Skip to main content

Deno Runtime Quick Start

Deno (/ˈdiːnoʊ/, pronounced dee-no) is an open source JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly runtime with secure defaults and a great developer experience. It's built on V8, Rust, and Tokio.

Let's create and run your first Deno program in under five minutes.

Install Deno

Install the Deno runtime on your system using one of the terminal commands below.

curl -fsSL https://deno.land/install.sh | sh

Additional installation options can be found here. After installation, you should have the deno executable available on your system path.

Create a simple web server

Create a TypeScript file called server.ts and include the following code:

server.ts
Deno.serve((_request: Request) => {
return new Response("Hello, world!");
});

The Deno runtime has built-in APIs for server-side functionality like HTTP servers, in addition to APIs found in the browser like the Request and Response objects from the fetch API.

Start your server using the deno command:

deno run --allow-net server.ts

The Deno runtime is secure by default, so the --allow-net flag is required to give your code network access to start an HTTP server. Visit localhost:8000 to see your local server running.

🚀 Host your server on Deno Deploy (optional)

The Deno runtime is open source and runs on just about any cloud. You can also run Deno programs on Deno Deploy. Here's how it works.

Install the deployctl command line utility:

deno install -Arf https://deno.land/x/deploy/deployctl.ts

Deploy your server with deployctl. If this is your first time using Deno Deploy, you'll be prompted to sign in with a GitHub account:

deployctl deploy --include=./server.ts --entrypoint=./server.ts

In a few moments, your server should be available on a public URL, deployed across 30+ datacenters worldwide.

Next steps

We've only just scratched the surface of what's possible with the Deno runtime. Here are a few topics you might want to explore next.