What is sort-package-json?
The sort-package-json npm package is a utility that automatically sorts the properties in package.json files according to a standard convention. This helps in maintaining consistency and readability in package.json files across different projects.
What are sort-package-json's main functionalities?
Sorting package.json
This feature sorts the keys in a package.json object. It takes an unsorted package.json object as input and returns a string with the keys sorted in a standard order.
const sortPackageJson = require('sort-package-json');
const sortedContent = sortPackageJson(JSON.stringify(packageJsonObject));
CLI Usage
sort-package-json can be used directly from the command line to sort the package.json file in the current directory. This is useful for quick formatting without writing any JavaScript code.
npx sort-package-json
API Usage
The package provides an API that can be used in Node.js scripts. This example reads a package.json file, sorts it, and then writes the sorted JSON back to the file.
const fs = require('fs');
const sortPackageJson = require('sort-package-json');
const packageJson = fs.readFileSync('package.json', 'utf8');
const sortedPackageJson = sortPackageJson(packageJson);
fs.writeFileSync('package.json', sortedPackageJson);
Other packages similar to sort-package-json
prettier-package-json
prettier-package-json is a package that formats package.json files. It sorts the keys and formats the JSON structure. It is similar to sort-package-json but also includes formatting capabilities that adhere to Prettier's styling rules.
fixpack
fixpack is a package that not only sorts the keys in package.json but also validates and fixes missing or incorrect fields. It is more opinionated than sort-package-json and includes additional checks for common issues in package.json files.
Sort Package.json
CLI
Run via npx (npm@5.2+ required)
npx sort-package-json
Install
npm install --global sort-package-json
Usage
$ cd my-project
$ cat package.json
{
"dependencies": {
"sort-package-json": "1.0.0",
"sort-object-keys": "1.0.0"
},
"version": "1.0.0",
"name": "my-awesome-project"
}
$ npx sort-package-json
package.json is sorted!
cat package.json
{
"name": "my-awesome-project",
"version": "1.0.0",
"dependencies": {
"sort-object-keys": "1.0.0",
"sort-package-json": "1.0.0"
}
}
CLI also supports multi file paths or glob
- so you can give it a bunch of package.json
file(s) to sort.
$ sort-package-json "my-package/package.json" "other-package/package.json"
$ sort-package-json "package.json" "packages/*/package.json"
--check
flag
When you want to check if your files are sorted, you can run CLI with the --check
flag (or -c
). This will output a list of not sorted files, if any.
$ sort-package-json "**/package.json" --check
$ sort-package-json "**/package.json" --check
API
Install
npm install --save-dev sort-package-json
Usage
sortPackageJson(jsonIsh, options?)
Pass a JSON string, return a new sorted JSON string.
Pass a JSON object, return a new sorted JSON object.
const sortPackageJson = require('sort-package-json')
const packageJsonString = `{
"dependencies": {
"sort-package-json": "1.0.0",
"sort-object-keys": "1.0.0"
},
"version": "1.0.0",
"name": "my-awesome-project"
}`
console.log(sortPackageJson(packageJsonString))
const packageJsonObject = JSON.parse(packageJsonString)
console.log(sortPackageJson(packageJsonObject))
options.sortOrder
custom sortOrder
console.log(sortPackageJson(packageJsonObject, {
sortOrder: ['version', 'name', 'dependencies'],
}))
Related tools
Supported Libraries
Automatically Sort
The package.json file can be sorted automatically before committing, install husky
and lint-staged
and add the following to your package.json
file:
{
"husky": {
"hooks": {
"pre-commit": "lint-staged"
}
},
"lint-staged": {
"package.json": [
"sort-package-json",
"git add"
]
}
}
PFAQ: Potential Frequently Asked Questions
How does it sort?
It sorts using sort-object-keys
. It sorts using the well-known keys of a package.json. For the full list it's just easier to read the code. It sorts sub-keys too - sometimes by a well-known order, other times alphabetically. The initial order was derived from the package.json docs with a few extras added for good measure.
It doesn't sort X?
Cool. Send a PR! It might get denied if it is a specific vendor key of an unpopular project (e.g. "my-super-unknown-project"
). We sort keys like "browserify" because it is a project with millions of users. If your project has, say, over 100 users, then we'll add it. Sound fair?
Isn't this just like Project X?
Could be. I wanted this one because at the time of writing, nothing is:
- Zero config
- Able to be used in a library
- Quiet (i.e. not spitting out annoying log messages, when used in a library mode)
What?! Why would you want to do this?!
Well, it's nice to have the keys of a package.json in a well sorted order. Almost everyone would agree having "name" at the top of a package.json is sensible (rather than sorted alphabetically or somewhere silly like the bottom), so why not the rest of the package.json?