diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b5ec510d..5f971840 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # build output
 dist
 app/renderer
+compiled_app
 bin/cli.*
 
 # dependencies
diff --git a/app/utils/colors.js b/app/utils/colors.ts
similarity index 81%
rename from app/utils/colors.js
rename to app/utils/colors.ts
index f571edd3..5aa7fafd 100644
--- a/app/utils/colors.js
+++ b/app/utils/colors.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ const colorList = [
   'grayscale'
 ];
 
-exports.getColorMap = colors => {
+export const getColorMap: {
+  <T>(colors: T): T extends (infer U)[] ? { [k: string]: U } : T
+} = colors => {
   if (!Array.isArray(colors)) {
     return colors;
   }
diff --git a/lib/tsconfig.json b/lib/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1371f9e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "allowJs": true,
+    "checkJs": false,
+    "downlevelIteration": true,
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "jsx": "react",
+    "lib": ["dom", "es2017"],
+    "module": "esnext",
+    "moduleResolution": "node",
+    "noEmit": true,
+    "preserveConstEnums": true,
+    "removeComments": false,
+    "resolveJsonModule": true,
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "strict": true,
+    "target": "es6"
+  },
+  "include": [
+    "./**/*"
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3d982be9..2385aaa5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "repository": "zeit/hyper",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "echo 'please run `yarn run dev` in one tab and then `yarn run app` in another one'",
-    "app": "electron app",
+    "app": "electron compiled_app",
     "dev": "webpack -w",
     "build": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production webpack",
     "lint": "eslint . --ext .js,.jsx,.ts,.tsx",
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
     "prepush": "yarn test",
     "postinstall": "electron-builder install-app-deps && yarn run rebuild-node-pty",
     "rebuild-node-pty": "electron-rebuild -f -w app/node_modules/node-pty -m app",
-    "dist": "yarn run build && cross-env BABEL_ENV=production babel --out-file app/renderer/bundle.js --no-comments --minified app/renderer/bundle.js && build",
+    "dist":
+      "yarn run build && cross-env BABEL_ENV=production babel --out-file compiled_app/renderer/bundle.js --no-comments --minified compiled_app/renderer/bundle.js && build",
     "clean": "node ./bin/rimraf-standalone.js node_modules && node ./bin/rimraf-standalone.js ./app/node_modules && node ./bin/rimraf-standalone.js ./app/renderer"
   },
   "eslintConfig": {
@@ -296,6 +297,7 @@
     "husky": "0.14.3",
     "inquirer": "5.1.0",
     "node-gyp": "3.6.2",
+    "null-loader": "3.0.0",
     "prettier": "1.18.2",
     "proxyquire": "1.8.0",
     "spectron": "3.8.0",
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 99d354b4..9082bc22 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@
     "esModuleInterop": true,
     "jsx": "react",
     "lib": ["dom", "es2017"],
-    "module": "esnext",
+    "module": "commonjs",
     "moduleResolution": "node",
-    "noEmit": true,
+    "outDir": "./compiled_app/",
     "preserveConstEnums": true,
     "removeComments": false,
     "resolveJsonModule": true,
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     "target": "es6"
   },
   "include": [
-    "./lib/"
+    "./app/"
   ],
   "exclude": ["node_modules", "**/node_modules/*", "bin/*", "renderer/*"]
 }
diff --git a/webpack.config.js b/webpack.config.js
index 06d702d3..c9c17823 100644
--- a/webpack.config.js
+++ b/webpack.config.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const path = require('path');
+const exec = require('child_process').exec;
 
 const webpack = require('webpack');
 const Copy = require('copy-webpack-plugin');
@@ -8,6 +9,68 @@ const nodeEnv = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
 const isProd = nodeEnv === 'production';
 
 module.exports = [
+  {
+    mode: 'none',
+    name: 'hyper-app',
+    resolve: {
+      extensions: ['.js', '.jsx', '.ts', '.tsx', '.json']
+    },
+    entry: './app/index.js',
+    output: {
+      path: path.join(__dirname, 'compiled_app'),
+      filename: 'ignore_this.js'
+    },
+    module: {
+      rules: [
+        {
+          test: /\.(js|jsx|ts|tsx)$/,
+          exclude: /node_modules/,
+          loader: 'null-loader'
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    plugins: [
+      new Copy([
+        {
+          from: './app/*.html',
+          exclude: /node_modules/,
+          to: '.',
+          flatten: true
+        },
+        {
+          from: './app/*.json',
+          exclude: /node_modules/,
+          to: '.',
+          flatten: true
+        },
+        {
+          from: './app/keymaps/*.json',
+          exclude: /node_modules/,
+          to: './keymaps',
+          flatten: true
+        }
+        // {
+        //   from: './app/node_modules',     // gives really long output in webpack, used cp instead
+        //   to: './node_modules'
+        // }
+      ]),
+
+      {
+        apply: compiler => {
+          compiler.hooks.afterEmit.tap('AfterEmitPlugin', () => {
+            exec('cp -r ./app/node_modules ./compiled_app && tsc', (err, stdout, stderr) => {
+              if (stdout) process.stdout.write(stdout);
+              if (stderr) process.stderr.write(stderr);
+              process.stdout.write('\nCompiled\n\n');
+            });
+          });
+        }
+      },
+      new ForkTsCheckerWebpackPlugin()
+    ],
+    target: 'electron-main'
+  },
+
   {
     mode: 'none',
     name: 'hyper',
@@ -17,7 +80,7 @@ module.exports = [
     devtool: isProd ? 'hidden-source-map' : 'cheap-module-source-map',
     entry: './lib/index.js',
     output: {
-      path: path.join(__dirname, 'app', 'renderer'),
+      path: path.join(__dirname, 'compiled_app', 'renderer'),
       filename: 'bundle.js'
     },
     module: {
@@ -52,7 +115,9 @@ module.exports = [
           to: './assets'
         }
       ]),
-      new ForkTsCheckerWebpackPlugin()
+      new ForkTsCheckerWebpackPlugin({
+        tsconfig: './lib/tsconfig.json'
+      })
     ],
     target: 'electron-renderer'
   },
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index fad4c131..c664a89f 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -6030,6 +6030,14 @@ nugget@^2.0.0:
     single-line-log "^1.1.2"
     throttleit "0.0.2"
 
+null-loader@3.0.0:
+  version "3.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/null-loader/-/null-loader-3.0.0.tgz#3e2b6c663c5bda8c73a54357d8fa0708dc61b245"
+  integrity sha512-hf5sNLl8xdRho4UPBOOeoIwT3WhjYcMUQm0zj44EhD6UscMAz72o2udpoDFBgykucdEDGIcd6SXbc/G6zssbzw==
+  dependencies:
+    loader-utils "^1.2.3"
+    schema-utils "^1.0.0"
+
 num2fraction@^1.2.2:
   version "1.2.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/num2fraction/-/num2fraction-1.2.2.tgz#6f682b6a027a4e9ddfa4564cd2589d1d4e669ede"