Awesome
<picture> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ehmicky/design/main/gulp-execa/gulp-execa_dark.svg"/> <img alt="gulp-execa logo" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ehmicky/design/main/gulp-execa/gulp-execa.svg" width="500"/> </picture>Gulp.js command execution for humans.
As opposed to similar plugins or to
child_process.exec()
,
this uses Execa which provides:
- Better Windows support, including shebangs
- Faster and more secure commands, since no shell is used by default
- Execution of locally installed binaries
- Interleaved
stdout
/stderr
gulp-execa
adds Gulp-specific features to
Execa including:
- a task shortcut syntax
- configurable verbosity
- better errors
Commands can be executed either directly or inside a files stream. In streaming mode, unlike other libraries:
- commands are run in parallel, not serially
- output can be saved either in files or in variables
Hire me
Please reach out if you're looking for a Node.js API or CLI engineer (11 years of experience). Most recently I have been Netlify Build's and Netlify Plugins' technical lead for 2.5 years. I am available for full-time remote positions.
Example
gulpfile.js
:
import { pipeline } from 'node:stream/promises'
import gulp from 'gulp'
import { exec, stream, task } from 'gulp-execa'
export const audit = task('npm audit')
export const outdated = async () => {
await exec('npm outdated')
}
export const sort = () =>
pipeline(
gulp.src('*.txt'),
stream(({ path }) => `sort ${path}`),
gulp.dest('sorted'),
)
Install
npm install -D gulp-execa
This plugin requires Gulp 5 and Node.js >=18.18.0. It is an ES module and must
be loaded using
an import
or import()
statement,
not require()
. If TypeScript is used, it must be configured to
output ES modules,
not CommonJS.
Methods
task(command, [options])
Returns a Gulp task that executes command
.
import { task } from 'gulp-execa'
export const audit = task('npm audit')
exec(command, [options])
Executes command
. The return value is both a promise and a
child_process
instance.
The promise will be resolved with the
command result. If
the command failed, the promise will be rejected with a nice
error. If the
reject: false
option was used,
the promise will be resolved with that error instead.
import { exec } from 'gulp-execa'
export const outdated = async () => {
await exec('npm outdated')
}
stream(function, [options])
Returns a stream that executes a command
on each input file.
function
must:
- take a Vinyl file
as argument. The most useful property is
file.path
but other properties are available as well. - return either:
- a
command
string - an
options
object with acommand
property undefined
- a
import { pipeline } from 'node:stream/promises'
import gulp from 'gulp'
import { stream } from 'gulp-execa'
export const sort = () =>
pipeline(
gulp.src('*.txt'),
stream(({ path }) => `sort ${path}`),
gulp.dest('sorted'),
)
Each file in the stream will spawn a separate process. This can consume lots of resources so you should only use this method when there are no alternatives such as:
- firing a command programmatically instead of spawning a child process
- passing several files, a directory or a globbing pattern as arguments to the command
The debug
,
stdout
,
stderr
,
all
and
stdio
options cannot be used
with this method.
Command
By default no shell interpreter (like Bash or cmd.exe
) is used. This means
command
must be just the program and its arguments. No escaping/quoting is
needed, except for significant spaces (with a backslash).
Shell features such as globbing, variables and operators (like &&
>
;
)
should not be used. All of this can be done directly in Node.js instead.
Shell interpreters are slower, less secure and less cross-platform. However, you
can still opt-in to using them with the
shell
option.
import { writeFileStream } from 'node:fs'
import gulp from 'gulp'
import { task } from 'gulp-execa'
// Wrong
// export const check = task('npm audit && npm outdated')
// Correct
export const check = gulp.series(task('npm audit'), task('npm outdated'))
// Wrong
// export const install = task('npm install > log.txt')
// Correct
export const install = task('npm install', {
stdout: writeFileStream('log.txt'),
})
Options
options
is an optional object.
All Execa options can be used. Please refer to its documentation for a list of possible options.
The following options are available as well.
echo
Type: boolean
Default: debug
option's value
Whether the command
should be printed on the console.
$ gulp audit
[13:09:39] Using gulpfile ~/code/gulpfile.js
[13:09:39] Starting 'audit'...
[13:09:39] [gulp-execa] npm audit
[13:09:44] Finished 'audit' after 4.96 s
debug
Type: boolean
Default: true
for task()
and
exec()
, false
for
stream()
.
Whether both the command
and its output (stdout
/stderr
) should be printed
on the console instead of being returned in JavaScript.
$ gulp audit
[13:09:39] Using gulpfile ~/code/gulpfile.js
[13:09:39] Starting 'audit'...
[13:09:39] [gulp-execa] npm audit
== npm audit security report ===
found 0 vulnerabilities
in 27282 scanned packages
[13:09:44] Finished 'audit' after 4.96 s
result
Type: string
Value: 'replace'
or 'save'
Default: 'replace'
With stream()
, whether the command result should:
replace
the file's contentssave
: be pushed to thefile.execa
array property
import { pipeline } from 'node:stream/promises'
import gulp from 'gulp'
import { stream } from 'gulp-execa'
import through from 'through2'
export const task = () =>
pipeline(
gulp.src('*.js'),
// Prints the number of lines of each file
stream(({ path }) => `wc -l ${path}`, { result: 'save' }),
through.obj((file, encoding, func) => {
console.log(file.execa[0].stdout)
func(null, file)
}),
)
from
Type: string
Value: 'stdout'
, 'stderr'
or 'all'
Default: 'stdout'
Which output stream to use with result: 'replace'
.
import { pipeline } from 'node:stream/promises'
import gulp from 'gulp'
import { stream } from 'gulp-execa'
import through from 'through2'
export const task = () =>
pipeline(
gulp.src('*.js'),
// Prints the number of lines of each file, including `stderr`
stream(({ path }) => `wc -l ${path}`, { result: 'replace', from: 'all' }),
through.obj((file, encoding, func) => {
console.log(file.contents.toString())
func(null, file)
}),
)
maxConcurrency
Type: integer
Default: 100
With stream()
, how many commands to run in parallel
at once.
See also
Support
For any question, don't hesitate to submit an issue on GitHub.
Everyone is welcome regardless of personal background. We enforce a Code of conduct in order to promote a positive and inclusive environment.
Contributing
This project was made with ❤️. The simplest way to give back is by starring and sharing it online.
If the documentation is unclear or has a typo, please click on the page's Edit
button (pencil icon) and suggest a correction.
If you would like to help us fix a bug or add a new feature, please check our guidelines. Pull requests are welcome!
Thanks go to our wonderful contributors:
<!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:START --> <!-- prettier-ignore --> <table><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://fosstodon.org/@ehmicky"><img src="https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/8136211?v=4" width="100px;" alt="ehmicky"/><br /><sub><b>ehmicky</b></sub></a><br /><a href="https://github.com/ehmicky/gulp-execa/commits?author=ehmicky" title="Code">💻</a> <a href="#design-ehmicky" title="Design">🎨</a> <a href="#ideas-ehmicky" title="Ideas, Planning, & Feedback">🤔</a> <a href="https://github.com/ehmicky/gulp-execa/commits?author=ehmicky" title="Documentation">📖</a></td><td align="center"><a href="https://twitter.com/BarryThePenguin"><img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/1351912?v=4" width="100px;" alt="Jonathan Haines"/><br /><sub><b>Jonathan Haines</b></sub></a><br /><a href="https://github.com/ehmicky/gulp-execa/issues?q=author%3ABarryThePenguin" title="Bug reports">🐛</a></td></tr></table> <!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:END -->