367 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
367 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: npm-exec
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section: 1
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description: Run a command from a local or remote npm package
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---
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### Synopsis
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```bash
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npm exec -- <pkg>[@<version>] [args...]
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npm exec --package=<pkg>[@<version>] -- <cmd> [args...]
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npm exec -c '<cmd> [args...]'
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npm exec --package=foo -c '<cmd> [args...]'
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alias: x
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```
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### Description
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This command allows you to run an arbitrary command from an npm package
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(either one installed locally, or fetched remotely), in a similar context
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as running it via `npm run`.
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Run without positional arguments or `--call`, this allows you to
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interactively run commands in the same sort of shell environment that
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`package.json` scripts are run. Interactive mode is not supported in CI
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environments when standard input is a TTY, to prevent hangs.
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Whatever packages are specified by the `--package` option will be
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provided in the `PATH` of the executed command, along with any locally
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installed package executables. The `--package` option may be
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specified multiple times, to execute the supplied command in an environment
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where all specified packages are available.
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If any requested packages are not present in the local project
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dependencies, then a prompt is printed, which can be suppressed by
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providing either `--yes` or `--no`. When standard input is not a TTY or a
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CI environment is detected, `--yes` is assumed. The requested packages are
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installed to a folder in the npm cache, which is added to the `PATH`
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environment variable in the executed process.
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Package names provided without a specifier will be matched with whatever
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version exists in the local project. Package names with a specifier will
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only be considered a match if they have the exact same name and version as
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the local dependency.
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If no `-c` or `--call` option is provided, then the positional arguments
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are used to generate the command string. If no `--package` options
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are provided, then npm will attempt to determine the executable name from
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the package specifier provided as the first positional argument according
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to the following heuristic:
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- If the package has a single entry in its `bin` field in `package.json`,
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or if all entries are aliases of the same command, then that command
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will be used.
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- If the package has multiple `bin` entries, and one of them matches the
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unscoped portion of the `name` field, then that command will be used.
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- If this does not result in exactly one option (either because there are
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no bin entries, or none of them match the `name` of the package), then
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`npm exec` exits with an error.
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To run a binary _other than_ the named binary, specify one or more
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`--package` options, which will prevent npm from inferring the package from
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the first command argument.
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### `npx` vs `npm exec`
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When run via the `npx` binary, all flags and options *must* be set prior to
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any positional arguments. When run via `npm exec`, a double-hyphen `--`
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flag can be used to suppress npm's parsing of switches and options that
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should be sent to the executed command.
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For example:
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```
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$ npx foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo
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```
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In this case, npm will resolve the `foo` package name, and run the
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following command:
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```
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$ foo bar --package=@npmcli/foo
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```
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Since the `--package` option comes _after_ the positional arguments, it is
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treated as an argument to the executed command.
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In contrast, due to npm's argument parsing logic, running this command is
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different:
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```
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$ npm exec foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo
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```
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In this case, npm will parse the `--package` option first, resolving the
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`@npmcli/foo` package. Then, it will execute the following command in that
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context:
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```
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$ foo@latest bar
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```
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The double-hyphen character is recommended to explicitly tell npm to stop
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parsing command line options and switches. The following command would
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thus be equivalent to the `npx` command above:
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```
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$ npm exec -- foo@latest bar --package=@npmcli/foo
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```
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### Configuration
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#### `package`
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* Default:
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* Type: String (can be set multiple times)
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The package or packages to install for [`npm exec`](/commands/npm-exec)
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#### `call`
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* Default: ""
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* Type: String
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Optional companion option for `npm exec`, `npx` that allows for specifying a
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custom command to be run along with the installed packages.
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```bash
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npm exec --package yo --package generator-node --call "yo node"
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```
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#### `workspace`
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* Default:
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* Type: String (can be set multiple times)
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Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the
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current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by
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this configuration option.
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Valid values for the `workspace` config are either:
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* Workspace names
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* Path to a workspace directory
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* Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
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workspaces within that folder)
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When set for the `npm init` command, this may be set to the folder of a
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workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a
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brand new workspace within the project.
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This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
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#### `workspaces`
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* Default: null
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* Type: null or Boolean
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Set to true to run the command in the context of **all** configured
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workspaces.
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Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like `install` to
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ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
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- Commands that operate on the `node_modules` tree (install, update, etc.)
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will link workspaces into the `node_modules` folder. - Commands that do
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other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the root project,
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_unless_ one or more workspaces are specified in the `workspace` config.
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This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
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#### `include-workspace-root`
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* Default: false
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* Type: Boolean
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Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.
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When false, specifying individual workspaces via the `workspace` config, or
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all workspaces via the `workspaces` flag, will cause npm to operate only on
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the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.
