diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 26b576b..1abded0 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: charpente
 Title: Seamlessly design robust 'shiny' extensions
-Version: 0.5.0
+Version: 0.6.0
 Authors@R: c(
     person(
       given = "David",
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ Description: 'charpente' eases the creation of 'shiny' extensions like 'shinydas
 License: MIT + file LICENSE
 Encoding: UTF-8
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
-RoxygenNote: 7.2.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
 Imports: 
     magrittr,
     XML,
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 7f777be..463abc9 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ export(get_dependency_versions)
 export(get_installed_dependency)
 export(html_2_R)
 export(js_handler_template)
+export(set_esbuild)
+export(set_mocha)
 export(set_pwa)
 export(test_js)
 export(update_dependency)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 1c9c283..f190326 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
-# charpent 0.5.0
+# charpente 0.6.0
+
+## New:
+- Allow to initialise `esbuild` and `mocha` in a standalone way, without the need of the full `charpente` workflow. This is useful if you want to use `esbuild` and its plugins in already existing projects. See `?set_esbuild` and `?set_mocha` for more details.
+
+## Improvements:
+- Move `use_build_ignore()` and `use_git_ignore()` calls to `set_esbuild()` to enable standalone usage.
+
+# charpente 0.5.0
 
 ## Breaking change:
 - Include Sass handling. SCSS files are sorted in the `/styles`folder and esbuild
diff --git a/R/charpente.R b/R/charpente.R
index 7ae3096..a14615d 100644
--- a/R/charpente.R
+++ b/R/charpente.R
@@ -67,19 +67,6 @@ create_charpente <- function(path, remote = NULL, private = FALSE, license) {
   set_esbuild()
   # Add mocha for tests
   set_mocha()
-  # Ignore files/folders: srcjs, node_modules, ...
-  use_build_ignore(
-    c(
-      "srcjs",
-      "node_modules",
-      "package.json",
-      "package-lock.json",
-      "styles",
-      "esbuild.dev.json",
-      "esbuild.prod.json"
-    )
-  )
-  use_git_ignore("node_modules")
 
   # version control
   set_version_control(remote, private)
diff --git a/R/jstools.R b/R/jstools.R
index 69794bc..f349053 100644
--- a/R/jstools.R
+++ b/R/jstools.R
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ build_js <- function(dir = "srcjs", mode = c("prod", "dev")) {
 
   mode <- match.arg(mode)
   pkg_desc <- desc::description$new("./DESCRIPTION")$get(c("Package", "Version", "License"))
-  outputDir <- sprintf("inst/%s-%s/js", pkg_desc[1], pkg_desc[2])
+  outputDir <- sprintf("inst/%s-%s/dist", pkg_desc[1], pkg_desc[2])
 
   # run esbuild
   run_esbuild(mode, outputDir)
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index e2f25a7..946d6b5 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -155,8 +155,10 @@ reference_style <- function(path) {
 #' to workaround a breaking change in charpente where styles does
 #' not exist in old versions.
 #'
-#' @return Installs esbuild in node_modules (dev scope), creates srcjs + srcjs/main.js
-#' @keywords internal
+#' @return Installs esbuild in node_modules (dev scope),
+#' if not existing, creates srcjs + srcjs/main.js andstyles + styles/main.scss,
+#' and sets relevant files and folders in .gitignore. and .Rbuildignore.
+#' @export
 set_esbuild <- function(light = FALSE) {
 
   pkg_desc <- desc::description$
@@ -185,11 +187,39 @@ set_esbuild <- function(light = FALSE) {
   # If light, we don't want to recreate srcjs folder
   # which has always been in charpente since the first release.
   if (!light) {
-    dir.create("srcjs")
-    write("import \"../styles/main.scss\";", "./srcjs/main.js")
+
+    if (!dir.exists("srcjs")) {
+      dir.create("srcjs")
+    }
+
+    write("import \"../styles/main.scss\";",
+          "./srcjs/main.js",
+          append = file.exists("srcjs/main.js"))
+
+  }
+
+  if (!dir.exists("styles")) {
+    dir.create("styles")
+  }
+
+  if (!file.exists("styles/main.scss")) {
+    file.create("styles/main.scss")
   }
-  dir.create("styles")
-  file.create("styles/main.scss")
+
+  # Ignore files/folders: srcjs, node_modules, ...
+  use_build_ignore(
+    c(
+      "srcjs",
+      "node_modules",
+      "package.json",
+      "package-lock.json",
+      "styles",
+      "esbuild.dev.json",
+      "esbuild.prod.json"
+    )
+  )
+
+  use_git_ignore("node_modules")
 }
 
