asar-node

asar-node

Enable require('./path/to/any-node-project.asar') & require('./path/to/any-node-project.asar/any/file') in your nodejs app.

Usage

CLI

$ npm install -g asar-node

$ asar-node ./path/to/any-node-project
$ asar-node ./path/to/any-node-project.asar

$ asar-node ./path/to/any-node-project.asar/any/file
$ asar-node ./path/to/any-node-project.asar/any/file.js
$ asar-node ./path/to/any-node-project.asar/any/file.json
$ asar-node ./path/to/any-node-project.asar/any/file.node

Programming

$ npm install asar-node

require('asar-node').register()
// Equivalent to require('asar-node/lib/register.js').register()

require('./path/to/any-node-project') // like require a nodejs directory
// or require('./path/to/any-node-project.asar')
require('./path/to/any-node-project.asar/any/file')

If require a asar file, make sure there is package.json and main field or index.js / index.json / index.node in the asar root.

You can also pack node_modules into node_modules.asar instead of packing the hole project folder into an asar file.

To let node find modules from node_modules.asar, You should

const { register, addAsarToLookupPaths } = require('asar-node')
// Equivalent to 
// const register = require('asar-node/lib/register.js').register
// const addAsarToLookupPaths = require('asar-node/lib/lookup.js').addAsarToLookupPaths

register()
addAsarToLookupPaths()

const Koa = require('koa') // koa is in node_modules.asar

In an electron project, it's unnecessary to call register() but you can also call addAsarToLookupPaths() to enable node_modules.asar support.

To disable asar support, you can set process.noAsar = true or ELECTRON_NO_ASAR environmnet variable.

Migration

v1.x

require('asar-node')

v2.x / v3.x

require('asar-node/lib/autorun/index')

Standalone builds

• node_modules/asar-node/dist/index.js

  Library bundle.

  const {
    register,
    addAsarToLookupPaths
  } = require('asar-node/dist/index.js')
  // Equivalent to require('asar-node')
  

• node_modules/asar-node/dist/asar-node.js

  CLI bundle.

  $ node ./node_modules/asar-node/dist/asar-node.js [...]
  # Equivalent to
  $ asar-node [...]
  

• node_modules/asar-node/dist/autorun.js

  Preload bundle.

  $ node -r ./node_modules/asar-node/dist/autorun.js [...]
  

  require('asar-node/dist/autorun.js')
  require('./path/to/app.asar/index.js')
  

  // app.asar/index.js
  require('mod') // mod could be in node_modules.asar
  

• node_modules/asar-node/dist/autorun-register.js

  Preload bundle without node_modules.asar support.

  $ node -r ./node_modules/asar-node/dist/autorun-register.js [...]
  

  require('asar-node/dist/autorun-register.js')
  require('./path/to/app.asar/index.js')
  

  // app.asar/index.js
  require('mod') // throws error if mod is in node_modules.asar
  

• node_modules/asar-node/dist/autorun-lookup.js

  Preload bundle with node_modules.asar support only, useful for electron environment.

  // webpack electron target
  import 'asar-node/dist/autorun-lookup.js' // 1KB minified
  

• node_modules/asar-node/dist/fork.js

  child_process.fork() entry for bundlers. Copy it to your output path.

  // webpack.config.js
  // copy node_modules/asar-node/dist/fork.js -> /path/to/fork.js
  const webpack = require('webpack')
  
  module.exports = {
    plugins: [
      new webpack.DefinePlugin({
        ASAR_NODE_FORK_ENTRY: '/path/to/fork.js'
      })
    ]
  }
  

Available APIs inside asar

• require('original-fs')
• fs.readFileSync / fs.readFile / fs.promises.readFile
• fs.statSync / fs.stat / fs.promises.stat
• fs.lstatSync / fs.lstat / fs.promises.lstat
• fs.readdirSync / fs.readdir / fs.promises.readdir
• fs.existsSync / fs.exists
• fs.accessSync / fs.access / fs.promises.access
• fs.realpathSync / fs.realpath / fs.realpathSync.native / fs.realpath.native / fs.promises.realpath
• fs.copyFileSync / fs.copyFile / fs.promises.copyFile
• fs.openSync / fs.open / fs.promises.open
• fs.createReadStream
• child_process.execFile
• child_process.execFileSync
• child_process.fork - Predefine ASAR_NODE_FORK_ENTRY if you are using bundler

Note

• If your nodejs project use C++ native addons, please unpack it from asar file by specifying --unpack=*.node to asar CLI
• Express or Koa serving static file in asar file is not supported, but you can unpack the static file folder.
• Node.js ESM module is not support