Biome Toolchain Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-05-16

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Biome is a Rust-based, unified toolchain for web projects that combines formatting, linting, and import sorting into a single tool, delivering 10-25x faster performance than ESLint + Prettier combined while maintaining 97% Prettier compatibility. Originally forked from Rome in 2023, Biome has become the production-ready successor, offering first-class LSP support, type-aware linting without TypeScript compiler dependency, and a growing plugin ecosystem powered by GritQL—making it especially valuable for teams seeking to simplify their development workflow and dramatically reduce CI/CD times in monorepos.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 20 focused tables and 128 indexed concepts, 60 flashcards. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Installation MethodsTable 2: Core CLI CommandsTable 3: Configuration File StructureTable 4: Formatter OptionsTable 5: Linter Rule CategoriesTable 6: Import Sorting and OrganizationTable 7: Code Actions and FixesTable 8: Suppression CommentsTable 9: Language and File SupportTable 10: IDE and Editor IntegrationTable 11: Git Workflow IntegrationTable 12: CI/CD IntegrationTable 13: Migration from ESLint and PrettierTable 14: Monorepo and Multi-Package SupportTable 15: Performance OptimizationTable 16: GritQL Patterns and PluginsTable 17: Embedded Language SupportTable 18: Diagnostic and Error ReportingTable 19: Override Patterns and File-Level ConfigTable 20: Common Use Cases and Troubleshooting

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Table 1: Installation Methods

Getting Biome into a project works through whichever package manager you already use — npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun — and the one piece of advice that applies across all of them is to pin an exact version, since Biome's output can shift between releases. There's also a standalone binary for CI or edge environments where Node isn't available, and biome init to scaffold a sensible biome.json to start from.

Method	Example	Description
npm	`npm install --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome`	• Install Biome as a project dev dependency • --save-exact recommended to avoid unexpected updates
pnpm	`pnpm add --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome`	• Fast, disk-efficient installation using hard links • preferred for monorepos
yarn	`yarn add --dev --exact @biomejs/biome`	• Install via Yarn Classic or Yarn Berry • --exact flag ensures version locking
bun	`bun add --dev --exact @biomejs/biome`	• Ultra-fast installation with Bun runtime • runs 18x faster than npm for installs
standalone binary	Download from GitHub releases	• Platform-specific executable • no Node.js required • ideal for CI/CD or edge environments
initialization	`npx @biomejs/biome init`	• Creates biome.json with recommended defaults • enables formatter, linter, and organize imports

Table 2: Core CLI Commands

Nearly everything you do with Biome runs through a small set of commands. check is the workhorse — it formats, lints, and sorts imports in one pass — while format and lint let you run those steps in isolation. ci is the locked-down variant for pipelines (no --write, fails on issues), and migrate pulls your old ESLint and Prettier configs across in seconds.

Command	Example	Description
check	`biome check --write ./src`	• Runs formatter, linter, and import sorting on files • --write applies fixes

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 3: Configuration File Structure

A single biome.json at the project root drives the whole toolchain, and its top-level keys map cleanly onto Biome's three jobs: formatter, linter, and organizeImports. Add files to scope what gets processed and extends to share a base config across a monorepo, and wire up $schema so your editor offers autocomplete as you write the rest.

Property	Example	Description
$schema	`"$schema": "./node_modules/@biomejs/biome/configuration_schema.json"`	• Enables VS Code IntelliSense • provides autocomplete for config options

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 4: Formatter Options

These are the knobs that decide how your code looks — indent width and style, line width, line endings, and quote style. The one surprise for Prettier refugees is that Biome defaults to tabs rather than spaces, so indentStyle is usually the first thing teams set. Beyond that the defaults track Prettier closely, which is what makes the migration so painless.

Option	Example	Description
indentWidth	`"indentWidth": 2`	• Number of spaces per indentation level • default is 2 • common values are 2 or 4.

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 1: Installation Methods

Method	Example	Description
npm	`npm install --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome`	• Install Biome as a project dev dependency • --save-exact recommended to avoid unexpected updates
pnpm	`pnpm add --save-dev --save-exact @biomejs/biome`	• Fast, disk-efficient installation using hard links • preferred for monorepos
yarn	`yarn add --dev --exact @biomejs/biome`	• Install via Yarn Classic or Yarn Berry • --exact flag ensures version locking
bun	`bun add --dev --exact @biomejs/biome`	• Ultra-fast installation with Bun runtime • runs 18x faster than npm for installs
standalone binary	Download from GitHub releases	• Platform-specific executable • no Node.js required • ideal for CI/CD or edge environments
initialization	`npx @biomejs/biome init`	• Creates biome.json with recommended defaults • enables formatter, linter, and organize imports

Table 2: Core CLI Commands

Command	Example	Description
check	`biome check --write ./src`	• Runs formatter, linter, and import sorting on files • --write applies fixes

Table 3: Configuration File Structure

Property	Example	Description
$schema	`"$schema": "./node_modules/@biomejs/biome/configuration_schema.json"`	• Enables VS Code IntelliSense • provides autocomplete for config options

Table 4: Formatter Options

Option	Example	Description
indentWidth	`"indentWidth": 2`	• Number of spaces per indentation level • default is 2 • common values are 2 or 4.