The write-pkg npm package is used to write a package.json file. It allows you to create or update the package.json file programmatically, which can be useful for automating project setup or configuration tasks.
Write a new package.json file
This feature allows you to create a new package.json file with the specified content. The code sample demonstrates how to write a new package.json file with basic fields like name, version, and description.
const writePkg = require('write-pkg');
writePkg({
name: 'awesome-package',
version: '1.0.0',
description: 'My awesome package'
}).then(() => {
console.log('package.json written successfully');
});Update an existing package.json file
This feature allows you to update an existing package.json file. The code sample demonstrates how to update the version field of an existing package.json file.
const writePkg = require('write-pkg');
writePkg({
version: '1.0.1'
}, {cwd: '.'}).then(() => {
console.log('package.json updated successfully');
});Write a package.json file with nested properties
This feature allows you to write a package.json file with nested properties. The code sample demonstrates how to include nested properties like scripts in the package.json file.
const writePkg = require('write-pkg');
writePkg({
name: 'awesome-package',
version: '1.0.0',
scripts: {
start: 'node index.js',
test: 'npm test'
}
}).then(() => {
console.log('package.json with nested properties written successfully');
});The jsonfile package provides similar functionality for reading and writing JSON files. It is more general-purpose compared to write-pkg, which is specifically designed for package.json files. jsonfile can be used to read and write any JSON file, not just package.json.
The edit-json-file package allows you to easily read, edit, and write JSON files. It provides a more user-friendly API for modifying JSON files compared to write-pkg. It is also more general-purpose and can be used for any JSON file, not just package.json.
The fs-extra package extends the native Node.js fs module with additional methods for working with the file system, including methods for reading and writing JSON files. It is a more comprehensive solution for file system operations, including but not limited to JSON file manipulation.
Write a
package.jsonfile
Writes atomically and creates directories for you as needed. Sorts dependencies when writing. Preserves the indentation if the file already exists.
npm install write-pkg
import path from 'node:path';
import {writePackage} from 'write-pkg';
await writePackage({foo: true});
console.log('done');
await writePackage(path.join('unicorn', 'package.json'), {foo: true});
console.log('done');
Returns a Promise that resolves when the package.json file has been written.
Type: string
Default: process.cwd()
The path to where the package.json file should be written or its directory.
Type object
JSON data to write to the package.json file.
Type: object
See Options.
Returns a Promise that resolves when the package.json file has been updated.
import {updatePackage} from 'write-pkg';
await updatePackage({foo: true});
//=> { "foo": true }
await updatePackage({foo: false, bar: true});
//=> { "foo": false, "bar": true }
Type: string
Default: process.cwd()
The path to where the package.json file should be written or its directory.
Type object
JSON data to write to the package.json file. If the file already exists, existing fields will be merged with the values in data.
Type: object
See Options.
Returns a Promise that resolves when the package.json file has been written.
import {writePackage, addPackageDependencies} from 'write-pkg';
await writePackage({foo: true});
//=> { "foo": true }
await addPackageDependencies({foo: '1.0.0'});
//=> { "foo": true, "dependencies": { "foo": "1.0.0" } }
await addPackageDependencies({dependencies: {foo: '1.0.0'}, devDependencies: {bar: '1.0.0'}});
//=> { "foo": true, "dependencies": { "foo": "1.0.0" }, "devDependencies": { "bar": "1.0.0" } }
Type: string
Default: process.cwd()
The path to where the package.json file should be written or its directory.
Type: Record<string, string> | Partial<Record<'dependencies' | 'devDependencies' | 'optionalDependencies' | 'peerDependencies', Record<string, string>>>
Dependencies to add to the package.json file.
Type: object
See Options.
Returns a Promise that resolves when the package.json file has been written. Does not throw if the file does not exist.
import {writePackage, removePackageDependencies} from 'write-pkg';
await writePackage({foo: true, dependencies: {foo: '1.0.0'}, devDependencies: {bar: '1.0.0'}});
//=> { "foo": true, "dependencies": { "foo": "1.0.0" }, "devDependencies": { "bar": "1.0.0" } }
await removePackageDependencies(['foo']);
//=> { "foo": true, "devDependencies": { "bar": "1.0.0" } }
await removePackageDependencies({devDependencies: ['bar']});
//=> { "foo": true }
Type: string
Default: process.cwd()
The path to where the package.json file should be written or its directory.
Type string[] | Partial<Record<'dependencies' | 'devDependencies' | 'optionalDependencies' | 'peerDependencies', string[]>>
Dependencies to remove from the package.json file.
Type: object
See Options.
Type: string | number
Default: Auto-detected or '\t'
The indentation to use for new files.
Accepts '\t' for tab indentation or a number of spaces.
If the file already exists, the existing indentation will be used.
Type: boolean
Default: true
Remove empty dependencies, devDependencies, optionalDependencies and peerDependencies objects.
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package.json fileFAQs
Write a package.json file
The npm package write-pkg receives a total of 1,105,641 weekly downloads. As such, write-pkg popularity was classified as popular.
We found that write-pkg demonstrated a not healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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