Let's write a simple HTTP server using the built-in `Bun.serve` API.

First, create
a fresh directory.

```bash
$ mkdir quickstart
$ cd quickstart
```

Run `bun init` to scaffold a new project. It's an interactive tool; for this
tutorial, just press `enter` to accept the default answer for each prompt.

```bash
$ bun init
bun init helps you get started with a minimal project and tries to
guess sensible defaults. Press ^C anytime to quit.

package name (quickstart):

entry point (index.ts):

Done! A package.json file was saved in the current directory.

+ index.ts
+ .gitignore
+ tsconfig.json (for editor auto-complete)
+ README.md

To get started, run:

bun run index.ts
```

Since our entry point is a `*.ts` file, Bun generates a `tsconfig.json` for you. If
you're using plain JavaScript, it will generate a
[`jsconfig.json`](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/jsconfig) instead.

## Run a file

Open `index.ts` and paste the following code snippet, which implements a simple
HTTP server with [`Bun.serve`](/docs/api/http).

```ts
const server = Bun.serve({
port: 3000,
fetch(req) {
return new Response("Bun!");
},
});

console.log(`Listening on http://localhost:${server.port} ...`);

```

{% details summary="Seeing TypeScript errors on `Bun`?" %}

If you used `bun init`, Bun will have automatically installed Bun's TypeScript
declarations and configured your `tsconfig.json`. If you're trying out Bun in an
existing project, you may see a type error on the `Bun` global.

To fix this, first install `bun-types` as a dev dependency.

```sh
$ bun add -d bun-types
```
Then add the following line to your `compilerOptions` in `tsconfig.json`.

```json-diff#tsconfig.json
{
"compilerOptions": {
+ "types": ["bun-types"]
}
}
```

{% /details %}

Run the file from your shell.

```bash
$ bun index.ts
Listening on http://localhost:3000 ...
```

Visit [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000) to test the server. You should

see a simple page that says "Bun!".

## Run a script

Bun can also execute `"scripts"` from your `package.json`. Add the following
script:

```json-diff
{
"name": "quickstart",
"module": "index.ts",
"type": "module",
+ "scripts": {
+ "start": "bun run index.ts"
+ },
"devDependencies": {
"bun-types": "^0.7.0"
}
}
```

Then run it with `bun run start`.

```bash
$ bun run start
$ bun run index.ts
Listening on http://localhost:3000 ...
```

{% callout %}
**Performance** — `bun run` is roughly 28x faster than `npm run` (6ms vs 170ms of
overhead).
{% /callout %}

## Install a package

Let's make our server a little more interesting by installing a package. First
install the `figlet` package and its type declarations. Figlet is a utility for
converting strings into ASCII art.

```bash
$ bun add figlet
$ bun add -d @types/figlet # TypeScript users only
```

Update `index.ts` to use `figlet` in the `fetch` handler.

```ts-diff
+ import figlet from "figlet";

const server = Bun.serve({

fetch() {
+ const body = figlet.textSync("Bun!");
+ return new Response(body);
- return new Response("Bun!");
},
port: 3000,
});
```

Restart the server and refresh the page. You should see a new ASCII art banner.

```txt
____ _
| __ ) _ _ _ __ | |
| _ \| | | | '_ \| |
| |_) | |_| | | | |_|
|____/ \__,_|_| |_(_)
```