January 8, 2023

How to organize TypeScript imports automatically

Separating your code into modules is the best thing you can do for your project, not only for performance but also for organization.

imports are the first thing you will have in your TypeScript files and they can quickly get out of control.

VSCode Organize Imports

VSCode has a command that organizes your imports automatically:

1. Open the ⇧⌘P or Ctrl+Shift+P command palette.
2. And run "Organize Imports".

When you run this command:

• It will remove unused imports.
• Organize imports by name and paths alphabetically.

Run it in multiple files

In VSCode you have to open each file and run the command on each one, which can be quite time consuming.

There is an npm package that allows you to run it on multiple files automatically.

Using organize-imports-cli

1. npm install -g organize-imports-cli
2. Then you just run it and pass it the files bash organize-imports-cli path/to/folder/**/**/*.ts

And here we use the wildcard **/*.ts so that it takes all files with the .ts extension in all folders.