depcheck vs Rev-dep
depcheck finds unused and missing dependencies. rev-dep does the same with two checks and adds the rest of a dependency-hygiene suite - and depcheck is no longer actively maintained.
At a glance​
| depcheck | Rev-dep | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | unused & missing dependencies | dependency hygiene + architecture |
| Runtime | Node | Go - single parallel pass (faster) |
| Unused / missing dependencies | yes | yes |
| Unused exports / orphan files | no | yes |
| Circular / boundaries / conventions | no | yes |
| Tooling-only package detection | specials / parsers | binary/module hints |
| Maintained | no (recommends moving on) | yes |
| Config | .depcheckrc | rev-dep.config.jsonc |
Where rev-dep is stronger​
- Actively maintained and fast.
- Far broader - beyond dependencies it covers unused exports, orphan files, circular imports, dev-deps in production, and architecture rules.
- Monorepo-aware: dependencies are checked against the package that compiles the code.
Where depcheck may still fit​
depcheck's specials parsers recognize many config ecosystems out of the box. rev-dep handles the same gap with explicit hints (pkgJsonFieldsWithBinaries, filesWithBinaries, filesWithModules) - a little more setup for more precision. See unused node modules.
Which should you choose?​
For anything beyond a quick one-off dependency check, rev-dep - it's maintained, faster, and does much more.
Migrating​
See Migrating from depcheck to translate your .depcheckrc.