The Node lessc compiler packaged into a single file executable. It uses pkg to produce a single executable file.

Why?

There's no need to have Node installed on the system to run this. The single lessc file contains Node 14 within, so you can just run it.

Building

Install dependencies:

npm ci

Package into an executable:

npm run build

This will produce bin/lessc

Test it:

# Check the version
$ ./bin/lessc --version
lessc 3.9.0 (Less Compiler) [JavaScript]

# Test that it works
$ ./bin/lessc tests/files/a.less
p {
  color: white;
}
body {
  background: red;
}

# Really test that it works without having Node installed
$ docker run -it -v ${PWD}:/root/less-compiler ubuntu:22.04
root@c30648fcd7f4:/# which node
root@c30648fcd7f4:/# which nodejs
root@c30648fcd7f4:/# which npm
root@c30648fcd7f4:/# node
bash: node: command not found
root@c30648fcd7f4:/# /root/less-compiler/bin/lessc /root/less-compiler/tests/files/a.less
p {
  color: white;
}
body {
  background: red;
}

Use it

Take the produced file bin/lessc and use that wherever you need to run it.

Releasing A New Version

• Modify the version of less desired either by editing package.json then running npm install, or by running npm update less
• Create a personal access token on GitHub that has the "repo" permission from here: https://github.com/settings/tokens
• Add that token to your ~/.bash_profile:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="gh_yourtokenehere"

• Run the command:

npm run release

This will create a new tag and release on GitHub with the version of lessc created.