What is Nub? The Rust toolkit making Node.js 20x faster

Nub is a Rust-based command-line tool that enhances existing Node.js workflows rather than replacing Node, consolidating TypeScript execution, package installation, script running, Node version management, file watching, binary execution, and environment-variable loading into one utility. It can be installed through npm, curl, or PowerShell and requires Node.js 18.19 or later, while retaining compatibility with standard Node projects, package files, and cloud environments that may not natively support Bun or Deno. Nub executes TypeScript in memory, uses a content-addressable package store, blocks installation hooks by default, delays very new package releases for security, automatically detects Node version requirements from project files, and loads `.env` configurations. Benchmarks conducted on one Windows laptop found Nub substantially faster than npm and pnpm for minimal script-runner overhead, but slower than plain Node JavaScript and tsx for direct TypeScript execution, while pnpm was slightly faster and more consistent for a combined script-and-TypeScript task. Nub is positioned as an incremental, low-migration-risk option for teams seeking faster Node tooling, whereas Bun and Deno remain more suitable for projects willing to adopt entirely different runtimes and ecosystems.

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