nex

Simplify management of local npm and node.js development resources and processes. Add stuff to your package.json and watch it work. It's like grunt or gulp, but with 100x less code and a flatter learning curve. It is a pure essentialization of the "task-runner", and is designed to be magical, but not mysterious. nex is un-opinionated, npm-integrated, and fully-discombobulated.

Install

$ npm install -g nex

Use

1. Create a nex array to define the general order of execution

nex do will do all the things in this array.

package.json:

{
  "nex": [
    "repository",
    "engines",
    "globalDependencies",
    "linkDependencies"
  ]
}

2. Intercept the npm phases you want nex to control

package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "preinstall": "nex do",
    "pretest": "nex do engines"
  }
}

nex operates by declarative fiat. There's no special build file to contstruct, environment to define, or configs to set. Your existing package.json declares which nex routines run during each npm phase.

nex routines

repository (npm)

$ nex do repository

Use this when you want to download and extract this module from the repository defined in the repository field. Useful for hosting Github-authenticated private modules publicly on npmjs.org. If the module is private, you'll be prompted for your Github credentials.

package.json:

{
  "license": "Proprietary",
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "git://github.com/tjwebb/super-nex.git",
    "private": true
  }
}
 

.npmignore

index.js
lib/
private-stuff/

globalDependencies (npm)

$ nex do globalDependencies

Install dependencies globally, automatically as part of npm's normal installation process.

package.json

{
  "globalDependencies": {
    "<module>": "<version>",
    "jshint": "^2.5"
  }
}

linkDependencies (npm)

$ nex do linkDependencies

Create symlinks from node_modules/<module> to <path>

package.json

{
  "linkDependencies": {
    "<module>": "<path>",
    "module1": "./lib/module1"
  }
}

symlinks (npm)

$ nex do symlinks

Create arbitrary <link> to any <target>

package.json

{
  "symlinks": {
    "<target>": "<link">,
    "./lib/shared.js": "/usr/share/superlib/shared.js"
  }
}

engines (npm)

$ nex do engines

Ensure that all npm commands are invoked with the correct version of node as defined in the standard engines field

package.json

{
  "engines": {
    "node": "^0.11.13"
  }
}

Extend nex yourself

Anyone can extend nex. Create a node module that exposes the methods do and undo, name it after the package.json field you want to operate on, and publish it to npmjs.org as nex-<field>.

API

do (package)

• @param package {Object} package.json object
• Do something

undo (package)

• @param package {Object} package.json object
• Undo whatever do did

Links

• npm package: https://www.npmjs.org/package/nex
• github page: https://github.com/tjwebb/nex