README.md
1# `@npmcli/config`
2
3Configuration management for the npm cli.
4
5This module is the spiritual descendant of
6[`npmconf`](http://npm.im/npmconf), and the code that once lived in npm's
7`lib/config/` folder.
8
9It does the management of configuration files that npm uses, but
10importantly, does _not_ define all the configuration defaults or types, as
11those parts make more sense to live within the npm CLI itself.
12
13The only exceptions:
14
15- The `prefix` config value has some special semantics, setting the local
16 prefix if specified on the CLI options and not in global mode, or the
17 global prefix otherwise.
18- The `project` config file is loaded based on the local prefix (which can
19 only be set by the CLI config options, and otherwise defaults to a walk
20 up the folder tree to the first parent containing a `node_modules`
21 folder, `package.json` file, or `package-lock.json` file.)
22- The `userconfig` value, as set by the environment and CLI (defaulting to
23 `~/.npmrc`, is used to load user configs.
24- The `globalconfig` value, as set by the environment, CLI, and
25 `userconfig` file (defaulting to `$PREFIX/etc/npmrc`) is used to load
26 global configs.
27- A `builtin` config, read from a `npmrc` file in the root of the npm
28 project itself, overrides all defaults.
29
30The resulting hierarchy of configs:
31
32- CLI switches. eg `--some-key=some-value` on the command line. These are
33 parsed by [`nopt`](http://npm.im/nopt), which is not a great choice, but
34 it's the one that npm has used forever, and changing it will be
35 difficult.
36- Environment variables. eg `npm_config_some_key=some_value` in the
37 environment. There is no way at this time to modify this prefix.
38- INI-formatted project configs. eg `some-key = some-value` in the
39 `localPrefix` folder (ie, the `cwd`, or its nearest parent that contains
40 either a `node_modules` folder or `package.json` file.)
41- INI-formatted userconfig file. eg `some-key = some-value` in `~/.npmrc`.
42 The `userconfig` config value can be overridden by the `cli`, `env`, or
43 `project` configs to change this value.
44- INI-formatted globalconfig file. eg `some-key = some-value` in
45 the `globalPrefix` folder, which is inferred by looking at the location
46 of the node executable, or the `prefix` setting in the `cli`, `env`,
47 `project`, or `userconfig`. The `globalconfig` value at any of those
48 levels can override this.
49- INI-formatted builtin config file. eg `some-key = some-value` in
50 `/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/npmrc`. This is not configurable, and
51 is determined by looking in the `npmPath` folder.
52- Default values (passed in by npm when it loads this module).
53
54## USAGE
55
56```js
57const Config = require('@npmcli/config')
58const { shorthands, definitions, flatten } = require('@npmcli/config/lib/definitions')
59
60const conf = new Config({
61 // path to the npm module being run
62 npmPath: resolve(__dirname, '..'),
63 definitions,
64 shorthands,
65 flatten,
66 // optional, defaults to process.argv
67 // argv: [] <- if you are using this package in your own cli
68 // and dont want to have colliding argv
69 argv: process.argv,
70 // optional, defaults to process.env
71 env: process.env,
72 // optional, defaults to process.execPath
73 execPath: process.execPath,
74 // optional, defaults to process.platform
75 platform: process.platform,
76 // optional, defaults to process.cwd()
77 cwd: process.cwd(),
78})
79
80// emits log events on the process object
81// see `proc-log` for more info
82process.on('log', (level, ...args) => {
83 console.log(level, ...args)
84})
85
86// returns a promise that fails if config loading fails, and
87// resolves when the config object is ready for action
88conf.load().then(() => {
89 conf.validate()
90 console.log('loaded ok! some-key = ' + conf.get('some-key'))
91}).catch(er => {
92 console.error('error loading configs!', er)
93})
94```
95
96## API
97
98The `Config` class is the sole export.
99
100```js
101const Config = require('@npmcli/config')
102```
103
104### static `Config.typeDefs`
105
106The type definitions passed to `nopt` for CLI option parsing and known
107configuration validation.
108
109### constructor `new Config(options)`
110
111Options:
112
113- `types` Types of all known config values. Note that some are effectively
114 given semantic value in the config loading process itself.
115- `shorthands` An object mapping a shorthand value to an array of CLI
116 arguments that replace it.
117- `defaults` Default values for each of the known configuration keys.
118 These should be defined for all configs given a type, and must be valid.
119- `npmPath` The path to the `npm` module, for loading the `builtin` config
120 file.
121- `cwd` Optional, defaults to `process.cwd()`, used for inferring the
122 `localPrefix` and loading the `project` config.
123- `platform` Optional, defaults to `process.platform`. Used when inferring
124 the `globalPrefix` from the `execPath`, since this is done diferently on
125 Windows.
126- `execPath` Optional, defaults to `process.execPath`. Used to infer the
127 `globalPrefix`.
