplicitAny": "off"
      }
    }
  }
}
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Usage

Initialize in a New Project 

npm install --save-dev @vinesheg/dev-forge
npx forge init
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Add to package.json Scripts 

{
  "scripts": {
    "lint": "forge check",
    "lint:fix": "forge fix"
  }
}
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Run Checks 

npm run lint      # Check all files
npm run lint:fix  # Auto-fix issues
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Git Hooks Run Automatically 

git add .
git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"
# ✅ Pre-commit hook checks your code
# ✅ Commit message validated
# ✅ Commit succeeds if all pass
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CI/CD Integration

Add to GitHub Actions:

- name: Quality Checks
  run: npx forge check
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That's it. All your quality checks in one command.

Who Should Use This?

Individual Developers

  • ✅ Side projects
  • ✅ Portfolio work
  • ✅ Learning projects
  • ✅ Open source contributions

Benefit: Spend time coding, not configuring

Startups

  • ✅ Move fast without sacrificing quality
  • ✅ Consistent standards from day one
  • ✅ Easy onboarding for new hires

Benefit: Scale from 2 to 20 developers seamlessly

Established Teams

  • ✅ Standardize across all projects
  • ✅ Reduce maintenance burden
  • ✅ Modernize legacy tooling

Benefit: Reduce tool setup time by 80%+

Open Source Projects

  • ✅ Lower barrier for contributors
  • ✅ Enforce quality automatically
  • ✅ Modern, fast tooling

Benefit: More contributions, higher quality

Technical Details

Built With

  • Biome - Rust-based linter/formatter
  • Lefthook - Go-based Git hooks
  • Modern, maintained packages only

Requirements

  • Node.js ≥ 18.0.0
  • Git (for hooks)

File Size

  • Package: ~2 MB
  • With dependencies: ~50 MB
  • Negligible impact on project size

Performance

  • Initialization: < 1 second
  • Check command: 2-5 seconds (medium project)
  • Git hooks: < 1 second

Comparison with Alternatives

Feature Manual Setup ESLint+Prettier+Husky dev-forge
Setup time 2-4 hours 1-2 hours 30 seconds
Packages to install 10+ 6-8 1
Config files 5-7 4-5 5 (auto-generated)
Linting speed Fast Slow Very fast
Maintenance High Medium Low
Best practices Maybe Depends Built-in
Git hooks Manual Manual Automatic
Dead code detection No No Yes
Package.json validation No No Yes

Getting Started Today

  1. Install: 
   npm install --save-dev @vinesheg/dev-forge
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  1. Initialize: 
   npx forge init
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  1. Start coding:
    • Git hooks are installed
    • All tools configured
    • Quality checks automatic

The Philosophy

dev-forge follows three core principles:

  1. Convention over Configuration - Sensible defaults that just work
  2. Speed Matters - Use the fastest tools available
  3. Developer Experience First - Make the right thing the easy thing

We believe developers should spend time solving problems, not configuring tools.

What's Next?

We're working on:

  • 🔌 Plugin System - Add custom tools easily
  • 📚 More Tools - Additional quality checks and automation

Try It Now

Don't let tooling setup slow you down. Try dev-forge in your next project:

npm install --save-dev @vinesheg/dev-forge
npx forge init
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It takes 30 seconds. Your future self will thank you.

Published under MIT License. Free to use, modify, and share.

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