I built a JSON CLI tool with Bun and TypeScript — here's what actually happened

Short summary

The author built jray, a JSON CLI tool in Bun and TypeScript that flattens, filters, and colorizes JSON data from files or URLs—simpler than jq for inspection tasks. The post covers architectural decisions (modular structure, single-binary compilation), publishing mistakes (npm naming, bloated packages), and CI/CD setup with frozen lockfiles. Key lesson: separate modules for flatten/filter/color/fetch work well; define npm files field before first publish; always use --frozen-lockfile in CI.

• •Built jray: a JSON inspection CLI tool with flatten, filter, colorize, and URL-fetch features
• •Learned: modular architecture, compiled binary distribution, and npm package mistakes to avoid
• •Architecture holds up well; main fixes needed were npm package definition and CI lockfile handling

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