read-pkg

What is read-pkg?

The read-pkg npm package is used to read a package.json file and parse its contents. It can normalize the data according to the npm normalization rules, handle different file encodings, and can read from different locations by resolving the path to the nearest package.json file.

What are read-pkg's main functionalities?

Read package.json from the current directory

This feature reads the package.json file from the current working directory and outputs the parsed JSON object.

const readPkg = require('read-pkg');

(async () => {
  const pkg = await readPkg();
  console.log(pkg);
})();

Read package.json from a specified directory

This feature allows you to specify a directory from which to read the package.json file, rather than the current working directory.

const readPkg = require('read-pkg');

(async () => {
  const pkg = await readPkg({ cwd: 'path/to/directory' });
  console.log(pkg);
})();

Read and normalize package.json data

This feature reads the package.json file and normalizes its data according to npm normalization rules, which can be useful for ensuring consistent data structure.

const readPkg = require('read-pkg');

(async () => {
  const pkg = await readPkg({ normalize: true });
  console.log(pkg);
})();

Other packages similar to read-pkg

read-package-json

read-package-json is an npm package that reads the package.json file and also provides normalization. It is the library that npm itself uses to read package.json files, which means it's well-tested and reliable, but it might be more complex and tightly coupled with npm's internal use cases compared to read-pkg.

load-json-file

load-json-file is a package that provides a simple API for reading and parsing JSON files. It does not specifically target package.json files, so it lacks the normalization features of read-pkg, but it can be used for general JSON file reading purposes.

pkg-conf

pkg-conf is a package that reads configuration from package.json files. It's focused on retrieving configuration settings rather than reading the entire package.json file, so it serves a slightly different purpose compared to read-pkg.

README

read-pkg

Read a package.json file

Why

• Throws more helpful JSON errors
• Normalizes the data

Install

npm install read-pkg

Usage

import {readPackage} from 'read-pkg';

console.log(await readPackage());
//=> {name: 'read-pkg', …}

console.log(await readPackage({cwd: 'some-other-directory'}));
//=> {name: 'unicorn', …}

API

readPackage(options?)

Returns a Promise<object> with the parsed JSON.

readPackageSync(options?)

Returns the parsed JSON.

options

Type: object

cwd

Type: URL | string
Default: process.cwd()

Current working directory.

normalize

Type: boolean
Default: true

Normalize the package data.

parsePackage(packageFile, options?)

Parses an object or string into JSON.

packageFile

Type: object | string

An object or a stringified object to be parsed as a package.json.

options

Type: object

normalize

Type: boolean
Default: true

Normalize the package data.

Related

• read-package-up - Read the closest package.json file
• write-package - Write a package.json file
• load-json-file - Read and parse a JSON file