The app-root-dir npm package is a simple utility that helps you find the root directory of your Node.js application. This can be particularly useful when you need to access files or directories relative to the root of your project, regardless of where your script is being executed from.

What are app-root-dir's main functionalities?

Get the root directory

This feature allows you to get the root directory of your Node.js application. The code sample demonstrates how to use the `get` method from the app-root-dir package to retrieve and print the root directory path.

const appRootDir = require('app-root-dir').get();
console.log(appRootDir);

Set the root directory

This feature allows you to set a custom root directory for your Node.js application. The code sample demonstrates how to use the `set` method to define a new root directory and then retrieve it using the `get` method.

const appRootDir = require('app-root-dir');
appRootDir.set('/path/to/new/root');
console.log(appRootDir.get());

Other packages similar to app-root-dir

Readme

Source

node-app-root-dir

Simple module to infer the root directory of the currently running node application

Usage

// get the application's root directory
var appRootDir = require('app-root-dir').get();

// set the application's root directory
// (this will set a global so that no matter
// how many instances of app-root-dir module are
// installed, they will all return the same
// directory)
require('app-root-dir').set(__dirname);

How it Works

The following strategy is used to find the application's root directory (the directory in your project that contains the main package.json file):

If package.json exists at process.cwd() then use process.cwd() as the application root directory.
Else if, the app-root-dir module has node_modules directory in its path then use the directory above this as the application root directory. NOTE: The parent directory of the first node_modules directory in the path is used if the app-root-dir module is installed as a submodule of another module.
Else, use the directory of app-root-dir module as the application root directory.

For example, consider this directory structure for the scenarios below:

my-project
- package.json
- server.js
- node_modules
  - app-root-dir
    - lib
      - index.js

Scenario 1:

Application is ran as: node server.js

The application root directory will be my-project because package.json exists at process.cwd()

Scenario 2:

Application is ran as: node my-project/server.js

There is no package.json at process.cwd(). The application root directory will still be my-project because my-project/node_modules/app-root-dir/lib/index.js has node_modules in its path and the directory above node_modules is the application's root directory.

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Last updated on 28 May 2015

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