Example:
npm install my-tools
npm run my-tools tool1
This doesn't work - it looks for a "package.json in my current directory. The documentation for "npm run" says:
If no package name is provided, it will search for a package.json in
the current folder
(https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/run-script)
So how can I provide a package name?
It looks like you're trying to run a script defined in the package.json of my-tools. This functionality is not supported as of npm#2.0.0.
The reference to npm run-script taking a package name is a documentation error; I have created an issue for that on the npm issue tracker: https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/7440
Some alternatives might include:
using npm explore to temporarily set current directory (etc.) into the package, e.g., npm explore my-tools -- npm run tool1
publishing tool1 etc. as bin entries in package.json instead of as scripts; this will make them accessible via the command line
depending on your needs, you may find a more heavyweight task runner such as grunt is a better approach than npm scripts and binaries
Related
To make a local node.js package work as a global commandline tool, I first add this to package.json
"bin": {
"myCommand": "./index.js"
}
According to the npm docs, I then have two options:
Within that folder, run npm install -g. According to the node docs:
npm install (in package directory, no arguments) ... In global mode
... installs the current package context (ie, the current working
directory) as a global package.
OR
Within that folder, run npm link. The node docs say
npm link in a package folder will create a symlink in the global
folder ... will also link any bins in the package to
{prefix}/bin/{name}
Both of these routes lets me run myCommand anywhere in the terminal while local edits are reflected in the tool without reinstalling/linking.
For local CLI tool purposes, these commands seem functionally identical. Is this true? Why would I want to use npm install -g (no args) when npm link seems functionally identical, plus affording extra capability?
Note: this question is purely about a local node project, nothing to do with anything in a remote package registry
For curiosity's sake, I want to create a folder in node_modules and be able to run it as a script in package.json's "scripts", but I have not been able to find out how to.
I've noticed with other package.json scripts like "react-scripts" that they wont work in the command line, but will when NPM runs them. How does npm resolve scripts?
Does it have to be a legit package for NPM to run it? (Like, will it check against the NPM registry for if that package exists, or contains scripts?)
If a module has a ["bin" entry in its package.json]1, then npm will put the executable script specified by that "bin" entry into a .bin folder in node_modules.
When running a script with npm run, npm will put that node_modules/.bin directory first in the PATH so they are found with npm run but not when run directly from the shell.
I'm under developing my npm package and I want to run a specific script only when user installed my package manually like npm install my-package --save-dev or something npm command.
I'd not like to run the command when the package was installed via package dependency.
For example, My package is dependency of the other package other-package.
Even if the user installed other-package manually and npm should install my-package as dependency, I'd not like to run the script.
Is there good way to handle this?
npm has a set of scripts that will automatically run when npm is launched a particular way. The scripts you might be interested in are:
prepublish: Run BEFORE the package is published. (Also run on local npm install without any arguments.)
publish, postpublish: Run AFTER the package is published.
preinstall: Run BEFORE the package is installed
install, postinstall: Run AFTER the package is installed.
There is no event that exactly matches your criteria but you could use one of the install events and then have an intermediate script that detects the npm command line options before your actual script.
Due to the (imo horrible) way prepublish works, a number of people have written modules to do a similar task and these could easily be adapted to your requirements.
iarna/inpublish is a good example. It check's process.env['npm_config_argv'] for the existence of /^i(n(s(t(a(ll?)?)?)?)?)?$/
Using the following package.json setup:
"scripts": {
"postinstall": "my-install && install-manual-tasks || not-my-install"
}
If my-install uses process.exit(0) then install-manual-tasks will run. If you process.exit(1), not-my-install will clean up so the npm task doesn't fail.
I think this setup actually has an issue. If your install-manual-tasks fails, the exit status is silenced and the npm task won't fail but it's a start at least. You could work around this by doing all your checks in the install-manual-tasks script, then you don't need use the shell tricks to run multiple scripts.
You can take a look at https://superuser.com/a/105389/627275 to see how to create a shell function that acts as an alias to a command. This way, npm install would act as an alias to whatever you want to run in reality. It could also be an alias to bash something.sh & npm install.
Hope that answers your question!
I'm building a cli node module. I would like people to be able to npm install it and use it right away with a command like npm my-project --arg=foo. It's meant for local project CLI use as a dev tool, not global installation.
