find-cache-dir

What is find-cache-dir?

The find-cache-dir npm package is used to find a directory to use for storing cache files. It is commonly used in tools that perform some form of compilation or data processing and need a place to store cache files to speed up future runs. The package helps to locate a suitable directory following conventions and best practices for cache storage.

What are find-cache-dir's main functionalities?

Finding a cache directory

This feature allows you to find a cache directory for your application or module. You provide an options object with a 'name' property, and it returns a path to the cache directory.

const findCacheDir = require('find-cache-dir');

const cacheDir = findCacheDir({ name: 'my-app' });
console.log(cacheDir); // Outputs a directory path like '/path/to/cache/directory/my-app'

Creating a cache directory

In addition to finding the cache directory, you can also ensure that it is created if it does not already exist by setting the 'create' option to true.

const findCacheDir = require('find-cache-dir');

const cacheDir = findCacheDir({ name: 'my-app', create: true });
console.log(cacheDir); // Outputs a directory path and ensures that the directory exists

Using a custom directory

You can specify a custom directory to use as the base for your cache directory with the 'cwd' option. This allows you to control where the cache directory is located.

const findCacheDir = require('find-cache-dir');

const cacheDir = findCacheDir({ name: 'my-app', cwd: '/custom/directory' });
console.log(cacheDir); // Outputs a directory path within the specified custom directory

Theming cache directory

You can make the cache directory unique to a set of files by providing an array of file paths with the 'files' option. This is useful when the cache should be invalidated based on changes to specific files.

const findCacheDir = require('find-cache-dir');

const cacheDir = findCacheDir({ name: 'my-app', files: ['file.js'] });
console.log(cacheDir); // Outputs a directory path that is unique to the array of file paths provided

Other packages similar to find-cache-dir

cache-manager

cache-manager is a more general-purpose caching framework that supports multiple storage backends and provides a flexible API for caching. It is not specifically designed for finding cache directories but can be used to manage cache data in a variety of contexts.

mkdirp

mkdirp is a package that allows you to create a new directory and its parent directories if they do not exist. While it does not provide cache directory finding capabilities, it can be used in conjunction with find-cache-dir to ensure that the cache directory is created.

tmp

tmp is a utility for creating temporary files and directories. It can be used to create temporary cache directories, but unlike find-cache-dir, it does not find or manage persistent cache directories across runs.

README

find-cache-dir

Finds the common standard cache directory

The nyc and AVA projects decided to standardize on a common directory structure for storing cache information:

# nyc
./node_modules/.cache/nyc

# ava
./node_modules/.cache/ava

# your-module
./node_modules/.cache/your-module

This module makes it easy to correctly locate the cache directory according to this shared spec. If this pattern becomes ubiquitous, clearing the cache for multiple dependencies becomes easy and consistent:

rm -rf ./node_modules/.cache

If you decide to adopt this pattern, please file a PR adding your name to the list of adopters below.

Install

$ npm install find-cache-dir

Usage

const findCacheDir = require('find-cache-dir');

findCacheDir({name: 'unicorns'});
//=> '/user/path/node-modules/.cache/unicorns'

API

findCacheDir(options?)

Finds the cache directory using the supplied options. The algorithm checks for the CACHE_DIR environmental variable, and if one is not found, it tries to find a package.json file, searching every parent directory of the cwd specified (or implied from other options). It returns a string containing the absolute path to the cache directory, or undefined if package.json was never found or if the node_modules directory is unwritable.

options

Type: object

name

Required
Type: string

Should be the same as your project name in package.json.

files

Type: string[] | string

An array of files that will be searched for a common parent directory. This common parent directory will be used in lieu of the cwd option below.

cwd

Type: string
Default process.cwd()

Directory to start searching for a package.json from.

create

Type: boolean
Default false

If true, the directory will be created synchronously before returning.

thunk

Type: boolean
Default false

If true, this modifies the return type to be a function that is a thunk for path.join(theFoundCacheDirectory).

const thunk = findCacheDir({name: 'foo', thunk: true});

thunk();
//=> '/some/path/node_modules/.cache/foo'

thunk('bar.js')
//=> '/some/path/node_modules/.cache/foo/bar.js'

thunk('baz', 'quz.js')
//=> '/some/path/node_modules/.cache/foo/baz/quz.js'

This is helpful for actually putting actual files in the cache!

Tips

• To test modules using find-cache-dir, set the CACHE_DIR environment variable to temporarily override the directory that is resolved.

Adopters

• AVA
• nyc
• Storybook
• babel-loader
• eslint-loader
• Phenomic
• javascripthon-loader

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