How to Compile a Svelte file to JavaScript from the Command line?

Question

I'm new to Svelte. Quick question:

Is there a CLI for the Svelte compiler, and how do I access it?

I understand Svelte has a preconfigured setup that uses rollup and what not for building an app. That's all good, but I only need the CLI for transforming a svelte file to pure js file. Something like:

svelte compile input.svelte --out=out.js

Update It seems like there is no CLI for the Svelte compiler. However, a brief outline of the compilation process is available here. In particular,the following code snippet, which can be used to build CLI.

result: {
    js,
    css,
    ast,
    warnings,
    vars,
    stats
} = svelte.compile(source: string, options?: {...})

Answer 1

For Svelte 3 there is no official CLI.

You'll either write one:

#!/usr/bin/env node
import { compile } from "svelte/compiler";
import fs from "node:fs";

const filename = process.argv[2];
const source = fs.readFileSync(filename, 'utf-8');
const result = compile(source, { filename });
process.stdout.write(result.js.code);

and customize that script to your exact needs (Custom compile options and/or run additional preprocessors for TypeScript support etc)

But most cases an existing build tool is a better option
and for most build tools there is plugin (vite) or loader (webpack) available for Svelte.