globby

What is globby?

The globby npm package is a JavaScript library that provides a convenient interface for file system pattern matching using glob patterns. It is built on top of node-glob and fast-glob, offering a powerful and flexible way to match file paths against specified patterns. It supports multiple patterns, negated patterns, and can handle file system operations asynchronously or synchronously.

What are globby's main functionalities?

Asynchronous file pattern matching

This feature allows you to match files using glob patterns asynchronously. The example code shows how to match all files in a directory and its subdirectories, excluding the 'node_modules' directory.

const globby = require('globby');
globby(['**/*', '!node_modules']).then(paths => {
  console.log(paths);
});

Synchronous file pattern matching

This feature allows you to match files using glob patterns synchronously. The example code demonstrates how to perform the same operation as the asynchronous example, but in a synchronous manner.

const globby = require('globby');
const paths = globby.sync(['**/*', '!node_modules']);
console.log(paths);

Expand directories

This feature automatically expands directory patterns to match files with specified extensions. The example code matches all JavaScript and TypeScript files within the 'src' directory.

const globby = require('globby');
globby(['src/**'], { expandDirectories: ['js', 'ts'] }).then(paths => {
  console.log(paths);
});

Stream interface

This feature provides a stream interface for handling large sets of matched files. The example code creates a stream that emits paths for all files in a directory and its subdirectories.

const globby = require('globby');
const stream = globby.stream('**/*');
stream.on('data', path => {
  console.log(path);
});

Other packages similar to globby

fast-glob

fast-glob is a fast and efficient library for pattern matching. It is one of the underlying libraries used by globby. Compared to globby, fast-glob provides lower-level control but lacks some convenience features like negated patterns and directory expansion.

node-glob

node-glob is the original glob implementation for Node.js. It is also used by globby under the hood. While it is feature-rich, globby provides a more modern and simpler API, as well as additional features like promise support and multiple pattern matching.

micromatch

micromatch is a minimal matching utility that provides glob matching functionality. It is designed to be faster and more efficient than node-glob. However, globby offers a more user-friendly API and additional features like asynchronous matching and directory expansion.

README

globby

User-friendly glob matching

Based on fast-glob but adds a bunch of useful features.

Features

• Promise API
• Multiple patterns
• Negated patterns: ['foo*', '!foobar']
• Expands directories: foo → foo/**/*
• Supports .gitignore

Install

$ npm install globby

Usage

├── unicorn
├── cake
└── rainbow

const globby = require('globby');

(async () => {
	const paths = await globby(['*', '!cake']);

	console.log(paths);
	//=> ['unicorn', 'rainbow']
})();

API

Note that glob patterns can only contain forward-slashes, not backward-slashes, so if you want to construct a glob pattern from path components, you need to use path.posix.join() instead of path.join().

globby(patterns, options?)

Returns a Promise<string[]> of matching paths.

patterns

Type: string | string[]

See supported minimatch patterns.

options

Type: object

See the fast-glob options in addition to the ones below.

expandDirectories

Type: boolean | string[] | object
Default: true

If set to true, globby will automatically glob directories for you. If you define an Array it will only glob files that matches the patterns inside the Array. You can also define an object with files and extensions like below:

const globby = require('globby');

(async () => {
	const paths = await globby('images', {
		expandDirectories: {
			files: ['cat', 'unicorn', '*.jpg'],
			extensions: ['png']
		}
	});

	console.log(paths);
	//=> ['cat.png', 'unicorn.png', 'cow.jpg', 'rainbow.jpg']
})();

Note that if you set this option to false, you won't get back matched directories unless you set onlyFiles: false.

gitignore

Type: boolean
Default: false

Respect ignore patterns in .gitignore files that apply to the globbed files.

globby.sync(patterns, options?)

Returns string[] of matching paths.

globby.stream(patterns, options?)

Returns a stream.Readable of matching paths.

Since Node.js 10, readable streams are iterable, so you can loop over glob matches in a for await...of loop like this:

const globby = require('globby');

(async () => {
	for await (const path of globby.stream('*.tmp')) {
		console.log(path);
	}
})();

globby.generateGlobTasks(patterns, options?)

Returns an object[] in the format {pattern: string, options: Object}, which can be passed as arguments to fast-glob. This is useful for other globbing-related packages.

Note that you should avoid running the same tasks multiple times as they contain a file system cache. Instead, run this method each time to ensure file system changes are taken into consideration.

globby.hasMagic(patterns, options?)

Returns a boolean of whether there are any special glob characters in the patterns.

Note that the options affect the results.

This function is backed by fast-glob.

globby.gitignore(options?)

Returns a Promise<(path: string) => boolean> indicating whether a given path is ignored via a .gitignore file.

Takes cwd?: string and ignore?: string[] as options. .gitignore files matched by the ignore config are not used for the resulting filter function.

const {gitignore} = require('globby');

(async () => {
	const isIgnored = await gitignore();
	console.log(isIgnored('some/file'));
})();

globby.gitignore.sync(options?)

Returns a (path: string) => boolean indicating whether a given path is ignored via a .gitignore file.

Takes the same options as globby.gitignore.

Globbing patterns

Just a quick overview.

• * matches any number of characters, but not /
• ? matches a single character, but not /
• ** matches any number of characters, including /, as long as it's the only thing in a path part
• {} allows for a comma-separated list of "or" expressions
• ! at the beginning of a pattern will negate the match

Various patterns and expected matches.

globby for enterprise

Available as part of the Tidelift Subscription.

The maintainers of globby and thousands of other packages are working with Tidelift to deliver commercial support and maintenance for the open source dependencies you use to build your applications. Save time, reduce risk, and improve code health, while paying the maintainers of the exact dependencies you use. Learn more.

Related

• multimatch - Match against a list instead of the filesystem
• matcher - Simple wildcard matching
• del - Delete files and directories
• make-dir - Make a directory and its parents if needed