Biome

Fast, unified linting, formatting, and import organization for JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, CSS, and GraphQL. Biome 2.4 provides type-aware linting without the TypeScript compiler, GritQL plugins for custom rules, and domain-based rule grouping. Single binary, zero config by default, 97% Prettier compatibility.

Critical Rules

Always use `biome check`, not separate lint + format

biome check runs formatter, linter, and import organizer in one pass. Never call biome lint and biome format separately in CI - use biome check (or biome ci for CI mode).

biome.json lives at project root

Every project needs one biome.json at the root. Monorepo packages use nested configs with "extends": "//" to inherit from root. Never use relative paths like "extends": ["../../biome.json"].

Use `--write` to apply fixes, not `--fix`

biome check --write .            # Apply safe fixes
biome check --write --unsafe .   # Apply all fixes (review changes)

Pin exact versions and migrate after upgrades

pnpm add --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome@latest
pnpm biome migrate --write

Quick Start

pnpm add --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome
pnpm biome init    # Creates default biome.json with recommended rules

IDE Setup

VS Code - Install biomejs.biome extension:

{
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "biomejs.biome",
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.organizeImports.biome": "explicit"
  }
}

Zed - Biome extension available natively. The inline_config feature (v2.4) lets editors override rules without affecting biome.json:

{
  "formatter": { "language_server": { "name": "biome" } },
  "lsp": {
    "biome": {
      "settings": {
        "inline_config": {
          "linter": { "rules": { "suspicious": { "noConsole": "off" } } }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

CI Integration

pnpm biome ci .                                  # No writes, non-zero exit on errors
pnpm biome ci --reporter=default --reporter=github .  # GitHub Actions annotations

Configuration (biome.json)

Recommended config for React/TypeScript projects

{
  "$schema": "./node_modules/@biomejs/biome/configuration_schema.json",
  "vcs": {
    "enabled": true,
    "clientKind": "git",
    "useIgnoreFile": true
  },
  "files": {
    "include": [
      "src/**/*.ts", "src/**/*.tsx",
      "tests/**/*.ts", "**/*.config.ts", "**/*.json"
    ],
    "ignore": [
      "*.d.ts", "**/generated", "**/components/ui"
    ]
  },
  "formatter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "indentStyle": "space",
    "indentWidth": 2,
    "lineWidth": 120
  },
  "linter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "rules": { "recommended": true },
    "domains": { "react": "recommended" }
  },
  "javascript": {
    "formatter": { "quoteStyle": "double" }
  },
  "assist": {
    "enabled": true,
    "actions": {
      "source": { "organizeImports": "on" }
    }
  }
}

Formatter options

Key options: indentStyle ("space"/"tab"), indentWidth, lineWidth, lineEnding ("lf"/"crlf"), trailingNewline. JS-specific: quoteStyle, trailingCommas, semicolons, arrowParentheses, bracketSpacing.

Linter rule configuration

Rules use severity levels "error", "warn", "info", or "off". Some accept options:

{
  "linter": {
    "rules": {
      "recommended": true,
      "style": {
        "noRestrictedGlobals": {
          "level": "error",
          "options": {
            "deniedGlobals": {
              "Buffer": "Use Uint8Array for browser compatibility."
            }
          }
        },
        "useComponentExportOnlyModules": "off"
      }
    }
  }
}

Import organizer

The import organizer (Biome Assist) merges duplicates, sorts by distance, and supports custom grouping:

{
  "assist": {
    "enabled": true,
    "actions": {
      "source": {
        "organizeImports": {
          "level": "on",
          "options": {
            "groups": [
              { "source": "builtin" },
              { "source": "external" },
              { "source": "internal", "match": "@company/*" },
              { "source": "relative" }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Monorepo configuration

Root biome.json holds shared config. Package configs inherit with "extends": "//":

{
  "$schema": "../../node_modules/@biomejs/biome/configuration_schema.json",
  "extends": "//"
}

Override specific rules per package by adding a linter.rules section alongside "extends": "//".

Configuration file discovery (v2.4)

Search order: biome.json -> biome.jsonc -> .biome.json -> .biome.jsonc -> platform config home (~/.config/biome on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/biome on macOS).

Domains

Domains group lint rules by technology. Enable only what your stack needs:

{
  "linter": {
    "domains": {
      "react": "recommended",
      "next": "recommended",
      "test": "recommended",
      "types": "all"
    }
  }
}

Domain	Purpose	Auto-detected
`react`	React hooks, JSX patterns	`react` dependency
`next`	Next.js-specific rules	`next >= 14.0.0`
`solid`	Solid.js rules	`solid-js` dependency
`test`	Testing best practices (any framework)	-
`playwright`	Playwright test rules	`@playwright/test`
`project`	Cross-file analysis (noImportCycles, noUnresolvedImports)	-
`types`	Type inference rules (noFloatingPromises, noMisusedPromises)	-

Activation levels: "recommended" (stable rules only), "all" (includes nursery), "none" (disable).

The project domain enables rules needing the module graph. The types domain (v2.4) enables rules requiring type inference. Both trigger a file scan that adds a small overhead.

Type-Aware Linting

Biome 2.0 introduced type-aware linting without the TypeScript compiler. Biome has its own type inference engine in Rust - no typescript dependency needed.

How it works

Enable the types domain to activate file scanning and type inference. Performance impact is minimal compared to typescript-eslint because inference runs natively.