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This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
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### Examples
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Run the version of `tap` in the local dependencies, with the provided
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arguments:
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```
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$ npm exec -- tap --bail test/foo.js
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$ npx tap --bail test/foo.js
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```
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Run a command _other than_ the command whose name matches the package name
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by specifying a `--package` option:
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```
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$ npm exec --package=foo -- bar --bar-argument
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# ~ or ~
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$ npx --package=foo bar --bar-argument
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```
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Run an arbitrary shell script, in the context of the current project:
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```
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$ npm x -c 'eslint && say "hooray, lint passed"'
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$ npx -c 'eslint && say "hooray, lint passed"'
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```
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### Workspaces support
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You may use the [`workspace`](/using-npm/config#workspace) or
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[`workspaces`](/using-npm/config#workspaces) configs in order to run an
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arbitrary command from an npm package (either one installed locally, or fetched
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remotely) in the context of the specified workspaces.
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If no positional argument or `--call` option is provided, it will open an
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interactive subshell in the context of each of these configured workspaces one
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at a time.
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Given a project with configured workspaces, e.g:
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```
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.
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+-- package.json
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`-- packages
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+-- a
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| `-- package.json
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+-- b
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| `-- package.json
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`-- c
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`-- package.json
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```
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Assuming the workspace configuration is properly set up at the root level
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`package.json` file. e.g:
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```
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{
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"workspaces": [ "./packages/*" ]
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}
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```
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You can execute an arbitrary command from a package in the context of each of
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the configured workspaces when using the
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[`workspaces` config options](/using-npm/config#workspace), in this example
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we're using **eslint** to lint any js file found within each workspace folder:
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```
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npm exec --ws -- eslint ./*.js
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```
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#### Filtering workspaces
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It's also possible to execute a command in a single workspace using the
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`workspace` config along with a name or directory path:
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```
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npm exec --workspace=a -- eslint ./*.js
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```
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The `workspace` config can also be specified multiple times in order to run a
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specific script in the context of multiple workspaces. When defining values for
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the `workspace` config in the command line, it also possible to use `-w` as a
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shorthand, e.g:
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```
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npm exec -w a -w b -- eslint ./*.js
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```
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This last command will run the `eslint` command in both `./packages/a` and
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`./packages/b` folders.
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### Compatibility with Older npx Versions
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The `npx` binary was rewritten in npm v7.0.0, and the standalone `npx`
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package deprecated at that time. `npx` uses the `npm exec`
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command instead of a separate argument parser and install process, with
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some affordances to maintain backwards compatibility with the arguments it
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accepted in previous versions.
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This resulted in some shifts in its functionality:
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- Any `npm` config value may be provided.
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- To prevent security and user-experience problems from mistyping package
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names, `npx` prompts before installing anything. Suppress this
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prompt with the `-y` or `--yes` option.
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- The `--no-install` option is deprecated, and will be converted to `--no`.
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- Shell fallback functionality is removed, as it is not advisable.
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- The `-p` argument is a shorthand for `--parseable` in npm, but shorthand
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for `--package` in npx. This is maintained, but only for the `npx`
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executable.
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- The `--ignore-existing` option is removed. Locally installed bins are
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always present in the executed process `PATH`.
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- The `--npm` option is removed. `npx` will always use the `npm` it ships
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with.
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- The `--node-arg` and `-n` options are removed.
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- The `--always-spawn` option is redundant, and thus removed.
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- The `--shell` option is replaced with `--script-shell`, but maintained
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in the `npx` executable for backwards compatibility.
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### A note on caching
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The npm cli utilizes its internal package cache when using the package
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name specified. You can use the following to change how and when the
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cli uses this cache. See [`npm cache`](/commands/npm-cache) for more on
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how the cache works.
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#### prefer-online
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Forces staleness checks for packages, making the cli look for updates
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immediately even if the package is already in the cache.
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#### prefer-offline
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Bypasses staleness checks for packages. Missing data will still be
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requested from the server. To force full offline mode, use `offline`.
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#### offline
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Forces full offline mode. Any packages not locally cached will result in
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an error.
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#### workspace
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* Default:
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* Type: String (can be set multiple times)
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Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the
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current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by
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this configuration option.
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Valid values for the `workspace` config are either:
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* Workspace names
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* Path to a workspace directory
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* Path to a parent workspace directory (will result to selecting all of the
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nested workspaces)
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This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
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#### workspaces
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* Alias: `--ws`
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* Type: Boolean
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* Default: `false`
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Run scripts in the context of all configured workspaces for the current
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project.
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### See Also
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* [npm run-script](/commands/npm-run-script)
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* [npm scripts](/using-npm/scripts)
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* [npm test](/commands/npm-test)
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* [npm start](/commands/npm-start)
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* [npm restart](/commands/npm-restart)
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* [npm stop](/commands/npm-stop)
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* [npm config](/commands/npm-config)
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* [npm workspaces](/using-npm/workspaces)
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* [npx](/commands/npx)
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