NP-RUN
Section: (1)
Updated: October 2025
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NAME
np-run- Run arbitrary package scripts
Synopsis
-
npm run <command> [lB- <args>[rB]
aliases: ru-script, rum, urn
Description
This runs an arbitrary command from a package's
"scripts" object. If no
"command" is provided, it will list the available scripts.
run[lB-script[rB] is used by the test, start, restart, and stop commands, but can be called directly, as well. When the scripts in the package are printed out, they're separated into lifecycle (test, start, restart) and directl-run scripts.
Any positional arguments are passed to the specified script. Use
- to pass
--prefixed flags and options which would otherwise be parsed by npm.
For example:
-
npm run test--grep="pattern"
The arguments will only be passed to the script specified after
npm run and not to any
pre or
post script.
The
env script is a special buil-in command that can be used to list environment variables that will be available to the script at runtime. If an "env" command is defined in your package, it will take precedence over the buil-in.
In addition to the shell's pr-existing
PATH,
npm run adds
node_modules/.bin to the
PATH provided to scripts. Any binaries provided by locall-installed dependencies can be used without the
node_modules/.bin prefix. For example, if there is a
devDependency on
tap in your package, you should write:
-
"scripts": {"test": "tap test/*.js"}
instead of
-
"scripts": {"test": "node_modules/.bin/tap test/*.js"}
The actual shell your script is run within is platform dependent. By default, on Uni-like systems it is the
/bin/sh command, on Windows it is
cmd.exe. The actual shell referred to by
/bin/sh also depends on the system. You can customize the shell with the
[rs]fBscrip-shell[rs]fR config la/usin-npm/config#scrip-shellra.
Scripts are run from the root of the package folder, regardless of what the current working directory is when
npm run is called. If you want your script to use different behavior based on what subdirectory you're in, you can use the
INIT_CWD environment variable, which holds the full path you were in when you ran
npm run.
npm run sets the
NODE environment variable to the
node executable with which
npm is executed.
If you try to run a script without having a
node_modules directory and it fails, you will be given a warning to run
npm install, just in case you've forgotten.
Workspaces support
You may use the
[rs]fBworkspace[rs]fR la/usin-npm/config#workspacera or
[rs]fBworkspaces[rs]fR la/usin-npm/config#workspacesra configs in order to run an arbitrary command from a package's
"scripts" object in the context of the specified workspaces. If no
"command" is provided, it will list the available scripts for each of these configured workspaces.
Given a project with configured workspaces, e.g:
-
- package.json
- packages
- a
| - package.json
- b
| - package.json
- c
- package.json
Assuming the workspace configuration is properly set up at the root level
package.json file. e.g:
-
{
"workspaces": [lB] "./packages/*" [rB]
}
And that each of the configured workspaces has a configured
test script, we can run tests in all of them using the
[rs]fBworkspaces[rs]fR config la/usin-npm/config#workspacesra:
-
npm test-workspaces
Filtering workspaces
It's also possible to run a script in a single workspace using the
workspace config along with a name or directory path:
-
npm test-workspace=a
The
workspace config can also be specified multiple times in order to run a specific script in the context of multiple workspaces. When defining values for the
workspace config in the command line, it also possible to use
-w as a shorthand, e.g:
-
npm test-w a-w b
This last command will run
test in both
./packages/a and
./packages/b packages.
Configuration
workspace
-
- *
-
Default:
- *
-
Type: String (can be set multiple times)
Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by this configuration option.
Valid values for the workspace config are either:
-
- *
-
Workspace names
- *
-
Path to a workspace directory
- *
-
Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all workspaces within that folder)
When set for the npm init command, this may be set to the folder of a workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a brand new workspace within the project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
workspaces
-
- *
-
Default: null
- *
-
Type: null or Boolean
Set to true to run the command in the context of all configured workspaces.
Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like install to ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
-
- *
-
Commands that operate on the node_modules tree (install, update, etc.) will link workspaces into the node_modules folder.- Commands that do other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the root project, unless one or more workspaces are specified in the workspace config.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
includ-workspac-root
-
- *
-
Default: false
- *
-
Type: Boolean
Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.
When false, specifying individual workspaces via the workspace config, or all workspaces via the workspaces flag, will cause npm to operate only on the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
i-present
-
- *
-
Default: false
- *
-
Type: Boolean
If true, npm will not exit with an error code when run is invoked for a script that isn't defined in the scripts section of package.json. This option can be used when it's desirable to optionally run a script when it's present and fail if the script fails. This is useful, for example, when running scripts that may only apply for some builds in an otherwise generic CI setup.
This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
ignor-scripts
-
- *
-
Default: false
- *
-
Type: Boolean
If true, npm does not run scripts specified in package.json files.
Note that commands explicitly intended to run a particular script, such as npm start, npm stop, npm restart, npm test, and npm
run will still run their intended script if ignor-scripts is set, but they will not run any pr- or pos-scripts.
foregroun-scripts
-
- *
-
Default: false unless when using npm pack or npm publish where it defaults to true
- *
-
Type: Boolean
Run all build scripts (ie, preinstall, install, and postinstall) scripts for installed packages in the foreground process, sharing standard input, output, and error with the main npm process.
Note that this will generally make installs run slower, and be much noisier, but can be useful for debugging.
scrip-shell
-
- *
-
Default: '/bin/sh' on POSIX systems, 'cmd.exe' on Windows
- *
-
Type: null or String
The shell to use for scripts run with the npm exec, npm run and npm init <packag-spec> commands.
See Also
-
- *
-
npm help scripts
- *
-
npm help test
- *
-
npm help start
- *
-
npm help restart
- *
-
npm help stop
- *
-
npm help config
- *
-
npm help workspaces
Index
- NAME
-
- Synopsis
-
- Description
-
- Workspaces support
-
- Filtering workspaces
-
- Configuration
-
- workspace
-
- workspaces
-
- include-workspace-root
-
- if-present
-
- ignore-scripts
-
- foreground-scripts
-
- script-shell
-
- See Also
-