Config Helpers

The plugin provides helpers to make ESLint configuration easier and type-safe.

Predefined Configs

The plugin includes predefined configurations to get started quickly.

Recommended Config

Usage

Best for: Applying the plugin to an existing project

The recommended config keeps boundaries/no-unknown-dependencies, boundaries/no-unknown-files, and boundaries/no-ignored-dependencies disabled. This lets parts of the project stay outside your architectural elements, so you can adopt the plugin progressively.

import boundaries from "eslint-plugin-boundaries";
import { recommended } from "eslint-plugin-boundaries/config";

export default [{
  plugins: {
    boundaries,
  },
  settings: {
    ...recommended.settings,
    "boundaries/elements": [
      {
        type: "helper",
        pattern: "helpers/*"
      },
    ]
  },
  rules: {
    ...recommended.rules,
    "boundaries/dependencies": [2, {
      // Define your rules here
    }],
  }
}]

Strict Config

Usage

Best for: New projects or enforcing full compliance

The strict config extends recommended and additionally enables boundaries/no-unknown-dependencies, boundaries/no-unknown-files, and boundaries/no-ignored-dependencies at severity 2. This ensures every file in the project is recognized by your architecture boundaries.

import boundaries from "eslint-plugin-boundaries";
import { strict } from "eslint-plugin-boundaries/config";

export default [{
  plugins: {
    boundaries,
  },
  settings: {
    ...strict.settings,
    "boundaries/elements": [
      {
        type: "helper",
        pattern: "helpers/*"
      },
    ]
  },
  rules: {
    ...strict.rules,
    "boundaries/dependencies": [2, {
      // Define your rules here
    }],
  }
}]

no-private stays disabled in strict

strict does not enable boundaries/no-private; it remains disabled even when enforcing full compliance. The no-private rule is deprecated. To restrict access to private elements, use boundaries/dependencies with relationship selectors instead.

Strict Legacy Config

Usage

Best for: Projects upgrading from v6 that use the strict config and have eslint-disable comments referencing the old boundaries/no-ignored or boundaries/no-unknown rule names

strict-legacy is otherwise identical to strict, but enables the deprecated boundaries/no-ignored and boundaries/no-unknown rule names instead of their boundaries/no-ignored-dependencies and boundaries/no-unknown-dependencies replacements.

Since v7, strict enables the new rule names. A pre-existing // eslint-disable-next-line boundaries/no-ignored (or boundaries/no-unknown) comment does not suppress violations reported under the new rule name, and may itself trigger an "unused eslint-disable directive" error if you have reportUnusedDisableDirectives enabled. You have two options:

• Preferred: keep using strict and update your eslint-disable comments to boundaries/no-ignored-dependencies / boundaries/no-unknown-dependencies. This avoids the deprecation warning the old rule names print, and is the only path forward once those names are removed in a future major version.
• Temporary: switch to strict-legacy to keep your existing eslint-disable comments working unchanged while you migrate them at your own pace.

import boundaries from "eslint-plugin-boundaries";
import { strictLegacy } from "eslint-plugin-boundaries/config";

export default [{
  plugins: {
    boundaries,
  },
  settings: {
    ...strictLegacy.settings,
    "boundaries/elements": [
      {
        type: "helper",
        pattern: "helpers/*"
      },
    ]
  },
  rules: {
    ...strictLegacy.rules,
    "boundaries/dependencies": [2, {
      // Define your rules here
    }],
  }
}]

createConfig Helper

The createConfig helper builds a type-safe config and automatically:

• Adds the plugin to the plugins property
• Includes JavaScript and TypeScript file patterns in the files property
• Throws an error if plugins is provided, if any settings key is not a recognized boundaries/ key, or if any rule key is not a recognized plugin rule

warning

createConfig validates eagerly. It throws an Error as soon as it finds a plugins field, an unknown settings key (not accepted by isSettingsKey), or a rule key that is not a real plugin rule. The error fails the ESLint run immediately, so typos surface early instead of being silently ignored.

Basic usage:

import { createConfig, recommended } from "eslint-plugin-boundaries/config";

const config = createConfig({
  settings: {
    ...recommended.settings,
    "boundaries/elements": [],
    "boundaries/ignore": ["**/ignored/**/*.js"],
  },
  rules: {
    ...recommended.rules,
    "boundaries/dependencies": [2, { default: "disallow" }],
  }
});

export default [config];

Renaming the Plugin

You can rename the plugin by passing a second argument to createConfig. The helper will rename all rules from the boundaries/ prefix to the provided one.

import { createConfig, recommended } from "eslint-plugin-boundaries/config";

const config = createConfig({
  settings: {
    ...recommended.settings,
    "boundaries/elements": [], // Original prefix in settings
  },
  rules: {
    ...recommended.rules,
    "custom-boundaries/dependencies": [2, { default: "disallow" }], // Renamed prefix
    "boundaries/no-unknown-dependencies": 0, // Original prefix still works
  }
}, "custom-boundaries");

export default [config];

warning

Settings must still use the boundaries/ prefix — ESLint doesn't namespace settings by plugin name.

Type Constants and Guards

The plugin exports constants and type guard functions for configuration values. Use these when you build tooling that reads or validates plugin configuration programmatically.

import {
  RULE_NAMES_MAP,
  isRuleName,
  SETTINGS_KEYS_MAP,
  isSettingsKey,
  ELEMENT_DESCRIPTOR_MODES_MAP,
  RULE_POLICIES_MAP,
  isRulePolicy,
} from "eslint-plugin-boundaries/config";

SETTINGS_KEYS_MAP and isSettingsKey recognize every setting, including boundaries/files and boundaries/elements-single-match. See the Settings reference for the full list.

Read more about these in the TypeScript Support guide.