128- `env` Optional, defaults to `process.env`. Source of the environment
129 variables for configuration.
130- `argv` Optional, defaults to `process.argv`. Source of the CLI options
131 used for configuration.
132
133Returns a `config` object, which is not yet loaded.
134
135Fields:
136
137- `config.globalPrefix` The prefix for `global` operations. Set by the
138 `prefix` config value, or defaults based on the location of the
139 `execPath` option.
140- `config.localPrefix` The prefix for `local` operations. Set by the
141 `prefix` config value on the CLI only, or defaults to either the `cwd` or
142 its nearest ancestor containing a `node_modules` folder or `package.json`
143 file.
144- `config.sources` A read-only `Map` of the file (or a comment, if no file
145 found, or relevant) to the config level loaded from that source.
146- `config.data` A `Map` of config level to `ConfigData` objects. These
147 objects should not be modified directly under any circumstances.
148 - `source` The source where this data was loaded from.
149 - `raw` The raw data used to generate this config data, as it was parsed
150 initially from the environment, config file, or CLI options.
151 - `data` The data object reflecting the inheritance of configs up to this
152 point in the chain.
153 - `loadError` Any errors encountered that prevented the loading of this
154 config data.
155- `config.list` A list sorted in priority of all the config data objects in
156 the prototype chain. `config.list[0]` is the `cli` level,
157 `config.list[1]` is the `env` level, and so on.
158- `cwd` The `cwd` param
159- `env` The `env` param
160- `argv` The `argv` param
161- `execPath` The `execPath` param
162- `platform` The `platform` param
163- `defaults` The `defaults` param
164- `shorthands` The `shorthands` param
165- `types` The `types` param
166- `npmPath` The `npmPath` param
167- `globalPrefix` The effective `globalPrefix`
168- `localPrefix` The effective `localPrefix`
169- `prefix` If `config.get('global')` is true, then `globalPrefix`,
170 otherwise `localPrefix`
171- `home` The user's home directory, found by looking at `env.HOME` or
172 calling `os.homedir()`.
173- `loaded` A boolean indicating whether or not configs are loaded
174- `valid` A getter that returns `true` if all the config objects are valid.
175 Any data objects that have been modified with `config.set(...)` will be
176 re-evaluated when `config.valid` is read.
177
178### `config.load()`
179
180Load configuration from the various sources of information.
181
182Returns a `Promise` that resolves when configuration is loaded, and fails
183if a fatal error is encountered.
184
185### `config.find(key)`
186
187Find the effective place in the configuration levels a given key is set.
188Returns one of: `cli`, `env`, `project`, `user`, `global`, `builtin`, or
189`default`.
190
191Returns `null` if the key is not set.
192
193### `config.get(key, where = 'cli')`
194
195Load the given key from the config stack.
196
197### `config.set(key, value, where = 'cli')`
198
199Set the key to the specified value, at the specified level in the config
200stack.
201
202### `config.delete(key, where = 'cli')`
203
204Delete the configuration key from the specified level in the config stack.
205
206### `config.validate(where)`
207
208Verify that all known configuration options are set to valid values, and
209log a warning if they are invalid.
210
211Invalid auth options will cause this method to throw an error with a `code`
212property of `ERR_INVALID_AUTH`, and a `problems` property listing the specific
213concerns with the current configuration.
214
215If `where` is not set, then all config objects are validated.
216
217Returns `true` if all configs are valid.
218
219Note that it's usually enough (and more efficient) to just check
220`config.valid`, since each data object is marked for re-evaluation on every
221`config.set()` operation.
222
223### `config.repair(problems)`
224
225Accept an optional array of problems (as thrown by `config.validate()`) and
226perform the necessary steps to resolve them. If no problems are provided,
227this method will call `config.validate()` internally to retrieve them.
228
229Note that you must `await config.save('user')` in order to persist the changes.
230
231### `config.isDefault(key)`
232
233Returns `true` if the value is coming directly from the
234default definitions, if the current value for the key config is
235coming from any other source, returns `false`.
236
237This method can be used for avoiding or tweaking default values, e.g:
238
239> Given a global default definition of foo='foo' it's possible to read that
240> value such as:
241>
242> ```js
243> const save = config.get('foo')
244> ```
245>
246> Now in a different place of your app it's possible to avoid using the `foo`
247> default value, by checking to see if the current config value is currently
248> one that was defined by the default definitions:
249>
250> ```js
251> const save = config.isDefault('foo') ? 'bar' : config.get('foo')
252> ```
253
254### `config.save(where)`
255
256Save the config file specified by the `where` param. Must be one of
257`project`, `user`, `global`, `builtin`.
258