# cli-truncate > Truncate a string to a specific width in the terminal Latest version **6.1.1** (published 2026-07-09) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install cli-truncate pnpm add cli-truncate yarn add cli-truncate bun add cli-truncate ``` ## Health **Score 70/100 (B)** — status: active. Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; recently updated; high maintenance score; high quality score. Warnings: low downloads. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 6.1.1 | | Published | 2026-07-09 | | First published | 2016-03-11 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | bundled | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >=22 | | Dependencies | 2 | | Unpacked size | 13.9 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 97 | | Author | Sindre Sorhus | | Maintainers | sindresorhus | | Keywords | truncate, ellipsis, text, limit, slice, cli, terminal, term, shell, width, ansi, string | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/cli-truncate - Repository: https://github.com/sindresorhus/cli-truncate - Homepage: https://github.com/sindresorhus/cli-truncate#readme - Issues: https://github.com/sindresorhus/cli-truncate/issues - Funding: https://github.com/sponsors/sindresorhus - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/cli-truncate ## Dependencies (2) - [slice-ansi](https://npm.io/package/slice-ansi.md) ^9.0.0 - [string-width](https://npm.io/package/string-width.md) ^8.2.0 ## Alternatives - [@salesforce/cli](https://npm.io/package/@salesforce/cli.md) — 389.7K weekly downloads - [@mintlify/cli](https://npm.io/package/@mintlify/cli.md) — 208.9K weekly downloads - [@grafana/e2e-selectors](https://npm.io/package/@grafana/e2e-selectors.md) — 128.7K weekly downloads - [mintlify](https://npm.io/package/mintlify.md) — 112.0K weekly downloads - [@intlayer/cli](https://npm.io/package/@intlayer/cli.md) — 22.8K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 6.1.1 (latest) — 2026-07-09 - 6.1.0 — 2026-06-28 - 6.0.1 — 2026-06-23 - 6.0.0 — 2026-04-04 - 5.2.0 — 2026-03-01 - 5.1.1 — 2025-10-23 - 5.1.0 — 2025-09-15 - 5.0.0 — 2025-08-31 - 4.0.0 — 2023-10-28 - 3.1.0 — 2021-10-09 - 3.0.0 — 2021-08-10 - 2.1.0 — 2019-12-06 - 2.0.0 — 2019-06-13 - 1.1.0 — 2017-07-23 - 1.0.0 — 2017-01-13 - … 3 more at https://npm.io/package/cli-truncate/versions ## README # cli-truncate > Truncate a string to a specific width in the terminal Gracefully handles [ANSI escapes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#Colors_and_Styles). Like a string styled with [`chalk`](https://github.com/chalk/chalk). It also supports Unicode surrogate pairs and fullwidth characters. ## Install ```sh npm install cli-truncate ``` ## Usage ```js import cliTruncate from 'cli-truncate'; cliTruncate('unicorn', 4); //=> 'uni…' // Truncate at different positions cliTruncate('unicorn', 4, {position: 'start'}); //=> '…orn' cliTruncate('unicorn', 4, {position: 'middle'}); //=> 'un…n' cliTruncate('unicorns rainbow dragons', 6, {position: 'end'}); //=> 'unico…' cliTruncate('\u001B[31municorn\u001B[39m', 4); //=> '\u001B[31muni…\u001B[39m' > [!NOTE] > When truncating styled text (ANSI escapes), the truncation character inherits the style at the breaking point for `position: 'start'` and `position: 'end'`. This does not apply to `position: 'middle'`. // Truncate Unicode surrogate pairs cliTruncate('uni\uD83C\uDE00corn', 5); //=> 'uni\uD83C\uDE00…' // Truncate fullwidth characters cliTruncate('안녕하세요', 3); //=> '안…' // Truncate the paragraph to the terminal width const paragraph = 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa.'; cliTruncate(paragraph, process.stdout.columns ?? 80); //=> 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing…' ``` ## API ### cliTruncate(text, columns, options?) #### text Type: `string` The text to truncate. #### columns Type: `number` The finite number of columns to occupy in the terminal. #### options Type: `object` ##### position Type: `string`\ Default: `'end'`\ Values: `'start' | 'middle' | 'end'` The position to truncate the string. ##### space Type: `boolean`\ Default: `false` Add a space between the text and the ellipsis. ```js import cliTruncate from 'cli-truncate'; cliTruncate('unicorns', 5, {space: false}); //=> 'unic…' cliTruncate('unicorns', 5, {space: true}); //=> 'uni …' cliTruncate('unicorns', 6, {position: 'start', space: true}); //=> '… orns' cliTruncate('unicorns', 7, {position: 'middle', space: true}); //=> 'uni … s' ``` ##### preferTruncationOnSpace Type: `boolean`\ Default: `false` Truncate the string from a whitespace if it is within 3 characters from the actual breaking point. ```js import cliTruncate from 'cli-truncate'; cliTruncate('unicorns rainbow dragons', 20, {position: 'start', preferTruncationOnSpace: true}); //=> '…rainbow dragons' // Without preferTruncationOnSpace cliTruncate('unicorns rainbow dragons', 20, {position: 'start'}); //=> '…rns rainbow dragons' cliTruncate('unicorns rainbow dragons', 20, {position: 'middle', preferTruncationOnSpace: true}); //=> 'unicorns…dragons' cliTruncate('unicorns rainbow dragons', 6, {position: 'end', preferTruncationOnSpace: true}); //=> 'unico…' // preferTruncationOnSpace has no effect if space isn't found within 3 characters cliTruncate('unicorns rainbow dragons', 6, {position: 'middle', preferTruncationOnSpace: true}); //=> 'uni…ns' ``` ##### truncationCharacter Type: `string`\ Default: `…` The character to use at the breaking point. ```js import cliTruncate from 'cli-truncate'; cliTruncate('unicorns', 5, {position: 'end'}); //=> 'unic…' cliTruncate('unicorns', 5, {position: 'end', truncationCharacter: '.'}); //=> 'unic.' cliTruncate('unicorns', 5, {position: 'end', truncationCharacter: ''}); //=> 'unico' ``` ## Related - [wrap-ansi](https://github.com/chalk/wrap-ansi) - Wordwrap a string with ANSI escape codes - [slice-ansi](https://github.com/chalk/slice-ansi) - Slice a string with ANSI escape codes --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/cli-truncate · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. 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