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How to Run a Node Script from the Command Line

— 2 minute read
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First write some code

Make a new directory called compliment and create two files inside of it: comliment.js and package.json.

In compliment.js we're just going to print out some kind words.

#! /usr/bin/env node

console.log('you. are. AWESOME!');

Simple enough right? Just make sure you include that shebang up at the top which directs the system to use Node to execute our script.

Package it up

Ok now that we have our little script we'll give its package.json some love.

{
  "name": "compliment",
  "version": "0.0.1",
  "description": "Tell us how awesome we are.",
  "bin": {"compliment": "compliment.js"},
  "author": "Rob Dodson",
  "engines": {"node": "*"}
}

Most of that should be self explanatory. The key aspect is the bin section where you tell it to translate compliment into compliment.js. To install it all we have to do is run npm link. After you've done that you should be able to type compliment and hear how awesome you are!

Publish it

When you're ready to distribute your binary to the world you can run:

npm publish

You'll be prompted to sign in to npm if you haven't already. After that you should see output confirming that your package has been published.

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