Init-module NPM

init-module

Add some sugar to the npm init command.

npm init allows you to configure a few things and works from a few defaults. init-module is meant to take it a bit further, making all package.json properties editable, adding more defaults to npm config that will autopopulate when you run npm init -y, and allowing you to use npm init as a package.json editor.

Install

npm i -g init-module

Usage

npm allows you to configure an init module that will be loaded by the npm init command to override the default prompts. The init-module program is intended to be used in this manner.

npm set init-module $(init-module --path)

Once you've set the above config property, init-module will simply extend the default npm init command.

npm init

Configuration (`npm init`)

These defaults are already available to npm init without init-module.

Author Name: `init-author-name`

Default: ""
Type: String

The value npm init should use by default for the package author's name.

npm set init-author-name="Your Name"

Author Email: `init-author-email`

Default: ""
Type: String

The value npm init should use by default for the package author's email.

npm set init-author-name="your@email.com"

Author URL: `init-author-url`

Default: ""
Type: String

The value npm init should use by default for the package author's homepage.

npm set init-author-url="http://yoursite.com"

License `init-license`

Default: "ISC"
Type: String

The value npm init should use by default for the package license.

npm set init-license="BSD-2-Clause"

The license name must be a valid SPDX license expression. See https://spdx.org/licenses for more info.

Version `init-version`

Default: "1.0.0"
Type: semver

The value that npm init should use by default for the package version number, if not already set in package.json.

npm set init-version="1.0.0"

Configuration (`init-module`)

These defaults require init-module in order to be available in npm init.

Test Script: `init-scripts-start`

Default: null
Type: String

The command to use when running npm start.

npm set init-scripts-start="node ."

Test Script: `init-scripts-test`

Default: 'echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1'
Type: String

The command to use when running npm test.

npm set init-scripts-test="standard"

Example

Here's an example of the init-* contents of my global .npmrc file.

init-author-email = "ungoldman@gmail.com"
init-author-name = "Nate Goldman"
init-author-url = "http://ungoldman.com/"
init-license = "ISC"
init-module = "/Users/ng/dev/github/init-module/init-module.js"
init-scripts-start = "node ."
init-scripts-test = "standard"
init-version = "1.0.0"

All configuration above can be set with npm set, which is just a shortcut for npm config set. You can also edit your .npmrc manually if you prefer (npm config edit will open your global .npmrc file with your default editor).

Running npm init in an empty directory with the above configuration, I get the following:

~/my-module $ npm init
This utility will walk you through creating a package.json file.
It only covers the most common items, and tries to guess sensible defaults.

See `npm help json` for definitive documentation on these fields
and exactly what they do.

Use `npm install <pkg> --save` afterwards to install a package and
save it as a dependency in the package.json file.

Press ^C at any time to quit.
name: (my-module)
version: (1.0.0-alpha)
description: A fine module indeed.
entry point: (index.js)
test command: (standard)
start command: (node .)
git repository: https://github.com/ungoldman/my-module.git
keywords: my, module
author name: (Nate Goldman)
author email: (ungoldman@gmail.com)
author url: (http://ungoldman.com)
license: (ISC)
private: (false) true
About to write to /Users/ng/dev/github/init-module/my-module/package.json:

{
  "name": "my-module",
  "version": "1.0.0-alpha",
  "description": "A fine module indeed.",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node .",
    "test": "standard"
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git+https://github.com/ungoldman/my-module.git"
  },
  "keywords": [
    "my",
    "module"
  ],
  "author": "Nate Goldman <ungoldman@gmail.com> (http://ungoldman.com)",
  "license": "ISC",
  "private": true,
  "bugs": {
    "url": "https://github.com/ungoldman/my-module/issues"
  },
  "homepage": "https://github.com/ungoldman/my-module#readme"
}


Is this ok? (yes)

Note that with init-module, running npm init again will allow you to edit all of the above properties, unlike the stock npm init behavior.

name: (my-module)
version: (1.0.0-alpha)
description: (A fine module indeed.)
entry point: (index.js)
test command: (standard && tape test/*.js | tap-spec)
git repository: (git+https://github.com/ungoldman/my-module.git)
keywords: (my, module)
author name: (Nate Goldman)
author email: (ungoldman@gmail.com)
author url: (http://ungoldman.com)
license: (ISC)
private: (true)

The "yes" option (force)

Running npm init -y in an empty directory with the example configuration above yields the following package.json:

{
  "name": "my-module",
  "version": "1.0.0-alpha",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "standard && tape test/*.js | tap-spec"
  },
  "author": "Nate Goldman <ungoldman@gmail.com> (http://ungoldman.com)",
  "license": "ISC"
}