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Use the built-in bun:ffi module to efficiently call native libraries from JavaScript. It works with languages that support the C ABI (Zig, Rust, C/C++, C#, Nim, Kotlin, etc).

dlopen usage (`bun:ffi`)

To print the version number of sqlite3:

import { dlopen, FFIType, suffix } from "bun:ffi";

// `suffix` is either "dylib", "so", or "dll" depending on the platform
// you don't have to use "suffix", it's just there for convenience
const path = `libsqlite3.${suffix}`;

const {
  symbols: {
    sqlite3_libversion, // the function to call
  },
} = dlopen(
  path, // a library name or file path
  {
    sqlite3_libversion: {
      // no arguments, returns a string
      args: [],
      returns: FFIType.cstring,
    },
  },
);

console.log(`SQLite 3 version: ${sqlite3_libversion()}`);

Performance

According to our benchmark, bun:ffi is roughly 2-6x faster than Node.js FFI via Node-API. Bun generates & just-in-time compiles C bindings that efficiently convert values between JavaScript types and native types. To compile C, Bun embeds TinyCC, a small and fast C compiler.

Usage

Zig

add.zig

pub export fn add(a: i32, b: i32) i32 {
  return a + b;
}

To compile:

terminal

zig build-lib add.zig -dynamic -OReleaseFast

Pass a path to the shared library and a map of symbols to import into dlopen:

import { dlopen, FFIType, suffix } from "bun:ffi";
const { i32 } = FFIType;

const path = `libadd.${suffix}`;

const lib = dlopen(path, {
  add: {
    args: [i32, i32],
    returns: i32,
  },
});

console.log(lib.symbols.add(1, 2));

Rust

// add.rs
#[no_mangle]
pub extern "C" fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 {
    a + b
}

To compile:

rustc --crate-type cdylib add.rs

C++

#include <cstdint>

extern "C" int32_t add(int32_t a, int32_t b) {
    return a + b;
}

To compile:

zig build-lib add.cpp -dynamic -lc -lc++

FFI types

The following FFIType values are supported.

FFIType

C Type

Aliases

buffer

char*

cstring

char*

function

(void*)(*)()

fn, callback

ptr

void*

pointer, void*, char*

int8_t

i16

int16_t

i32

int32_t

int32_t, int

i64

int64_t

i64_fast

int64_t

uint8_t

u16

uint16_t

u32

uint32_t

u64

uint64_t

u64_fast

uint64_t

f32

float

f64

double

bool

bool

char

char

napi_env

napi_env

napi_value

napi_value

Note: buffer arguments must be a TypedArray or DataView.

Strings

JavaScript strings and C-like strings are different, and that complicates using strings with native libraries.

How are JavaScript strings and C strings different?

JavaScript strings:

UTF16 (2 bytes per letter) or potentially latin1, depending on the JavaScript engine & what characters are used
length stored separately
Immutable

C strings:

UTF8 (1 byte per letter), usually
The length is not stored. Instead, the string is null-terminated which means the length is the index of the first \0 it finds
Mutable

To solve this, bun:ffi exports CString which extends JavaScript’s built-in String to support null-terminated strings and add a few extras:

class CString extends String {
  /**
   * Given a `ptr`, this will automatically search for the closing `\0` character and transcode from UTF-8 to UTF-16 if necessary.
   */
  constructor(ptr: number, byteOffset?: number, byteLength?: number): string;

  /**
   * The ptr to the C string
   *
   * This `CString` instance is a clone of the string, so it
   * is safe to continue using this instance after the `ptr` has been
   * freed.
   */
  ptr: number;
  byteOffset?: number;
  byteLength?: number;
}

To convert from a null-terminated string pointer to a JavaScript string:

const myString = new CString(ptr);

To convert from a pointer with a known length to a JavaScript string:

const myString = new CString(ptr, 0, byteLength);

The new CString() constructor clones the C string, so it is safe to continue using myString after ptr has been freed.

my_library_free(myString.ptr);

// this is safe because myString is a clone
console.log(myString);

When used in returns, FFIType.cstring coerces the pointer to a JavaScript string. When used in args, FFIType.cstring is identical to ptr.

