Scripts

The Scripts panel lists the scripts of your projects and runs them with one click. No need to remember whether a project uses npm, pnpm or yarn.

The Scripts panel: each file with its scripts, the package manager on the right and the Node version badge.

Open the panel

Click the play button in the left activity bar, just above the Terminal button, or choose View > Scripts. The panel opens on the left, in place of Changes. Click the button again, or the X at the top right of the panel, to hide it.

What it lists

Nibtree looks through every workspace folder for these files:

File	Scripts it lists	Runs them with
package.json	scripts	npm, yarn, pnpm or bun
composer.json	scripts	composer run-script
Makefile	targets	make
deno.json, deno.jsonc	tasks	deno task
justfile	public recipes	just

Each file is a row with its name, then the package name and its folder, dimmed. Click a file row to fold or unfold its scripts. Each script shows its name and what it runs.

Folders with downloaded or built files are skipped: node_modules, vendor, target, dist, build, hidden folders and anything your .gitignore leaves out. If a file cannot be read (for example broken JSON), its row shows a warning sign; hover it for the reason.

The list is read again each time the panel opens. Click Refresh in the panel's title bar after you add a script.

Which package manager

For a package.json, the name on the right of the row is the package manager that runs its scripts. Nibtree picks:

1. The packageManager field of the package.json, for example "pnpm@9.1.0".
2. Otherwise the nearest lockfile, in the package's folder or a parent folder up to the workspace folder: bun.lock or bun.lockb, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, package-lock.json or npm-shrinkwrap.json.
3. Otherwise npm.

To use another one, right-click the file row and choose Run With, then npm, yarn, pnpm or bun. The menu marks the one in use and the detected one. This choice lasts until you quit the app.

Run a script

Double-click a script, select it and press Enter, or hover it and click the green play button at the end of its row.

The script runs in the Run tab of the bottom panel. Every script gets its own tab, named like "dev (pnpm)", so you can keep a dev server running while you run the tests.

The Run tab: one tab per script, Rerun and Stop on the left, the command at the top and the output below.

• The first line shows the command and, for Node projects, the Node version, for example pnpm run dev (Node 20.11.1, nvm).
• The output keeps its colors, and you can type when a script asks a question.
• Each tab shows its state: running, finished, stopped, or the exit code when it failed.
• At the end, a dim line says "Process finished with exit code 0" (or another code), or "Process stopped" after Stop. The tab stays, so you can read the output.

The buttons on the left:

• Rerun starts the script again in the same tab, with fresh output. While it still runs, the button stops it first (Stop and Rerun).
• Stop ends the script and anything it started.

Right-click a run tab for Rerun, Stop and Close. Running a script again from the Scripts panel while it still runs asks first ("Process Is Running"), and so does closing a tab whose script still runs.

If the program is not installed, the Run tab says so with the reason and a Retry button.

Scripts run without a shell

A script runs as its own program, not typed into a terminal, so it works the same whatever your shell is. Nibtree still finds your tools. It asks your shell once for its environment: the settings a new Terminal window starts with. That includes PATH, the list of folders where programs are looked up, as your .zshrc sets it up for nvm, Homebrew, pnpm or Composer. On Windows, scripts get the environment Windows gives Nibtree, and tools such as npm and pnpm, which are .cmd files there, start through Command Prompt. Opening the panel or clicking Refresh reads it again, so a tool you just installed is found.

Right-click menus

On a script:

• Run 'name': runs it.
• Copy Command: copies the command, such as pnpm run build, to paste in a terminal.
• Jump to Source: opens the file on the line that defines the script.

On a file:

• Open File.
• Node Version (package.json only, see below).
• Open .nvmrc (or the file the Node version comes from).
• Run With (package.json only).
• Expand All, Collapse All and Refresh.

Node version

Projects often need a certain Node version. Nibtree looks for it the way version managers do, nearest folder first, from the package's folder up to the workspace folder:

1. .nvmrc, .node-version or .tool-versions (the nodejs or node line).
2. Otherwise volta.node in the package.json.
3. Otherwise engines.node in the package.json, such as >=18 <21.

It picks the newest installed version that fits, from nvm, Herd, fnm, Volta, asdf, mise, nodenv, n and Homebrew.

The version shows as a badge on the file row, like node 18.20.6. Hover it to see why that version was picked. If the project asks for a version you do not have, the badge says "missing" next to a warning icon, and running a script tells you it uses the shell's default node instead.

Clicking the badge opens the Node Version menu: Auto, Shell Default and every installed version with its manager.

Click the badge, or use Node Version in the file's menu, to choose:

• Auto (Follow Project): the version the project asks for. This is the default.
• Shell Default: whatever node your shell finds.
• A version, such as 20.11.1 (nvm).

Your choice is saved for that package.json, so it stays after a restart.

Filter and keys

Type in Filter scripts at the top to show only scripts whose name or command contains every word you type. Press Down or Enter to jump into the list, and Escape to clear the filter.

In the list, Up and Down move, Left and Right fold and unfold a file, Enter runs a script and Shift+F10 opens the menu.

Related

• Terminal
• Settings
• How scripts work (developer)