# run-node

> Run the Node.js binary no matter what

You can't always assume running `$ node file.js` will just work. The user might have the `node` binary in a non-standard location. They might be using a Node.js version manager like `nvm`, which is sourced in a subshell and not available from the outside. Or they might have `node` installed as a local dependency in an npm project. It also depends from where you're trying to run it. For example, GUI apps on macOS doesn't inherit the [`$PATH`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(variable)), so the `node` binary would not be found. Most projects that depend on Node.js just end up telling the user to manually set the full path to the `node` binary in some project specific settings. Now every project has to do this. [Ugh...](https://gist.github.com/cookrn/4015437) I prefer things to *just* work. With this module it will.

This Bash script uses some tricks to find the Node.js binary on your system and run it. A companion `run-npx` script is also provided to reliably run `npx`.

Can be used from any environment that can spawn a process (Shell, Python, Ruby, Swift, Objective-C, etc).

### npm

#### Install

```sh
npm install run-node
```

#### Usage

```sh
./node_modules/.bin/run-node file.js
```

Or in an [npm run script](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/run-script):

```json
{
	"start": "run-node file.js"
}
```

To run `npx` commands:

```sh
./node_modules/.bin/run-npx package-name
```

When run within an npm script context, `run-node` will use the same Node.js binary that npm is using (via the `npm_node_execpath` environment variable), ensuring consistency with the parent process. When run directly outside of npm scripts, if the [`node`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/node) package is found in the local `node_modules` directory, that binary will be used instead.

### Manually

#### Install

Download the [run-node](run-node) file:

```sh
curl -sSLO https://github.com/sindresorhus/run-node/raw/main/run-node && chmod +x run-node
```

For `npx` support, also download [run-npx](run-npx):

```sh
curl -sSLO https://github.com/sindresorhus/run-node/raw/main/run-npx && chmod +x run-npx
```

#### Usage

```sh
./run-node file.js
```

Or with `npx`:

```sh
./run-npx package-name
```

#### Customizable cache path and error message

The cache path and error message are defined by the `RUN_NODE_CACHE_PATH` and `RUN_NODE_ERROR_MSG` environment variables. You could use them in a script or add them to your `~.bashrc`.

Default config:

```sh
export RUN_NODE_ERROR_MSG="Couldn't find the Node.js binary. Ensure you have Node.js installed. Open an issue on https://github.com/sindresorhus/run-node"
export RUN_NODE_CACHE_PATH="/home/username/.node_path"
```

If the `RUN_NODE_CACHE_PATH` environment variable is defined explicitly, the script it points to will be sourced before looking for a `node` binary. You can use this script to override your `PATH` variable so that a specific `node` binary is found.