npx-utils

npx-utils

Manages packages installed to the npx-space :space_invader:

What does that mean?

In npm@7 when using either npx or the new npm exec command, any package that is not found in the local node_modules folder or in your global node_modules folder, will be installed to a special npx space that lives inside npm internal cache folder.

npx-utils is a small cli tool that helps with managing things that are installed in this npx space by providing commands to list the folders in which packages are installed to and an interactive interface to remove them.

Install

You may install it globally:

$ npm i -g npx-utils

or simply run it using npx: npx npx-utils

Usage

If no argument is provided, the cli will display an interactive menu and print the directory of the selected item to the standard output.

List

Lists all folders currently in your npx space:

$ npx-utils ls

iRemove

Builds an interactive list of all folders currently in your npx space and moves the selected item to the OS system trash.

$ npx-utils irm

Remove

Allows you to remove a previously install to the npx space, there's a gotcha using this command, which is that you need to provide it the exact same items as passed to npx (or npm exec). For example if you used a specific version e.g: npx ipt@3.2.0 you need to run npx npx-utils rm ipt@3.2.0 in order to remove that previous install.

$ npx-utils rm <pkg>

More ideas

You can also combine the information provided by npx-utils with other tools in order to create even more useful workflows:

Uses npm ls to list packages installed to a specific space:

$ npm ls --all --prefix $(npx-utils)
? Select an item: semver@^7.3.4
a9bef924e4cb6cdb@ /Users/ruyadorno/.npm/_npx/a9bef924e4cb6cdb
└─┬ semver@7.3.4
  └─┬ lru-cache@6.0.0
    └── yallist@4.0.0

Help

Usage:
  npx-utils [cmd]

Commands:
  default     Interactive list all pkgs, print path on selection
  help        Prints this help message
  list        List all pkgs installed in npx scope
  iremove     Interactive list all pkgs, removes it on selection
  remove      Removes a previously pkg (must use exact name + version)
  version     Prints the running version of npx-utils

License

MIT