⚡ Pieces Management: Another Step Toward Faster Execution

Announcements
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Hi Activepieces Community,

We’re excited to share a big infrastructure upgrade that will make development noticeably faster: Activepieces is now using bun only as package manager! :tada:

Why Bun?

With 5,000+ pieces packages (including versions), installing times were slowing things down. Bun gives us the speed we need to keep everything fast and smooth.

What’s New?

  • :rocket: Switched the default package manager from NPM → Bun, dropping fresh npm start from ~10 minutes to ~60 seconds (10× faster)

  • :zap: Engine now installs pieces using Bun (no more PNPM), giving faster tooling and immediate execution

  • :turtle: Pieces now load once at boot time with a fast 1–2 minute bulk install, instead of installing 5,400 pieces individually (which used to take hours) — resulting in instant flow execution

  • :fire: Workers now coordinate to preload pieces, keeping the cache warm across all servers and removing the old 2–10 second delays

  • :gear: Code pieces now compile using Bun’s ultra-fast TypeScript compiler, cutting compilation time from ~2 seconds → <100 ms (20× faster)

Developer Experience Improvements

  • Piece dependencies are now isolated inside each piece directory
  • Simpler setup: AP_PIECES_SOURCE is removed—pieces sync from cloud by default and overrides what’s needed
  • Local development still uses AP_DEV_PIECES
    Here’s the improved version, keeping it clear and to the point:

Notes for Developers

  • When adding dependencies to a piece, run npm install inside that piece’s folder
  • Keep AP_DEV_PIECES limited to what you’re actively working on

Thanks for being part of the community, things are now faster than ever. Happy building! :rocket:

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