It seems like the standard is to use bin in the package.json, but I don't understand some things about it:
When should I use bin and when should I use scripts?
How to I run the command in the including project? npm my-project doesn't do it.
Here is what I am doing now in package.json:
{
"name": "my-project",
"bin": "./cli.js"
}
And I can run it locally:
node cli.js --arg=foo
But when I npm-install my-project somewhere else, I don't know how to run the script it puts in bin (npm run my-project doesn't work), or if I'm using this correctly.
Let's start by explaining the difference between bin and scripts: the former you use if you want to provide a command line tool, the latter you use if you want to provide an additional command to npm (with some caveats though, see below).
In your situation, I think you want to use bin. However, instead of the user using npm my-project --arg=foo, they will use my-project --arg=foo, provided that your script is called my-project. To make that happen, your package.json will contain something like this:
"bin" : "./bin/my-project"
During installation, this will copy ./bin/my-project to a "bin" directory (usually /usr/local/bin on Unix-like OS'es). During development, you can call it as node bin/my-project, or even just ./bin/my-project, provided that it has correct permissions and "shebang".
EDIT: so I forgot that npm will use the package name, and not the name of the file in ./bin, as the executable name (if bin is a string). If your package is called my-project, and you install the package (you need to use the -g flag before npm will install the executable), it will create an executable called my-project, regardless of where the bin property points to.
In other words:
package.json:
"name" : "my-project"
"bin" : "./cli.js"
npm install -g:
copies ./cli.js to /usr/local/bin/my-project and sets executable permissions
END EDIT
FWIW, storing CLI tools in ./bin is convention, but not mandatory.
The scripts directive is useful for more internal purposes. For instance, you can use it to run a test suite, or linters, or pre/post install scripts.
Lastly, there are various modules available to help with command line parsing. I like docopt, but other often-used modules are commander or nomnom. You already mentioned yargs.
I'm developing a node package that needs to be run from shell. I know I have to install the package globally, but running
$> npm install -g ./my_module
Does not give me the desired result, that is running
$> my_module
Results in
my_module: : command not found
Instead of running the entry point (index.js) of my node package.
I feel like I'm missing something obvious in here, what am I doing wrong?
After setting up the right package.json configuration, (mainly using {"bin": {...}}), You don't have to publish it to NPM registry then download it again to see it working.
npm link made exactly for this situations. as described in the offical documentation:
npm link in a package folder will create a symlink in the global folder {prefix}/lib/node_modules/ that links to the package where the npm link command was executed.
Assuming you have this project:
-- my_module
-- -- index.js
-- -- cli.js
-- -- package.json
and you have this package.json:
{
"name": "my_module",
"bin": {
"my_module": "cli.js"
},
}
Run:
cd my_module
Then:
npm link
Now npm will install your package globally in your machine. it will check the package.json for the bin entry, and it will link my_module to the cli.js file. This will happen by creating a symlink in the global npm directory to your current directory.
now if you run in your command line:
my_module
it will point to the cli.js file. if you changed cli.js contents, it will be reflected the next time you run my_module, if you renamed my_module to my_module2, use npm unlink then npm link again.
On a different note, npm can use a full url as a package name, it will use the full url to download and install the package instead of looking at the npm registry, you can install packages from your own private Git hosts, for example:
npm install -g https://github.com/Me/my_module
Please try to pack the module and install.
npm pack
and then install it globally
npm i -g my_module-0.0.1.tgz
Let me know is this worked or not
I faced the same issue recently. I developed my module as a CLI with the intent to be able to invoke it from anywhere, published it to the NPM registry and installed it using the -g option but when calling it from the command line I was still getting the command not found error. Adding the bin attribute to the package.json file is what did the trick.
From the NPM documentation:
A lot of packages have one or more executable files that they’d like to install into the PATH. npm makes this pretty easy (in fact, it uses this feature to install the “npm” executable.)
To use this, supply a bin field in your package.json which is a map of command name to local file name. On install, npm will symlink that file into prefix/bin for global installs, or ./node_modules/.bin/ for local installs.
Meaning your package.json file should look like this:
{
"name": "foo-cli",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "A CLI to do Foo-ish things.",
"bin": {
"foo": "./cli.js"
},
"main": "main.js",
...
}
The property can be a single string if you only wish to specify one single command, or a map if you wish to specify many. Now you should be able to call foo from anywhere in the command line.