Function pointers

To call a function pointer from JavaScript, use CFunction. This is useful if using Node-API (napi) with Bun, and you’ve already loaded some symbols.

import { CFunction } from "bun:ffi";

let myNativeLibraryGetVersion = /* somehow, you got this pointer */

const getVersion = new CFunction({
  returns: "cstring",
  args: [],
  ptr: myNativeLibraryGetVersion,
});
getVersion();

If you have multiple function pointers, you can define them all at once with linkSymbols:

import { linkSymbols } from "bun:ffi";

// getVersionPtrs defined elsewhere
const [majorPtr, minorPtr, patchPtr] = getVersionPtrs();

const lib = linkSymbols({
  // Unlike with dlopen(), the names here can be whatever you want
  getMajor: {
    returns: "cstring",
    args: [],

    // Since this doesn't use dlsym(), you have to provide a valid ptr
    // That ptr could be a number or a bigint
    // An invalid pointer will crash your program.
    ptr: majorPtr,
  },
  getMinor: {
    returns: "cstring",
    args: [],
    ptr: minorPtr,
  },
  getPatch: {
    returns: "cstring",
    args: [],
    ptr: patchPtr,
  },
});

const [major, minor, patch] = [lib.symbols.getMajor(), lib.symbols.getMinor(), lib.symbols.getPatch()];

Callbacks

Use JSCallback to create JavaScript callback functions that can be passed to C/FFI functions. The C/FFI function can call into the JavaScript/TypeScript code. This is useful for asynchronous code or whenever you want to call into JavaScript code from C.

import { dlopen, JSCallback, ptr, CString } from "bun:ffi";

const {
  symbols: { search },
  close,
} = dlopen("libmylib", {
  search: {
    returns: "usize",
    args: ["cstring", "callback"],
  },
});

const searchIterator = new JSCallback((ptr, length) => /hello/.test(new CString(ptr, length)), {
  returns: "bool",
  args: ["ptr", "usize"],
});

const str = Buffer.from("wwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutwutut\0", "utf8");
if (search(ptr(str), searchIterator)) {
  // found a match!
}

// Sometime later:
setTimeout(() => {
  searchIterator.close();
  close();
}, 5000);

When you’re done with a JSCallback, you should call close() to free the memory.

Experimental thread-safe callbacks

JSCallback has experimental support for thread-safe callbacks. This will be needed if you pass a callback function into a different thread from its instantiation context. You can enable it with the optional threadsafe parameter. Currently, thread-safe callbacks work best when run from another thread that is running JavaScript code, i.e. a Worker. A future version of Bun will enable them to be called from any thread (such as new threads spawned by your native library that Bun is not aware of).

const searchIterator = new JSCallback((ptr, length) => /hello/.test(new CString(ptr, length)), {
  returns: "bool",
  args: ["ptr", "usize"],
  threadsafe: true, // Optional. Defaults to `false`
});

Pointers

Bun represents pointers as a number in JavaScript.

How does a 64 bit pointer fit in a JavaScript number?

64-bit processors support up to 52 bits of addressable space. JavaScript numbers support 53 bits of usable space, so that leaves us with about 11 bits of extra space.Why not BigInt? BigInt is slower. JavaScript engines allocate a separate BigInt which means they can’t fit into a regular JavaScript value. If you pass a BigInt to a function, it will be converted to a numberWindows Note: The Windows API type HANDLE does not represent a virtual address, and using ptr for it will not work as expected. Use u64 to safely represent HANDLE values.

To convert from a TypedArray to a pointer:

import { ptr } from "bun:ffi";
let myTypedArray = new Uint8Array(32);
const myPtr = ptr(myTypedArray);

To convert from a pointer to an ArrayBuffer:

import { ptr, toArrayBuffer } from "bun:ffi";
let myTypedArray = new Uint8Array(32);
const myPtr = ptr(myTypedArray);

// toArrayBuffer accepts a `byteOffset` and `byteLength`
// if `byteLength` is not provided, it is assumed to be a null-terminated pointer
myTypedArray = new Uint8Array(toArrayBuffer(myPtr, 0, 32), 0, 32);

To read data from a pointer, you have two options. For long-lived pointers, use a DataView:

import { toArrayBuffer } from "bun:ffi";
let myDataView = new DataView(toArrayBuffer(myPtr, 0, 32));

console.log(
  myDataView.getUint8(0, true),
  myDataView.getUint8(1, true),
  myDataView.getUint8(2, true),
  myDataView.getUint8(3, true),
);

For short-lived pointers, use read:

import { read } from "bun:ffi";

console.log(
  // ptr, byteOffset
  read.u8(myPtr, 0),
  read.u8(myPtr, 1),
  read.u8(myPtr, 2),
  read.u8(myPtr, 3),
);

The read function behaves similarly to DataView, but it’s usually faster because it doesn’t need to create a DataView or ArrayBuffer.

