diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/prepare.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/prepare.ts
index def691ed27..35bcdf10d7 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/prepare.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/prepare.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 import { promises as fsp } from 'fs'
 import { relative, resolve } from 'upath'
 import { cyan } from 'colorette'
-
+import type { TSReference } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import { requireModule, getModulePaths, getNearestPackage } from '../utils/cjs'
-import { exists } from '../utils/fs'
 import { success } from '../utils/log'
 import { defineNuxtCommand } from './index'
 
@@ -24,29 +23,31 @@ export default defineNuxtCommand({
       ? ['@nuxt/kit', '@nuxt/app', '@nuxt/nitro']
       : ['@nuxt/kit']
 
-    const types = [
+    const modulePaths = getModulePaths(nuxt.options.modulesDir)
+
+    const references: TSReference[] = [
       ...adHocModules,
-      // Modules
       ...nuxt.options.buildModules,
       ...nuxt.options.modules,
       ...nuxt.options._modules
-    ].filter(f => typeof f === 'string')
+    ]
+      .filter(f => typeof f === 'string')
+      .map(id => ({ types: getNearestPackage(id, modulePaths)?.name || id }))
 
-    const modulePaths = getModulePaths(nuxt.options.modulesDir)
-    const _references = await Promise.all(types.map(async (id) => {
-      const pkg = getNearestPackage(id, modulePaths)
-      return pkg ? `/// <reference types="${pkg.name}" />` : await exists(id) && `/// <reference path="${id}" />`
-    })).then(arr => arr.filter(Boolean))
+    const declarations: string[] = []
 
-    const references = Array.from(new Set(_references)) as string[]
-    await nuxt.callHook('prepare:types', { references })
+    await nuxt.callHook('builder:generateApp')
+    await nuxt.callHook('prepare:types', { references, declarations })
 
     const declarationPath = resolve(`${rootDir}/nuxt.d.ts`)
 
     const declaration = [
-      '// Declarations auto generated by `nuxt prepare`. Please do not manually modify this file.',
+      '// This file is auto generated by `nuxt prepare`',
+      '// Please do not manually modify this file.',
       '',
-      ...references,
+      ...references.map(ref => `/// <reference ${renderAttrs(ref)} />`),
+      ...declarations,
+      'export {}',
       ''
     ].join('\n')
 
@@ -55,3 +56,11 @@ export default defineNuxtCommand({
     success('Generated', cyan(relative(process.cwd(), declarationPath)))
   }
 })
+
+function renderAttrs (obj) {
+  return Object.entries(obj).map(e => renderAttr(e[0], e[1])).join(' ')
+}
+
+function renderAttr (key, value) {
+  return value ? `${key}="${value}"` : ''
+}
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/module/container.ts b/packages/kit/src/module/container.ts
index ba2c029e82..eafd8c0546 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/module/container.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/module/container.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,15 @@ export function createModuleContainer (nuxt: Nuxt) {
      * If a fileName is not provided or the template is string, target file name defaults to
      * [dirName].[fileName].[pathHash].[ext].
      */
-    addTemplate,
+    addTemplate (template: string | NuxtTemplate) {
+      if (typeof template === 'string') {
+        template = { src: template }
+      }
+      if (template.write === undefined) {
+        template.write = true
+      }
+      return addTemplate(template)
+    },
 
     /**
      * Registers a plugin template and prepends it to the plugins[] array.
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/types/hooks.ts b/packages/kit/src/types/hooks.ts
index fbabf01c25..3f71cc918f 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/types/hooks.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/types/hooks.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ type RenderResult = {
   preloadFiles: PreloadFile[]
 }
 
+// https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/triple-slash-directives.html
+export type TSReference = { types: string } | { path: string }
+
 export interface NuxtHooks {
   // Don't break usage of untyped hooks
   [key: string]: (...args: any[]) => HookResult
@@ -67,7 +70,7 @@ export interface NuxtHooks {
   'run:before': (options: { argv: string[], cmd: { name: string, usage: string, description: string, options: Record<string, any> }, rootDir: string }) => HookResult
 
   // nuxt-cli
-  'prepare:types': (options: { references: string[] }) => HookResult
+  'prepare:types': (options: { references: TSReference[], declarations: string[] }) => HookResult
 
   // @nuxt/core
   'ready': (nuxt: Nuxt) => HookResult
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/types/nuxt.ts b/packages/kit/src/types/nuxt.ts
index 2f871cc324..68b803df23 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/types/nuxt.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/types/nuxt.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ export interface NuxtTemplate {
   src?: string
   /** Provided compile option intead of src */
   getContents?: (data: Record<string, any>) => string | Promise<string>
+  /** Write to filesystem */
+  write?: boolean
 }
 
 export interface NuxtPlugin {
diff --git a/packages/nuxt3/src/app.ts b/packages/nuxt3/src/app.ts
index 49109a49bb..4f192727b1 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt3/src/app.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt3/src/app.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import globby from 'globby'
 import lodashTemplate from 'lodash/template'
 import defu from 'defu'
 import { tryResolvePath, resolveFiles, Nuxt, NuxtApp, NuxtTemplate, normalizePlugin, normalizeTemplate } from '@nuxt/kit'
-import { readFile } from 'fs-extra'
+import { readFile, writeFile } from 'fs-extra'
 import * as templateUtils from './template.utils'
 
 export function createApp (nuxt: Nuxt, options: Partial<NuxtApp> = {}): NuxtApp {
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ export async function generateApp (nuxt: Nuxt, app: NuxtApp) {
     if (process.platform === 'win32') {
       nuxt.vfs[fullPath.replace(/\//g, '\\')] = contents
     }
+
+    if (template.write) {
+      await writeFile(fullPath, contents, 'utf8')
+    }
   }))
 
   await nuxt.callHook('app:templatesGenerated', app)