handlebars-helpers-v2

Essential Handlebars helpers in TypeScript. A modernized collection of 8 core helper categories with TypeScript support and ESM compatibility.

Features

• ✅ TypeScript Native - Written in TypeScript with full type support
• ✅ ESM & CommonJS - Supports both module systems
• ✅ Security First - No security vulnerabilities, minimal dependencies
• ✅ Performance Focused - Native implementations instead of heavy dependencies
• ✅ Well Tested - 315+ comprehensive tests covering all helpers
• ✅ Modern Tooling - Built with pnpm, compiled with TypeScript

Install

Install with npm:

npm install handlebars-helpers-v2

Install with pnpm:

pnpm add handlebars-helpers-v2

Install with yarn:

yarn add handlebars-helpers-v2

Usage

ES Modules (Recommended)

import { array, string, math } from 'handlebars-helpers-v2';
import Handlebars from 'handlebars';

// Register specific helper categories
Object.keys(array).forEach(name => {
  Handlebars.registerHelper(name, array[name]);
});

Object.keys(string).forEach(name => {
  Handlebars.registerHelper(name, string[name]);
});

Using Default Export

import handlebarsHelpers from 'handlebars-helpers-v2';
import Handlebars from 'handlebars';

// Register all helpers automatically
handlebarsHelpers({ handlebars: Handlebars });

// Or get specific collections
const arrayHelpers = handlebarsHelpers(['array']);
const stringAndMathHelpers = handlebarsHelpers(['string', 'math']);

// Or get all helpers as an object
const allHelpers = handlebarsHelpers();

Using Getter Functions

import handlebarsHelpers from 'handlebars-helpers-v2';
import Handlebars from 'handlebars';

// Auto-register specific category
handlebarsHelpers.array({ handlebars: Handlebars });
handlebarsHelpers.string({ handlebars: Handlebars });

// Or just get the helpers without registering
const arrayHelpers = handlebarsHelpers.array();
const stringHelpers = handlebarsHelpers.string();

CommonJS

const { array, string, math } = require('handlebars-helpers-v2');
const Handlebars = require('handlebars');

// Register specific helper categories
Object.keys(array).forEach(name => {
  Handlebars.registerHelper(name, array[name]);
});

Object.keys(string).forEach(name => {
  Handlebars.registerHelper(name, string[name]);
});

CommonJS with Default Export

const handlebarsHelpers = require('handlebars-helpers-v2').default;
const Handlebars = require('handlebars');

// Register all helpers automatically
handlebarsHelpers({ handlebars: Handlebars });

// Or use getter functions
handlebarsHelpers.array({ handlebars: Handlebars });
handlebarsHelpers.string({ handlebars: Handlebars });

TypeScript

import { array, string, math } from 'handlebars-helpers-v2';
import handlebarsHelpers from 'handlebars-helpers-v2';
import * as Handlebars from 'handlebars';

// Import named exports with full type support
Object.entries(array).forEach(([name, helper]) => {
  Handlebars.registerHelper(name, helper);
});

// Or use default export with auto-registration
handlebarsHelpers({ handlebars: Handlebars });

// Or use getter functions with types
const arrayHelpers = handlebarsHelpers.array();
const stringHelpers = handlebarsHelpers.string();

Helper Categories

This package includes 8 essential helper categories:

Category	Helpers	Description
array	25+	Array manipulation and iteration
collection	2+	Object and collection utilities
comparison	15+	Logical comparisons and conditionals
date	5+	Date formatting and manipulation
math	10+	Mathematical operations
number	10+	Number formatting and utilities
string	30+	String manipulation and formatting
url	5+	URL parsing and manipulation

Examples

Array Helpers

<!-- Array manipulation -->
{{#each (after items 2)}}
  <li>{{this}}</li>
{{/each}}

<!-- Array filtering -->
{{#filter items "age" 21}}
  <p>{{name}} is old enough</p>
{{/filter}}

