openbridge-helper

A lightweight DX (Developer Experience) helper for OpenBridge React projects.

openbridge-helper provides a typed, discoverable, and tree‑shakable import layer on top of @oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react, solving one very concrete problem:

Deep import paths make icons and components hard to discover, hard to autocomplete, and tedious to maintain.

This package generates and re‑exports all OpenBridge icons (Obi*) and components (Obc*) behind a single, clean entrypoint.

Why this exists

The problem

Using OpenBridge React today typically looks like this:

import { ObiApplications } from "@oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react/icons/icon-applications";
import { ObcNavigationMenu } from "@oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react/components/navigation-menu/navigation-menu";

This has a few drawbacks:

• Deep and inconsistent import paths
• No reliable VS Code autocomplete
• Hard to explore what icons/components actually exist
• Easy to get paths wrong

The solution

With openbridge-helper:

import { ObiApplications, ObcNavigationMenu } from "openbridge-helper";

Benefits:

• ✅ Full autocomplete in VS Code
• ✅ One import surface
• ✅ No runtime overhead
• ✅ Tree‑shakable
• ✅ Zero re‑implementation of OpenBridge components

What this package is (and is not)

✅ What it is

• A thin re‑export layer on top of OpenBridge React

• Automatically generated exports for:

  • All Obi* icons
  • All Obc* components

• Pure ESM, no side effects

❌ What it is not

• Not a wrapper around OpenBridge components
• Not a new design system
• Not a runtime abstraction
• Not opinionated about layout or architecture

Installation

You must already have OpenBridge installed:

npm install @oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react

Then install the helper:

npm install openbridge-helper

After installation, run to create the export mappings:

npx openbridge-helper

This will generate files in src/openbridge-helper/ and automatically add the directory to your .gitignore.

If you update OpenBridge and need to refresh the exports:

npx openbridge-helper --refresh

If you are using JIP or unreleased OpenBridge versions distributed via GitHub Packages, follow the official OpenBridge installation instructions before using this helper.

OpenBridge package compatibility

openbridge-helper does not bundle OpenBridge itself.

It works with any supported OpenBridge React package installed in your project. Currently supported:

• @oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react (stable npm releases)
• @ocean-industries-concept-lab/openbridge-webcomponents-react (JIP / beta releases via GitHub Packages)

The helper automatically detects which package is installed and generates exports accordingly.

If no supported OpenBridge package is found, the generator will fail with a clear error message.

Usage

Named imports (recommended)

import { ObiApplications, ObiSettings } from "openbridge-helper";
import { ObcNavigationMenu } from "openbridge-helper";

This gives the best tree‑shaking and the clearest intent.

Namespace import

import * as OB from "openbridge-helper";

<OB.ObiApplications />
<OB.ObcNavigationMenu />

This still tree‑shakes correctly as long as your bundler supports ESM tree‑shaking (Vite, Rollup, Webpack 5+).

Tree‑shaking guarantees

openbridge-helper is designed to be safe and efficient by default:

• ESM only
• No default exports
• No dynamic exports
• No side effects

{
  "type": "module",
  "sideEffects": false
}

Only the icons and components you actually use will be included in the final bundle.

How it works

The package contains a small generator script that:

1. Scans @oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react recursively

2. Detects all exported symbols starting with:

   • Obi → icons
   • Obc → components

3. Generates explicit re‑exports

Example generated output:

export { ObiApplications } from "@oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react/icons/icon-applications";
export { ObcNavigationMenu } from "@oicl/openbridge-webcomponents-react/components/navigation-menu/navigation-menu";

These generated files are then re‑exported from the package root.

Versioning strategy

openbridge-helper follows semantic versioning and is intended to track OpenBridge closely.

Typical strategy:

• Patch/minor releases for helper changes
• Updates when OpenBridge adds, removes, or renames exports

Always check the OpenBridge version compatibility in peerDependencies.

Roadmap / Pipeline (non‑breaking, optional)

The current scope is intentionally small and focused.

Possible future additions (not implemented):

• CLI utilities for OpenBridge projects
• Code generation helpers (e.g. App.tsx scaffolding)
• Project templates

These will only be added if they do not compromise the simplicity and safety of the core import helper.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, especially if:

• OpenBridge changes its internal structure
• New icons or components are not detected correctly
• The generator script can be made more robust

The guiding principle is:

Improve developer experience without adding runtime cost.

License

MIT