 
@@ -199,20 +229,26 @@ set_esbuild <- function(light = FALSE) {
 #'
 #' @return Installs mocha in node_modules (dev scope), creates srcjs/test folder,
 #' write basic test im test_basic.js
-#' @keywords internal
+#' @export
 set_mocha <- function() {
   npm::npm_install("mocha", scope = "dev")
-  dir.create("srcjs/test")
-  file.create("srcjs/test/test_basic.js")
-  writeLines(
-    "describe('Basic test', () => {
+
+  if (!dir.exists("srcjs/test")) {
+    dir.create("srcjs/test")
+  }
+
+  if (!file.exists("srcjs/test/test_basic.js")) {
+    file.create("srcjs/test/test_basic.js")
+    writeLines(
+      "describe('Basic test', () => {
       it('should not fail', (done) => {
         done();
       });
     });
     ",
-    "srcjs/test/test_basic.js"
-  )
+      "srcjs/test/test_basic.js"
+    )
+  }
 }
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 18687c6..c3ea4b2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -65,6 +65,18 @@ build_js()
 devtools::load_all()
 ```
 
+## Using esbuild and mocha
+
+If you want to use `esbuild` and `mocha` in an existing project, you can use the functions `set_esbuild()` and `set_mocha()`. A simple workflow looks as follows:
+
+```r
+# Setup esbuild for JS code management
+set_esbuild()
+
+# Add mocha for tests
+set_mocha()
+```
+
 ## Acknowledgment 
 The author would like to warmly thank [Victor Perrier](https://twitter.com/_pvictorr?lang=fr), 
 [John Coene](https://twitter.com/jdatap), [Colin Fay](https://twitter.com/_ColinFay), [Alan Dipert](https://twitter.com/alandipert), [Kenton Russel](https://twitter.com/timelyportfolio) for providing many building block and inspiration to this package. 
diff --git a/inst/utils/package.json b/inst/utils/package.json
index 952bf5f..fc1765e 100644
--- a/inst/utils/package.json
+++ b/inst/utils/package.json
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@
   "author": "",
   "license": "<<license>>",
   "devDependencies": {
-    "esbuild": "^0.8.46",
-    "esbuild-sass-plugin": "^2.4.0",
-    "postcss": "^8.4.18",
-    "autoprefixer": "^10.4.13",
+    "autoprefixer": "^10.4.17",
+    "esbuild": "^0.19.11",
+    "esbuild-sass-plugin": "^2.16.1",
+    "postcss": "^8.4.33",
     "mocha": "^8.3.0"
   }
 }
diff --git a/man/set_esbuild.Rd b/man/set_esbuild.Rd
index 304ade4..223136f 100644
--- a/man/set_esbuild.Rd
+++ b/man/set_esbuild.Rd
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ to workaround a breaking change in charpente where styles does
 not exist in old versions.}
 }
 \value{
-Installs esbuild in node_modules (dev scope), creates srcjs + srcjs/main.js
+Installs esbuild in node_modules (dev scope),
+if not existing, creates srcjs + srcjs/main.js andstyles + styles/main.scss,
+and sets relevant files and folders in .gitignore. and .Rbuildignore.
 }
 \description{
 Installs esbuild for the local project
 }
-\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/set_mocha.Rd b/man/set_mocha.Rd
index 481107f..7d98c98 100644
--- a/man/set_mocha.Rd
+++ b/man/set_mocha.Rd
@@ -13,4 +13,3 @@ write basic test im test_basic.js
 \description{
 Installs mocha for the local project
 }
-\keyword{internal}