<!-- Array length check -->
{{#lengthEqual items 5}}
  <p>Exactly 5 items!</p>
{{/lengthEqual}}

String Helpers

<!-- String formatting -->
<h1>{{titleize "hello world"}}</h1>
<!-- Output: <h1>Hello World</h1> -->

<!-- String manipulation -->
<p>{{truncate description 100}}</p>
<span>{{capitalize name}}</span>

<!-- Case conversion -->
{{pascalcase "foo-bar-baz"}} <!-- FooBarBaz -->
{{camelcase "foo bar baz"}}   <!-- fooBarBaz -->
{{snakecase "foo bar baz"}}   <!-- foo_bar_baz -->

Math Helpers

<!-- Mathematical operations -->
<p>Total: ${{add price tax}}</p>
<p>Average: {{avg scores}}</p>
<p>{{#gt score 85}}Grade: A{{else}}Grade: B{{/gt}}</p>

<!-- Number formatting -->
<span>{{toFixed percentage 2}}%</span>

Comparison Helpers

<!-- Logical comparisons -->
{{#and user.active user.verified}}
  <span class="verified">✓ Active & Verified</span>
{{/and}}

<!-- Value checking -->
{{#isFalsey value}}
  <p>Value is falsey (including 'nope', 'nil', etc.)</p>
{{/isFalsey}}

<!-- Contains checking -->
{{#contains tags "featured"}}
  <span class="featured">⭐ Featured</span>
{{/contains}}

Date Helpers

<!-- Date formatting -->
<time>{{formatDate createdAt "YYYY-MM-DD"}}</time>
<span>{{timeago publishedAt}}</span>

<!-- Date comparisons -->
{{#isAfter endDate startDate}}
  <p>Event is valid</p>
{{/isAfter}}

URL Helpers

<!-- URL manipulation -->
<a href="{{stripProtocol website}}">{{domain}}</a>

<!-- URL parsing -->
{{#with (urlParse "https://example.com/path?q=search")}}
  <p>Host: {{hostname}}</p>
  <p>Path: {{pathname}}</p>
  <p>Query: {{query}}</p>
{{/with}}

API Reference

Helper Categories

Each category is exported as a separate object:

import { 
  array,      // Array helpers
  collection, // Collection helpers  
  comparison, // Comparison helpers
  date,       // Date helpers
  math,       // Math helpers
  number,     // Number helpers
  string,     // String helpers
  url         // URL helpers
} from 'handlebars-helpers-v2';

Individual Helpers

You can also import individual helpers:

// Array helpers
const { first, last, join, sort } = array;

// String helpers  
const { capitalize, truncate, replace } = string;

// Math helpers
const { add, subtract, multiply, divide } = math;

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b my-new-feature
3. Make your changes and add tests
4. Run tests: pnpm test
5. Build: pnpm build
6. Commit: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
7. Push: git push origin my-new-feature
8. Submit a pull request

Development

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Run tests
pnpm test

# Build TypeScript
pnpm build

# Run linting
pnpm lint

# Run type checking
pnpm typecheck

Version History

v1.0.0 (TypeScript Rewrite)

• Complete TypeScript rewrite
• Modern ESM/CommonJS dual package
• Reduced from 130+ to 80+ essential helpers
• Zero security vulnerabilities
• Native implementations replace heavy dependencies
• 315+ comprehensive tests
• Full type safety

License

Released under the MIT License.

Credits

This project is a TypeScript rewrite and modernization of the original handlebars-helpers by Jon Schlinkert and contributors. The original project provided the foundation and inspiration for this modern implementation.

Original Repository: https://github.com/helpers/handlebars-helpers
Original Author: Jon Schlinkert
License: MIT (maintained)

Related

• handlebars - The semantic template language
• template-helpers - Generic template helpers
• handlebars-helpers - Original handlebars-helpers project

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Modernized with ❤️ for the TypeScript era