diff --git a/.gcloudignore b/.gcloudignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73eb8a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gcloudignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Exclude compiled .js files
+*.js
+
+# Exclude dependencies
+node_modules/
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 93cab34..ac4f3b5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+*.js
 node_modules
 yarn-error.log
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 7e8ce95..0000000
--- a/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-const express = require('express');
-const app = express();
-
-app.get('/', (req, res) => {
-  res.send('Hello World!');
-});
-
-const server = app.listen(8080, () => {
-  const host = server.address().address;
-  const port = server.address().port;
-
-  console.log(`Example app listening at http://${host}:${port}`);
-});
diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a21616b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import express from 'express';
+
+const app = express();
+const port = process.env.PORT || 8080; // default port to listen
+
+app.get('/', (req, res) => {
+  res.send('Hi, there!');
+});
+
+app.listen(port, () => {
+  console.log(`listening on port: ${port}`);
+});
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ef3e991..8f09354 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,13 +1,22 @@
 {
-  "name": "excalidraw-io",
-  "version": "1.0.0",
-  "main": "index.js",
-  "scripts": {
-    "deploy": "gcloud app deploy --project=excalidraw-io",
-    "start": "node index.js"
+  "dependencies": {
+    "express": "4.17.1",
+    "typescript": "3.8.3",
+    "@types/express": "4.17.3",
+    "@types/node": "13.9.0"
+  },
+  "engines": {
+    "node": "10.x.x"
   },
   "license": "MIT",
-  "dependencies": {
-    "express": "4.17.1"
-  }
+  "main": "index.js",
+  "name": "excalidraw-io",
+  "scripts": {
+    "deploy": "gcloud app deploy --project=excalidraw-io",
+    "gcp-build": "tsc -p .",
+    "prepare": "yarn gcp-build",
+    "pretest": "yarn gcp-build",
+    "start": "node ./index.js"
+  },
+  "version": "1.0.0"
 }
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..252de8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "target": "es5",
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "module": "CommonJS"
+  },
+  "include": ["*.ts"]
+}
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index fbd333a..17ce004 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2,6 +2,61 @@
 # yarn lockfile v1
 
 
+"@types/body-parser@*":
+  version "1.19.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/body-parser/-/body-parser-1.19.0.tgz#0685b3c47eb3006ffed117cdd55164b61f80538f"
+  integrity sha512-W98JrE0j2K78swW4ukqMleo8R7h/pFETjM2DQ90MF6XK2i4LO4W3gQ71Lt4w3bfm2EvVSyWHplECvB5sK22yFQ==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/connect" "*"
+    "@types/node" "*"
+
+"@types/connect@*":
+  version "3.4.33"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/connect/-/connect-3.4.33.tgz#31610c901eca573b8713c3330abc6e6b9f588546"
+  integrity sha512-2+FrkXY4zllzTNfJth7jOqEHC+enpLeGslEhpnTAkg21GkRrWV4SsAtqchtT4YS9/nODBU2/ZfsBY2X4J/dX7A==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/node" "*"
+
+"@types/express-serve-static-core@*":
+  version "4.17.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/express-serve-static-core/-/express-serve-static-core-4.17.2.tgz#f6f41fa35d42e79dbf6610eccbb2637e6008a0cf"
+  integrity sha512-El9yMpctM6tORDAiBwZVLMcxoTMcqqRO9dVyYcn7ycLWbvR8klrDn8CAOwRfZujZtWD7yS/mshTdz43jMOejbg==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/node" "*"
+    "@types/range-parser" "*"
+
+"@types/express@4.17.3":
+  version "4.17.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/express/-/express-4.17.3.tgz#38e4458ce2067873b09a73908df488870c303bd9"
+  integrity sha512-I8cGRJj3pyOLs/HndoP+25vOqhqWkAZsWMEmq1qXy/b/M3ppufecUwaK2/TVDVxcV61/iSdhykUjQQ2DLSrTdg==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/body-parser" "*"
+    "@types/express-serve-static-core" "*"
+    "@types/serve-static" "*"
+
+"@types/mime@*":
+  version "2.0.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/mime/-/mime-2.0.1.tgz#dc488842312a7f075149312905b5e3c0b054c79d"
+  integrity sha512-FwI9gX75FgVBJ7ywgnq/P7tw+/o1GUbtP0KzbtusLigAOgIgNISRK0ZPl4qertvXSIE8YbsVJueQ90cDt9YYyw==
+
+"@types/node@*", "@types/node@13.9.0":
+  version "13.9.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/node/-/node-13.9.0.tgz#5b6ee7a77faacddd7de719017d0bc12f52f81589"
+  integrity sha512-0ARSQootUG1RljH2HncpsY2TJBfGQIKOOi7kxzUY6z54ePu/ZD+wJA8zI2Q6v8rol2qpG/rvqsReco8zNMPvhQ==
+
+"@types/range-parser@*":
+  version "1.2.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/range-parser/-/range-parser-1.2.3.tgz#7ee330ba7caafb98090bece86a5ee44115904c2c"
+  integrity sha512-ewFXqrQHlFsgc09MK5jP5iR7vumV/BYayNC6PgJO2LPe8vrnNFyjQjSppfEngITi0qvfKtzFvgKymGheFM9UOA==
+
+"@types/serve-static@*":
+  version "1.13.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/serve-static/-/serve-static-1.13.3.tgz#eb7e1c41c4468272557e897e9171ded5e2ded9d1"
+  integrity sha512-oprSwp094zOglVrXdlo/4bAHtKTAxX6VT8FOZlBKrmyLbNvE1zxZyJ6yikMVtHIvwP45+ZQGJn+FdXGKTozq0g==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/express-serve-static-core" "*"
+    "@types/mime" "*"
+
 accepts@~1.3.7:
   version "1.3.7"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/accepts/-/accepts-1.3.7.tgz#531bc726517a3b2b41f850021c6cc15eaab507cd"
@@ -352,6 +407,11 @@ type-is@~1.6.17, type-is@~1.6.18:
     media-typer "0.3.0"
     mime-types "~2.1.24"
 
+typescript@3.8.3:
+  version "3.8.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/typescript/-/typescript-3.8.3.tgz#409eb8544ea0335711205869ec458ab109ee1061"
+  integrity sha512-MYlEfn5VrLNsgudQTVJeNaQFUAI7DkhnOjdpAp4T+ku1TfQClewlbSuTVHiA+8skNBgaf02TL/kLOvig4y3G8w==
+
 unpipe@1.0.0, unpipe@~1.0.0:
   version "1.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/unpipe/-/unpipe-1.0.0.tgz#b2bf4ee8514aae6165b4817829d21b2ef49904ec"