The env-paths npm package is used to generate paths for storing things like data, config, cache, etc., in a way that complies with the operating system's conventions. It is useful for developers who want to ensure their applications follow the best practices for file storage locations on different platforms.
Config Paths
Generates paths for storing configuration files. The 'config' property will provide a path that is suitable for the user's operating system.
{"config": require('env-paths')('MyApp').config}Data Paths
Generates paths for storing data files. The 'data' property will give a path that is appropriate for the user's operating system.
{"data": require('env-paths')('MyApp').data}Cache Paths
Generates paths for storing cache files. The 'cache' property will provide a path that is suitable for the user's operating system.
{"cache": require('env-paths')('MyApp').cache}Log Paths
Generates paths for storing log files. The 'log' property will give a path that is appropriate for the user's operating system.
{"log": require('env-paths')('MyApp').log}Temporary Paths
Generates paths for storing temporary files. The 'temp' property will provide a path that is suitable for the user's operating system.
{"temp": require('env-paths')('MyApp').temp}Similar to env-paths, appdata-path is used to find the path to the user's app data directory. It is more focused on this single use case and does not provide the variety of paths that env-paths does.
osenv is another package that provides a way to get environment settings like paths for temporary files and user's home directory. It is similar to env-paths but has a broader scope, including network settings and shell paths.
userhome is a simple package to get the path to the user's home directory. It is much more limited in scope compared to env-paths, which provides paths for various types of application files.
Get paths for storing things like data, config, cache, etc
Uses the correct OS-specific paths. Most developers get this wrong.
$ npm install env-paths
import envPaths from 'env-paths';
const paths = envPaths('MyApp');
paths.data;
//=> '/home/sindresorhus/.local/share/MyApp-nodejs'
paths.config
//=> '/home/sindresorhus/.config/MyApp-nodejs'
Note: It only generates the path strings. It doesn't create the directories for you. You could use make-dir to create the directories.
Type: string
The name of your project. Used to generate the paths.
Type: object
Type: string
Default: 'nodejs'
Don't use this option unless you really have to!
Suffix appended to the project name to avoid name conflicts with native apps. Pass an empty string to disable it.
Directory for data files.
Example locations (with the default nodejs suffix):
~/Library/Application Support/MyApp-nodejs%LOCALAPPDATA%\MyApp-nodejs\Data (for example, C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\MyApp-nodejs\Data)~/.local/share/MyApp-nodejs (or $XDG_DATA_HOME/MyApp-nodejs)Directory for config files.
Example locations (with the default nodejs suffix):
~/Library/Preferences/MyApp-nodejs%APPDATA%\MyApp-nodejs\Config (for example, C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\MyApp-nodejs\Config)~/.config/MyApp-nodejs (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/MyApp-nodejs)Directory for non-essential data files.
Example locations (with the default nodejs suffix):
~/Library/Caches/MyApp-nodejs%LOCALAPPDATA%\MyApp-nodejs\Cache (for example, C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\MyApp-nodejs\Cache)~/.cache/MyApp-nodejs (or $XDG_CACHE_HOME/MyApp-nodejs)Directory for log files.
Example locations (with the default nodejs suffix):
~/Library/Logs/MyApp-nodejs%LOCALAPPDATA%\MyApp-nodejs\Log (for example, C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\MyApp-nodejs\Log)~/.local/state/MyApp-nodejs (or $XDG_STATE_HOME/MyApp-nodejs)Directory for temporary files.
Example locations (with the default nodejs suffix):
/var/folders/jf/f2twvvvs5jl_m49tf034ffpw0000gn/T/MyApp-nodejs%LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\MyApp-nodejs (for example, C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\MyApp-nodejs)/tmp/USERNAME/MyApp-nodejsFAQs
Get paths for storing things like data, config, cache, etc
We found that env-paths demonstrated a not healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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