CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsnpmcommand-line
John Vandivier
John Vandivier

Reputation: 2426

How Publish an NPM Package that Controls a CLI Keyword

I'm not sure what the correct vocabulary is to even search for this question, but I can mention a couple packages that implement the pattern I'm trying to pick up:

  1. shx
  2. cross-env
  3. npm-run

Once you install any of those packages, they are available via CLI. After I install cross-env as a dependency for a new project, for example, I can create an npm script in my package.json which is like "start": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production webpack"

I inspected the package.json files for those projects and they all use the bin field, but if I initialize a local project (npm init) and add a bin field it doesn't recognize it on my command line, even after running npm install.

So how can I get that same functionality? Please also let me know if the question is clear or if I should add some other information.

My package.json is below:

{
  "name": "sloth-cli",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "a dead simple Chron cli tool for Node",
  "bin": {
    "sloth": "node ."
  },
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node ."
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git+https://github.com/Vandivier/sloth.git"
  },
  "keywords": [
    "chron"
  ],
  "author": "John Vandivier",
  "license": "MIT",
  "bugs": {
    "url": "https://github.com/Vandivier/sloth/issues"
  },
  "homepage": "https://github.com/Vandivier/sloth#readme"
}

Upvotes: 1

Views: 207

Answers (1)

John Vandivier
John Vandivier

Reputation: 2426

I eventually discovered the answer and got sloth-cli working. bin in package.json is indeed key, but after defining bin we have to run npm link on our local.

In addition, the content of bin cannot contain typical npm script syntax. It must refer to a file which is set up to execute in a CLI context. This can be as simple as prepending #! /usr/bin/env node at the top of a javascript file.

Once a package is published to npm, those who install it as a dependency need not run npm link. Npm handles that part. Below is the current working package.json for sloth-cli:

{
  "name": "sloth-cli",
  "version": "1.0.2",
  "description": "a dead simple Chron cli tool for Node",
  "bin": {
    "sloth": "./index.js"
  },
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "immediately": "sloth .1 \"npm run say-hello\" true true",
    "start": "sloth .1 \"npm run say-hello\"",
    "say-hello": "node hello.js"
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git+https://github.com/Vandivier/sloth.git"
  },
  "keywords": [
    "chron"
  ],
  "author": "John Vandivier",
  "license": "MIT",
  "bugs": {
    "url": "https://github.com/Vandivier/sloth/issues"
  },
  "homepage": "https://github.com/Vandivier/sloth#readme",
  "dependencies": {
    "shelljs": "^0.8.1"
  }
}

Upvotes: 1

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