# Awesome npm Scripts [![Awesome](https://awesome.re/badge.svg)](https://awesome.re) [](https://www.npmjs.com) > Everything awesome for using npm as a build tool. You might also like [awesome-npm](https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome-npm). **Notice: I'm currently too busy to actively expand this list; therefore, I've decided to make this an [OPEN Open Source Project](http://openopensource.github.io/). Individuals making significant and valuable contributions are given commit-access to the project to contribute as they see fit.** ## Contents - [Articles](#articles) - [Videos/Talks](#videostalks) - [Task Runners](#task-runners) - [File Watchers](#file-watchers) - [Dev Servers](#dev-servers) - [Cross-platform Utilities](#cross-platform-utilities) - [Utility Packs](#utility-packs) - [Other Utilities](#other-utilities) - [Miscellaneous](#miscellaneous) - [Cross-platform Shell Reference](#cross-platform-shell-reference) - [`npm run` Reference](#npm-run-reference) ## Articles - [Why we should stop using Grunt & Gulp](https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/why-we-should-stop-using-grunt/) - Blog post by Keith Cirkel. - [How to Use npm as a Build Tool](https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/how-to-use-npm-as-a-build-tool/) - Sequel to »Why we should stop using Grunt & Gulp«. - [Why I Left Gulp and Grunt for npm Scripts](https://medium.freecodecamp.com/why-i-left-gulp-and-grunt-for-npm-scripts-3d6853dd22b8) - Article by Cory House. - [Helpers and tips for npm run scripts](http://michael-kuehnel.de/tooling/2018/03/22/helpers-and-tips-for-npm-run-scripts.html) - Blog post by Michael Kühnel covering advanced topics. - [Running cross-platform tasks via npm package scripts](https://exploringjs.com/nodejs-shell-scripting/ch_package-scripts.html) - The most comprehensive guide to using npm Scripts by Dr. Axel Rauschmayer. ## Videos/Talks - [Advanced front-end automation with npm scripts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RYETb9YVrk) - Talk at Nordic.js 2015 by Kate Hudson. - [How to create a build system with npm scripts](http://www.penta-code.com/how-to-create-a-build-system-with-npm-scripts/) - Video tutorial series on setting up a front-end build system. ## Task Runners Tools for running multiple commands or npm scripts in parallel or sequentially. - [script-runner](https://github.com/paulpflug/script-runner) - Simple task runner with a terse syntax. - [npm-run-all](https://github.com/mysticatea/npm-run-all) - Fully featured task runner. - [redrun](https://github.com/coderaiser/redrun) - Expand scripts from package.json to improve execution speed. ## File Watchers Tools to watch your source files and run a build command whenever any of the files change. - [onchange](https://github.com/Qard/onchange) - `onchange -- `. - [watch](https://github.com/mikeal/watch) - `watch `. ## Dev Servers - [http-server](https://github.com/indexzero/http-server) - Simple zero-configuration command-line http server. - [live-server](https://github.com/tapio/live-server) - Simple development http server with live reload capability. ## Cross-platform Utilities Utilities to perform common command-line tasks without worrying about cross-platform compatibility. - [rimraf](https://github.com/isaacs/rimraf) - Delete files or directories; like `rm -rf`. - [del-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/del-cli) - Safer file and folder deletion. - [mkdirp](https://github.com/substack/node-mkdirp) - Create a directory, creating parent directories if needed; like `mkdir -p`. - [cpr](https://github.com/davglass/cpr) - `cp -r` for Node.js. - [cpy-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/cpy-cli) - File/directory copying/renaming. - [copyfiles](https://github.com/calvinmetcalf/copyfiles) - Copy a list of files into a directory. - [sync-files](https://github.com/byteclubfr/node-sync-files) - `rsync`-like directory syncing with watch mode. - [echo-cli](https://github.com/iamakulov/echo-cli) - Cross-platform `echo` with JS escape sequence support. - [clear-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/clear-cli) - Clear the terminal. - [cross-env](https://github.com/kentcdodds/cross-env) - Set environment variables for scripts, unix-style. - [cross-os](https://github.com/milewski/cross-os) - Run platform-specific npm scripts. - [ntee](https://github.com/stefanmaric/ntee) - Utility that reads from standard input and writes to standard output and files; like Unix `tee`. - [catw](https://github.com/substack/catw) - Print a file to stdout, with optional watch mode; sorta like Unix `cat`. ### Utility Packs - [shx](https://github.com/shelljs/shx) - Collection of common Unix utilities implemented in Node.js; example usage: `shx rm somefile`. ## Other Utilities - [hashmark](https://github.com/keithamus/hashmark) - Take contents of a file and output as new file with a hash in the name. - [gzip-size-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/gzip-size-cli) - Get the gzipped size of a file or stdin. - [opn-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/opn-cli) - Open websites, files, executables, etc. with the user's preferred application. - [headr](https://github.com/heldr/headr) - Add header / banner info to a file. - [Bower files CLI](https://github.com/thompsonemerson/bower-files-cli) - Get main bower files on the command line. - [cli-error-notifier](https://github.com/micromata/cli-error-notifier) - Send native desktop notifications when npm scripts fail. ## Miscellaneous - [screwy](https://github.com/samueleaton/screwy) - The npm scripts GUI. - [Forrest](https://github.com/stefanjudis/forrest) - npm scripts desktop client. - [run-npm](https://github.com/timoxley/npm-run) - Run locally-installed node module executables. Useful for debugging npm scripts. - [npm-quick-run](https://github.com/bahmutov/npm-quick-run) - Quickly run npm scripts by prefix without typing the full name. - [edit-script](https://github.com/RyanZim/edit-script) - Edit npm scripts from the command line without worrying about JSON escaping. - [ntl](https://github.com/ruyadorno/ntl) - Interactive cli menu to list and run npm scripts. ## Cross-platform Shell Reference A quick reference of the shell operators & commands that work the same on Unix and Windows. - Use `&&` to run commands in sequence. If a command fails, the script exits. - Use `|` to pipe the stdout of one command into the stdin of the next. (`do-something | something else`) - Use `>` to write the stdout of a command to a file. (`do-something > file`) - Use `<` to send the contents of a file to a command's stdin. (`command < file`) - Use `cd ` to change the current working directory to ``. Note that `cd` alone prints the current working directory on windows, but changes the working directory to `~` on \*nix. ## `npm run` Reference You can use `npm run-script` or `npm run`; they both do the same thing, but `npm run` is shorter. - Run just `npm run` to print a list of scripts. - Running `npm run script` (where `script` is the name of your script) will run `prescript`, `script`, and `postscript`; in that order. - You can't nest `pre` and `post` hooks (i.e. `preprescript` won't work). - You can pass arguments to your scripts by passing `--` to `npm run`, followed by the arguments. Example: Given the script `"mocha": "mocha"`, you can run `npm run mocha -- --reporter xunit`. This effectively runs `mocha --reporter xunit`. - Running `npm test` is the same as running `npm run test`. The same applies to `npm start` and `npm stop`. - You can run `npm run