agent-skills/skills/tsdown/references/option-tree-shaking.md

Tree Shaking

Remove unused code from bundles.

Overview

Tree shaking eliminates dead code (unused exports) from your final bundle, reducing size and improving performance.

Default: Enabled

Basic Usage

CLI

# Tree shaking enabled (default)
tsdown

# Disable tree shaking
tsdown --no-treeshake

Config File

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  treeshake: true,  // Default
})

How It Works

With Tree Shaking

Source:

// src/util.ts
export function unused() {
  console.log("I'm unused")
}

export function hello(x: number) {
  console.log('Hello World', x)
}

// src/index.ts
import { hello } from './util'
hello(1)

Output:

// dist/index.mjs
function hello(x) {
  console.log('Hello World', x)
}
hello(1)

unused() function is removed because it's never imported.

Without Tree Shaking

Output:

// dist/index.mjs
function unused() {
  console.log("I'm unused")
}

function hello(x) {
  console.log('Hello World', x)
}
hello(1)

All code is included, even if unused.

Advanced Configuration

Enable (Default)

export default defineConfig({
  treeshake: true,
})

Uses Rolldown's default tree shaking.

Custom Options

export default defineConfig({
  treeshake: {
    moduleSideEffects: false,
    propertyReadSideEffects: false,
    unknownGlobalSideEffects: false,
  },
})

See Rolldown docs for all options.

Disable

export default defineConfig({
  treeshake: false,
})

Side Effects

Package.json sideEffects

Declare side effects in your package:

{
  "sideEffects": false
}

Or specify files with side effects:

{
  "sideEffects": ["*.css", "src/polyfills.ts"]
}

Module Side Effects

export default defineConfig({
  treeshake: {
    moduleSideEffects: (id) => {
      // Preserve side effects for polyfills
      return id.includes('polyfill')
    },
  },
})

Common Patterns

Production Build

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm', 'cjs'],
  treeshake: true,
  minify: true,
})

Development Build

export default defineConfig((options) => ({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  treeshake: !options.watch,  // Disable in dev
}))

Library with Side Effects

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  treeshake: {
    moduleSideEffects: (id) => {
      return (
        id.includes('.css') ||
        id.includes('polyfill') ||
        id.includes('side-effect')
      )
    },
  },
})

Utilities Library

export default defineConfig({
  entry: ['src/index.ts'],
  format: ['esm'],
  treeshake: true,
  dts: true,
})

Users can import only what they need:

import { onlyWhatINeed } from 'my-utils'

Benefits

Smaller Bundles

• Only includes imported code
• Removes unused functions, classes, variables
• Reduces download size

Better Performance

• Less code to parse
• Faster execution
• Improved loading times

Cleaner Output

• No dead code in production
• Easier to debug
• Better maintainability

When to Disable

Debugging

During development to see all code:

export default defineConfig((options) => ({
  treeshake: !options.watch,
}))

Side Effect Code

Code with global side effects:

// This has side effects
window.myGlobal = {}

export function setup() {
  // ...
}

Disable tree shaking or mark side effects:

{
  "sideEffects": true
}

Testing

Include all code for coverage:

export default defineConfig({
  treeshake: false,
})

Tips

1. Leave enabled for production builds
2. Mark side effects in package.json
3. Use with minification for best results
4. Test tree shaking - verify unused code is removed
5. Disable for debugging if needed
6. Pure functions are easier to tree shake

Troubleshooting

Code Still Included

• Check for side effects
• Verify imports are ES modules
• Ensure code is actually unused
• Check sideEffects in package.json

Missing Code at Runtime

• Code has side effects but marked as none
• Set sideEffects: true or list specific files

Unexpected Behavior

• Module has side effects not declared
• Try disabling tree shaking to isolate issue

Examples

Pure Utility Functions

// utils.ts - perfect for tree shaking
export function add(a, b) {
  return a + b
}

export function multiply(a, b) {
  return a * b
}

// Only 'add' imported = only 'add' bundled
import { add } from './utils'

With Side Effects

// polyfill.ts - has side effects
if (!Array.prototype.at) {
  Array.prototype.at = function(index) {
    // polyfill implementation
  }
}

export {} // Need to export something

{
  "sideEffects": ["src/polyfill.ts"]
}

Related Options

• Minification - Code compression
• Target - Syntax transformations
• Dependencies - External packages
• Output Format - Module formats