[▲ Vercel Community](/) · [Categories](/categories) · [Latest](/latest) · [Top](/top) · [Live](/live) [Feedback](/c/feedback/8) # The Vercel functions dev initial experience isn't great 207 views · 1 like · 3 posts Benjamin Vicente (@benjavicente) · 2024-12-19 See https://github.com/orgs/vercel/discussions/5539 (the problem that I currently have). It's easier to set up a NextJS project to set up API routes than to use the native building blocks of vercel functions. There isn't a template for simple vercel functions usage in `vercel init`. I couldn't find information about es module support or how to build the code (TS) to be correctly supported on the runtime. And it'ts hard to find information because it's mixed with NextJS stuff 😵💫 Amy Egan (@amyegan) · 2024-12-19 Hey @benjavicente. Someone else had a similar problem with TS functions recently, but with a Hono project. The solution was to set the `tsconfig.json` for ESM and make sure it's not excluded by `.vercelignore`. Can you give this a try and let me know if it works for you? https://community.vercel.com/t/hono-node-runtime-wont-deploy-on-vercel/2612/2 Amy Egan (@amyegan) · 2024-12-19 · ♥ 1 In case it helps, I put together a small example repo showing how a Vercel Function can be used with just the Node.js runtime. Repo: https://github.com/amyegan/bare-bones-func Example: [bare-bones-func.vercel.app](https://bare-bones-func.vercel.app/) Steps I followed: 1. Create a new repo with `npm init` and `git init` 2. Run `npm install vercel --save-dev` to include the CLI as a dev dependency 3. Add a `tsconfig.json` with `module: ESNext` and `moduleResolution: node` as `compilerOptions` 4. Add `/api/index.ts` with `export function GET()` and return your desired response. (I copied the Other Frameworks example from the [Vercel Functions Quickstart](https://vercel.com/docs/functions/quickstart#vercel-functions-quickstart) page) 5. Include a `vercel.json` file to [redirect](https://vercel.com/docs/projects/project-configuration#redirects) from the home path to `/api` 6. Run the project locally with `vercel dev` :tada: