bun.sh/docs/cli/init.md

Scaffold an empty Bun project with the interactive bun init command.

$ bun init

? Select a project template - Press return to submit.
❯ Blank
  React
  Library

✓ Select a project template: Blank

+ .gitignore
+ index.ts
+ tsconfig.json (for editor autocomplete)
+ README.md

To get started, run:

    bun run index.ts

bun install v$BUN_LATEST_VERSION

+ @types/bun@$BUN_LATEST_VERSION
+ typescript@5.9.2

7 packages installed

Press enter to accept the default answer for each prompt, or pass the -y flag to auto-accept the defaults.

{% details summary="How bun init works" %}

bun init is a quick way to start a blank project with Bun. It guesses with sane defaults and is non-destructive when run multiple times.

It creates:

• a package.json file with a name that defaults to the current directory name
• a tsconfig.json file or a jsconfig.json file, depending if the entry point is a TypeScript file or not
• an entry point which defaults to index.ts unless any of index.{tsx, jsx, js, mts, mjs} exist or the package.json specifies a module or main field
• a README.md file

AI Agent rules (disable with $BUN_AGENT_RULE_DISABLED=1):

• a CLAUDE.md file when Claude CLI is detected (disable with CLAUDE_CODE_AGENT_RULE_DISABLED env var)
• a .cursor/rules/*.mdc file to guide Cursor AI to use Bun instead of Node.js and npm when Cursor is detected

If you pass -y or --yes, it will assume you want to continue without asking questions.

At the end, it runs bun install to install @types/bun.

{% /details %}

{% bunCLIUsage command="init" /%}

React

The --react flag will scaffold a React project:

$ bun init --react

The --react flag accepts the following values:

• tailwind - Scaffold a React project with Tailwind CSS
• shadcn - Scaffold a React project with Shadcn/UI and Tailwind CSS

React + TailwindCSS

This will create a React project with Tailwind CSS configured with Bun's bundler and dev server.

$ bun init --react=tailwind

React + @shadcn/ui

This will create a React project with shadcn/ui and Tailwind CSS configured with Bun's bundler and dev server.

$ bun init --react=shadcn