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npm-scripts(1) -- How npm handles the "scripts" field

DESCRIPTION

npm supports the "scripts" member of the package.json script, for the following scripts:

  • preinstall: Run BEFORE the package is installed
  • install: Run AFTER the package is installed.
  • preactivate: Run BEFORE the package is activated.
  • activate: Run AFTER the package has been activated.
  • deactivate: Run BEFORE the package is deactivated.
  • postdeactivate: Run AFTER the package is deactivated.
  • uninstall: Run BEFORE the package is uninstalled.
  • postuninstall: Run AFTER the package is uninstalled.

Package Lifecycle Env Vars

Package scripts are run in an environment where the package.json fields have been tacked onto the npm_package_ prefix. So, for instance, if you had {"name":"foo", "version":"1.2.5"} in your package.json file, then in your various lifecycle scripts, this would be true:

process.env.npm_package_name === "foo"
process.env.npm_package_version === "1.2.5"

Objects are flattened following this format, so if you had {"scripts":{"install":"foo.js"}} in your package.json, then you'd see this in the script:

process.env.npm_package_scripts_install = "foo.js"

Last but not least, the npm_lifecycle_event environment variable is set to whichever stage of the cycle is being executed. So, you could have a single script used for different parts of the process which switches based on what's currently happening.

If the script exits with a code other than 0, then this will abort the process.

Note that these script files don't have to be nodejs or even javascript programs. They just have to be some kind of executable file.

For example, if your package.json contains this:

{ "scripts" :
  { "install" : "scripts/install.js"
  , "postinstall" : "scripts/install.js"
  , "activate" : "scripts/install.js"
  , "uninstall" : "scripts/uninstall.js"
  }
}

then the scripts/install.js will be called for the install, post-install, and activate stages of the lifecycle, and the scripts/uninstall.js would be called when the package is uninstalled. Since scripts/install.js is running for three different phases, it would be wise in this case to look at the npm_lifecycle_event environment variable.

If you want to run a make command, you can do so. This works just fine:

{ "scripts" :
  { "preinstall" : "./configure"
  , "install" : "make"
  , "test" : "make test"
  }
}

However, the script line is not simply a command line, so make && make install would try to execute the make command with the arguments &&, make, and install. If you have a lot of stuff to run in a command, put it in a script file.