TypeScript 6 Beta Released: What You Need to Know

The TypeScript team has officially released TypeScript 6 in beta. This is not a big feature drop. It is a cleanup release. It sets better defaults, drops outdated options, and prepares your codebase for TypeScript.

If you use TypeScript today, here is everything you need to know.

What Is TypeScript 6, Exactly?

TypeScript 6 is a transition release. Its job is to bridge the gap between today’s TypeScript and the upcoming TypeScript 7.

TypeScript 7 is a full rewrite of the compiler in Go. The goal is speed. In large projects, TypeScript builds can take minutes. That is a major pain. The Go rewrite aims to fix that at the core level.

But before TypeScript 7 can land cleanly, old options and outdated defaults need to go. TypeScript 6 handles that.

Want to understand how large language models and compilers process code differently? Check out our LLM Architecture Explained guide.

New Defaults in TypeScript 6

The biggest change in this release is the default settings. Several options that most developers were already turning on by hand are now on by default.

Setting	Old Default	New Default	What It Does
`strict`	`false`	`true`	Turns on strict type checking
`module`	`commonjs`	`esnext`	Uses ES module format
`target`	`es3`	`es2025`	Compiles to modern JavaScript
`noUncheckedSideEffectImports`	`false`	`true`	Catches untracked side-effect imports

These new defaults match how most developers already work. The TypeScript team found that the vast majority of projects were already using these settings manually.

If any of these break your project, you can still set them yourself in tsconfig.json. Nothing is forced on you.

Better Alignment With Web Standards

TypeScript 6 also closes some gaps between TypeScript and modern JavaScript specs.

Subpath imports are now supported. This comes from the Node.js module spec. It reduces the need for custom path workarounds.

RegExp Escaping is now part of the language. The RegExp Escaping ECMAScript proposal reached Stage 4, which means it is officially part of JavaScript. TypeScript 6 adds support for it.

DOM typing got better. The Iterable type now has proper support in DOM types.

What Got Deprecated

TypeScript 6 removes several old options. These reflect the way JavaScript has moved on.

Deprecated Item	Why It Is Going Away
ES5 targets	Almost no one targets ES5 anymore
AMD and UMD modules	ESM bundlers have replaced them
`baseUrl` config	Modern module resolution makes this unnecessary
Out-file bundling	Modern build tools handle this better

These removals make the compiler smaller and faster. They also clear the path for TypeScript 7.

Why You Should Upgrade Now

The TypeScript team is clear about this. TypeScript 6 is a stepping stone. You should upgrade to it before TypeScript 7 arrives.

Here is what the official release notes say:

“The options deprecated in TypeScript 6.0 will continue to work without errors when ignoreDeprecations: '6.0' is set, they will be removed entirely in TypeScript 7.0.”

In short: deprecated options still work in TypeScript 6 if you set "ignoreDeprecations": "6.0" in your config. But they will be gone completely in TypeScript 7.

Fix the warnings now. It will save you a much bigger headache later.

How to Try TypeScript 6 Beta

You can install the beta right now using npm:

npm install typescript@beta

The TypeScript team also has nightly builds of the Go-based TypeScript 7 compiler. You can try it via the @typescript/native-preview package on npm.

There is also a VS Code extension you can install to test it inside your editor.

The team is asking for feedback on both versions.

Quick Summary: What Changed in TypeScript 6

strict mode is now on by default
Module defaults to esnext (ES modules)
Target defaults to es2025
Side-effect imports are now checked by default
Subpath imports from Node.js spec are now supported
RegExp Escaping (Stage 4) is now supported
ES5 targets, AMD, UMD, baseUrl, and out-file bundling are deprecated
Deprecated options still work if you set "ignoreDeprecations": "6.0"
All deprecated options will be fully removed in TypeScript 7

What Comes Next

TypeScript 7 is actively in development. The TypeScript GitHub project publishes nightly builds. You can follow progress there or test the native preview package.

TypeScript is open source and runs under the Apache 2 license. The team welcomes contributions and bug reports through the GitHub repo.

Upgrading to TypeScript 6 now is the safest way to get ready for what comes next.