Key rules

Rule	What it catches
`noFloatingPromises`	Unhandled promises (missing await/return/void)
`noMisusedPromises`	Promises in conditionals, array callbacks
`useAwaitThenable`	Awaiting non-thenable values
`noUnnecessaryConditions`	Conditions that are always true/false
`useRegexpExec`	`string.match()` where `regexp.exec()` is better
`useFind`	`array.filter()[0]` instead of `array.find()`
`useArraySortCompare`	`Array.sort()` without compare function

noFloatingPromises

The most impactful type-aware rule. Detects unhandled promises:

// ERROR: floating promise
async function loadData() {
  fetch("/api/data");
}

// VALID: awaited
async function loadData() {
  await fetch("/api/data");
}

// VALID: explicitly voided (fire-and-forget)
async function loadData() {
  void fetch("/api/data");
}

Detects ~75% of cases compared to typescript-eslint, improving each release.

Limitations vs typescript-eslint

Complex generic type inference may miss some cases
Not a full type checker - handles common patterns, not every edge case
Rules still in nursery - expect improvements with each release
Major performance advantage: fraction of tsc-based linting time

GritQL Custom Rules

GritQL is a declarative pattern-matching language for custom lint rules. Create .grit files and register them as plugins.

{ "plugins": ["./lint-rules/no-object-assign.grit"] }

Examples

Ban Object.assign:

`$fn($args)` where {
    $fn <: `Object.assign`,
    register_diagnostic(
        span = $fn,
        message = "Prefer object spread instead of `Object.assign()`"
    )
}

CSS - enforce color classes:

language css;
`$selector { $props }` where {
    $props <: contains `color: $color` as $rule,
    not $selector <: r"\.color-.*",
    register_diagnostic(
        span = $rule,
        message = "Don't set explicit colors. Use `.color-*` classes instead."
    )
}

Plugin API

register_diagnostic() arguments:

severity - "hint", "info", "warn", "error" (default: "error")
message (required) - diagnostic message
span (required) - syntax node to highlight

Supported target languages: JavaScript (default), CSS, JSON (v2.4). Profile with biome lint --profile-rules ..

Suppression Patterns

Single-line

// biome-ignore lint/suspicious/noConsole: needed for debugging
console.log("debug info");

File-level

// biome-ignore-all lint/suspicious/noConsole: logger module

Range

// biome-ignore-start lint/style/useConst: legacy code
let x = 1;
let y = 2;
// biome-ignore-end lint/style/useConst
const a = 4; // this line IS checked

biome-ignore-end is optional - omit to suppress until end of file. Biome requires explanation text after the colon.

Migration

From ESLint

pnpm biome migrate eslint --write
pnpm biome migrate eslint --write --include-inspired  # Include non-identical rules

Supports legacy and flat configs, extends resolution, plugins (typescript-eslint, react, jsx-a11y, unicorn), .eslintignore.

From Prettier

pnpm biome migrate prettier --write

Maps tabWidth -> indentWidth, useTabs -> indentStyle, singleQuote -> quoteStyle, trailingComma -> trailingCommas.

From ESLint + Prettier combo

pnpm biome migrate eslint --write
pnpm biome migrate prettier --write
pnpm remove eslint prettier eslint-config-prettier eslint-plugin-prettier \
  @typescript-eslint/parser @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin
rm .eslintrc* .prettierrc* .eslintignore .prettierignore

Enable VCS integration since ESLint respects gitignore by default:

{ "vcs": { "enabled": true, "clientKind": "git", "useIgnoreFile": true } }

CLI Reference

biome check (primary command)

biome check .                    # Check all files
biome check --write .            # Apply safe fixes
biome check --write --unsafe .   # Apply all fixes
biome check --changed .          # Only VCS-changed files
biome check --staged .           # Only staged files

biome ci (CI mode)

biome ci .                                           # No writes, exit code on errors
biome ci --reporter=github .                         # GitHub annotations
biome ci --reporter=sarif --reporter-file=report.sarif .  # SARIF output

biome lint

biome lint --only=suspicious/noDebugger .    # Single rule
biome lint --skip=project .                  # Skip domain
biome lint --only=types .                    # Only type-aware rules
biome lint --error-on-warnings .             # Warnings become errors

Other commands

biome format --write .                       # Format only
biome search '`console.$method($args)`' .    # GritQL pattern search
biome rage                                   # Debug info for bug reports
biome explain noFloatingPromises             # Explain a rule

Best Practices

Use biome check as your single command - combines format, lint, and import organization
Start with recommended: true - disable individual rules as needed
Enable relevant domains - react, next, test, types based on your stack
Enable VCS integration - respects .gitignore, enables --changed/--staged
Use biome ci in pipelines - never writes files, clear exit codes
Pin exact versions - avoid surprise rule changes between releases
Run biome migrate --write after every upgrade
Use --staged in pre-commit hooks: biome check --staged --write --no-errors-on-unmatched .
Profile slow rules with biome lint --profile-rules (v2.4)
Use GritQL plugins for project-specific patterns instead of disabling rules globally

Resources

Biome Docs: https://biomejs.dev/
Biome GitHub: https://github.com/biomejs/biome
GritQL Docs: https://docs.grit.io/
Biome v2 Blog: https://biomejs.dev/blog/biome-v2/
Biome v2.4 Blog: https://biomejs.dev/blog/biome-v2-4/
Migration Guide: https://biomejs.dev/guides/migrate-eslint-prettier/
Rules Reference: https://biomejs.dev/linter/javascript/rules/
Domains: https://biomejs.dev/linter/domains/
Plugins: https://biomejs.dev/linter/plugins/

For detailed lint rules by category with code examples, see rules-reference.md.