FFIType

read function

ptr

read.ptr

read.i8

i16

read.i16

i32

read.i32

i64

read.i64

read.u8

u16

read.u16

u32

read.u32

u64

read.u64

f32

read.f32

f64

read.f64

Memory management

bun:ffi does not manage memory for you. You must free the memory when you’re done with it.

From JavaScript

If you want to track when a TypedArray is no longer in use from JavaScript, you can use a FinalizationRegistry.

From C, Rust, Zig, etc

If you want to track when a TypedArray is no longer in use from C or FFI, you can pass a callback and an optional context pointer to toArrayBuffer or toBuffer. This function is called at some point later, once the garbage collector frees the underlying ArrayBuffer JavaScript object. The expected signature is the same as in JavaScriptCore’s C API:

typedef void (*JSTypedArrayBytesDeallocator)(void *bytes, void *deallocatorContext);

import { toArrayBuffer } from "bun:ffi";

// with a deallocatorContext:
toArrayBuffer(
  bytes,
  byteOffset,

  byteLength,

  // this is an optional pointer to a callback
  deallocatorContext,

  // this is a pointer to a function
  jsTypedArrayBytesDeallocator,
);

// without a deallocatorContext:
toArrayBuffer(
  bytes,
  byteOffset,

  byteLength,

  // this is a pointer to a function
  jsTypedArrayBytesDeallocator,
);

Memory safety

Using raw pointers outside of FFI is extremely not recommended. A future version of Bun may add a CLI flag to disable bun:ffi.

Pointer alignment

If an API expects a pointer sized to something other than char or u8, make sure the TypedArray is also that size. A u64* is not exactly the same as [8]u8* due to alignment.

Passing a pointer

Where FFI functions expect a pointer, pass a TypedArray of equivalent size:

import { dlopen, FFIType } from "bun:ffi";

const {
  symbols: { encode_png },
} = dlopen(myLibraryPath, {
  encode_png: {
    // FFIType's can be specified as strings too
    args: ["ptr", "u32", "u32"],
    returns: FFIType.ptr,
  },
});

const pixels = new Uint8ClampedArray(128 * 128 * 4);
pixels.fill(254);
pixels.subarray(0, 32 * 32 * 2).fill(0);

const out = encode_png(
  // pixels will be passed as a pointer
  pixels,

  128,
  128,
);

The auto-generated wrapper converts the pointer to a TypedArray.

Hardmode

If you don’t want the automatic conversion or you want a pointer to a specific byte offset within the TypedArray, you can also directly get the pointer to the TypedArray:

import { dlopen, FFIType, ptr } from "bun:ffi";

const {
  symbols: { encode_png },
} = dlopen(myLibraryPath, {
  encode_png: {
    // FFIType's can be specified as strings too
    args: ["ptr", "u32", "u32"],
    returns: FFIType.ptr,
  },
});

const pixels = new Uint8ClampedArray(128 * 128 * 4);
pixels.fill(254);

// this returns a number! not a BigInt!
const myPtr = ptr(pixels);

const out = encode_png(
  myPtr,

  // dimensions:
  128,
  128,
);

Reading pointers

const out = encode_png(
  // pixels will be passed as a pointer
  pixels,

  // dimensions:
  128,
  128,
);

// assuming it is 0-terminated, it can be read like this:
let png = new Uint8Array(toArrayBuffer(out));

// save it to disk:
await Bun.write("out.png", png);

dlopen usage (bun:ffi)

Performance

Usage

Zig

Rust

C++

FFI types

Strings

Function pointers

Callbacks

Experimental thread-safe callbacks

Pointers

Memory management

From JavaScript

From C, Rust, Zig, etc

Memory safety

Pointer alignment

Passing a pointer

Reading pointers

dlopen usage (`bun:ffi`)