typescript 48 lines · 8 steps

Type-level string parsing in TypeScript

A toolkit of recursive conditional types that splits, trims, and reshapes string literals entirely at the type level.

Explained by highlit
Advanced template literal types conditional types recursive types mapped types type inference
1type Split<S extends string, D extends string> =
2 S extends `${infer Head}${D}${infer Tail}`
3 ? [Head, ...Split<Tail, D>]
4 : [S];
5 
6type Trim<S extends string> =
7 S extends ` ${infer R}` ? Trim<R> :
8 S extends `${infer L} ` ? Trim<L> :
9 S;
10 
11type ExtractParams<Path extends string> =
12 Path extends `${string}:${infer Param}/${infer Rest}`
13 ? Param | ExtractParams<`/${Rest}`>
14 : Path extends `${string}:${infer Param}`
15 ? Param
16 : never;
17 
18type RouteParams<Path extends string> = {
19 [K in ExtractParams<Path>]: string;
20};
21 
22type Capitalize<S extends string> =
23 S extends `${infer First}${infer Rest}`
24 ? `${Uppercase<First>}${Rest}`
25 : S;
26 
27type CamelCase<S extends string> =
28 S extends `${infer Head}_${infer Tail}`
29 ? `${Head}${Capitalize<CamelCase<Tail>>}`
30 : S;
31 
32type CamelKeys<T> = {
33 [K in keyof T as K extends string ? CamelCase<K> : K]: T[K];
34};
35 
36type HexColor = `#${string}`;
37type HttpMethod = "GET" | "POST" | "PUT" | "DELETE";
38type Endpoint = `${HttpMethod} /${string}`;
39 
40export type {
41 Split,
42 Trim,
43 RouteParams,
44 CamelCase,
45 CamelKeys,
46 HexColor,
47 Endpoint,
48};
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STEP 01

Walkthrough

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Three takeaways
  1. 1Template literal patterns with `infer` let you destructure strings into pieces the type checker can manipulate.
  2. 2Recursion plus a base case is how type-level computation iterates over a string until nothing matches.
  3. 3Key remapping in mapped types can transform property names while preserving their value types.

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