I would like to publish a NPM package with a CLI utility in it. In the package.json, I have the following line:
"bin": "index.js"
When I install the package on Windows, a batch file is being generated under Roaming\npm, it's called mypackage.cmd, and the final line goes:
"%dp0%\node_modules\mypackage\index.js" %*
It's not executing the script under Node.js, it's executing the JavaScript file as is - not the desired result. On my dev box, for one, the default association for .js files is Visual Studio Code, not Node. Looking at other modules' generated batch scripts, I see that the final line is different:
"%_prog%" "%dp0%\node_modules\anotherpackage\bin\somescript.js" %*
where _prog is initialized to the Node executable.
I want the bin script to execute explicitly under Node. What is missing in my package (presumably in package.json)?
To reproduce, create a directory. Create the following package.json in it:
{"name": "boo", "version": "1.0.0", "bin": "index.js"}
Create the following index.js in it:
process.exit(0);
Run the following on the command line in that directory:
npm i -g .
Then see the contents of boo.cmd (on Windows):
type %APPDATA%\npm\boo.cmd
And note the lack of _prog on the bottommost line.
Just add #! /usr/bin/env node to the first line of index.js