sort-package-json

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.

README

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

# 5 matched files are sorted.


$ sort-package-json "**/package.json" --check
# foo/package.json
# bar/package.json

# 2 of 5 matched files are not sorted.

API

Install

npm install --save-dev sort-package-json

Usage

sortPackageJson(packageJson, 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))
/* => string:
{
  "name": "my-awesome-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "dependencies": {
    "sort-object-keys": "1.0.0",
    "sort-package-json": "1.0.0"
  }
}
*/

const packageJsonObject = JSON.parse(packageJsonString)
console.log(sortPackageJson(packageJsonObject))
/* => object:
{
  name: 'my-awesome-project',
  version: '1.0.0',
  dependencies: {
    'sort-object-keys': '1.0.0',
    'sort-package-json': '1.0.0'
  }
}
*/

options.sortOrder

Type: string[] | Function
Default: sortPackageJson.sortOrder

Custom ordering array or comparator function.

If an array, sort keys in ordering of options.sortOrder.

Notice: fields not in this array, will still sort by defaultSortOrder

const sorted = sortPackageJson(packageJsonObject, {
  sortOrder: ['version']
})

console.log(Object.keys(sorted))

// -> [ 'version', 'name', 'dependencies' ]
//                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
//                 `name` and `dependencies` are sorted by defaultSortOrder

If a function, sort fields by Array#sort(options.sortOrder)

const sorted = sortPackageJson(packageJsonObject, {
  sortOrder(left, right) {
    return left.localeCompare(right)
  }
})

console.log(Object.keys(sorted))

// -> [ 'dependencies', 'name', 'version' ]

Related tools

• ESLint Rule with Autofix
• Prettier Plugin
• Visual Studio Code Extension

Supported Libraries

• AVA
• Babel
• Browserify
• c8
• commitlint
• ESLint
• Husky
• Istanbul
• Jest
• lint-staged
• Mocha
• node-pre-gyp
• npm-package-json-lint
• Prettier
• remark
• semantic-release
• stylelint
• Tap
• xojs

Alphabetically ordered.

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"
  }
}

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 check the default rules. 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)

I would like this tool to be configurable with a config file or command line arguments.

The lack of configuration here is a feature, not a bug. The intent of this tool is that a user can open a package json and always expect to see keys in a particular order. If we add a configuration for this tool, then that promise is broken, as users will first need to look at the configuration for each project to learn the ways in which this tool will change the package.json. The structure of the package.json should always be predictable & deterministic from project to project. I think the reason why this project is well used is because it is not another "tool" you have to set up with yet another JSON file and more cruft in your project to support it. You run a command and it does what it says on the tin.

A lot of people who ask for configuration cite the use case that they simply don't like the given order that exists and want to make sweeping changes. To me this seems far better suited to simply making a fork of this project as then you can go far further than specifying configuration.

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?