transformers-js

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---
name: transformers-js
description: Use Transformers.js to run state-of-the-art machine learning models directly in JavaScript/TypeScript. Supports NLP (text classification, translation, summarization), computer vision (image classification, object detection), audio (speech recognition, audio classification), and multimodal tasks. Works in browsers and server-side runtimes (Node.js, Bun, Deno) with WebGPU/WASM using pre-trained models from Hugging Face Hub.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  author: huggingface
  version: "4.x"
  category: machine-learning
  repository: https://github.com/huggingface/transformers.js
compatibility: Requires Node.js 18+ (or compatible Bun/Deno runtime) or modern browser with ES modules support. WebGPU requires runtime and hardware support; WASM is the broad fallback. Internet access is needed for downloading models from Hugging Face Hub (optional if using local models).
---

# Transformers.js - Machine Learning for JavaScript

Transformers.js enables running state-of-the-art machine learning models directly in JavaScript across browsers and server-side runtimes (Node.js, Bun, Deno), with no Python server required.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:
- Run ML models for text analysis, generation, or translation in JavaScript
- Perform image classification, object detection, or segmentation
- Implement speech recognition or audio processing
- Build multimodal AI applications (text-to-image, image-to-text, etc.)
- Run models client-side in the browser without a backend

## Installation

### NPM Installation
```bash
npm install @huggingface/transformers
```

### Browser Usage (CDN)
```javascript
<script type="module">
  import { pipeline } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@huggingface/transformers';
</script>
```

## Core Concepts

### 1. Pipeline API
The pipeline API is the easiest way to use models. It groups together preprocessing, model inference, and postprocessing:

```javascript
import { pipeline } from '@huggingface/transformers';

// Create a pipeline for a specific task
const pipe = await pipeline('sentiment-analysis');

// Use the pipeline
const result = await pipe('I love transformers!');
// Output: [{ label: 'POSITIVE', score: 0.999817686 }]

// IMPORTANT: Always dispose when done to free memory
await pipe.dispose();
```

**⚠️ Memory Management:** All pipelines must be disposed with `pipe.dispose()` when finished to prevent memory leaks. See examples in [Code Examples](./references/EXAMPLES.md) for cleanup patterns across different environments.

### 2. Model Selection
You can specify a custom model as the second argument:

```javascript
const pipe = await pipeline(
  'sentiment-analysis',
  'Xenova/bert-base-multilingual-uncased-sentiment'
);
```

**Finding Models:**

Browse available Transformers.js models on Hugging Face Hub:
- **All models**: https://huggingface.co/models?library=transformers.js&sort=trending
- **By task**: Add `pipeline_tag` parameter
  - Text generation: https://huggingface.co/models?pipeline_tag=text-generation&library=transformers.js&sort=trending
  - Image classification: https://huggingface.co/models?pipeline_tag=image-classification&library=transformers.js&sort=trending
  - Speech recognition: https://huggingface.co/models?pipeline_tag=automatic-speech-recognition&library=transformers.js&sort=trending

**Tip:** Filter by task type, sort by trending/downloads, and check model cards for performance metrics and usage examples.

### 3. Device Selection
Choose where to run the model:

```javascript
// Run on CPU (default for WASM)
const pipe = await pipeline('sentiment-analysis', 'model-id');

// Run on GPU (WebGPU)
const pipe = await pipeline('sentiment-analysis', 'model-id', {
  device: 'webgpu',
});
```

### 4. Quantization Options
Control model precision vs. performance:

```javascript
// Use quantized model (faster, smaller)
const pipe = await pipeline('sentiment-analysis', 'model-id', {
  dtype: 'q4',  // Options: 'fp32', 'fp16', '