Removing fs-extra from packages with async node:fs support

[jordanfinners]

In newer versions of Node, theres a promises API for the file system which has a lot of overlap with https://www.npmjs.com/package/fs-extra

[43081j]

this will be a big one.

thankfully, fs-extra isn't bloated but you are right it could be removed entirely from many projects

we will have to look up the engines constraint of popular packages depending on it, and remove fs-extra if they're on a node version which ships async fs

[psulek]

Be aware that fs-extra is not just polyfill, it adds extra functionality like emptyDir, and so which does not have direct replacement, but of course can be replaced with similar code as fs-extra.

[43081j]

you're right

its a pretty useful package for sure. we should only really move projects away from it for the stuff that has native equivalents in their supported node versions (e.g. recursive readdir, async methods, etc)

[pralkarz]

Top 100 dependents that still use fs-extra.

#	Downloads	Traffic	Version	Package	Issues
1	56.64M	864.81 GB	^10.0.0	fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin
2	39.27M	599.52 GB	^11.2.0	get-uri
3	23.81M	363.58 GB	^9.1.0	cypress
4	19.85M	303.04 GB	^8.1.0	streamroller
5	18.02M	275.18 GB	^9.0.1	workbox-build
6	13.29M	202.91 GB	^11.2.0	unzipper
7	11.76M	179.60 GB	^10.0.0	react-scripts
8	10.24M	156.37 GB	~7.0.1	@rushstack/node-core-library
9	10.16M	155.07 GB	^9.0.0	patch-package
10	9.72M	148.40 GB	^8.1.0	@react-native-community/cli
11	7.16M	109.36 GB	^11.2.0	aws-cdk-lib
12	6.28M	95.92 GB	^11.0.0	@semantic-release/npm
13	5.71M	87.12 GB	^9.0.0	@expo/prebuild-config
14	5.57M	85.01 GB	^10.0.0	mochawesome-report-generator
15	5.46M	83.35 GB	^11.2.0	lerna
16	5.38M	82.10 GB	^11.2.0	@lerna/create
17	5.13M	78.32 GB	^7.0.1	@changesets/config
18	5.12M	78.19 GB	^7.0.1	@changesets/read
19	5.10M	77.89 GB	^7.0.1	@changesets/pre
20	5.07M	77.48 GB	^8.1	@oclif/errors
21	5.07M	77.38 GB	^7.0.1	@changesets/cli
22	5.02M	76.62 GB	^7.0.1	@changesets/apply-release-plan
23	5.01M	76.54 GB	^7.0.1	@changesets/write
24	4.55M	69.46 GB	^8.1.0	eslint-loader
25	4.48M	68.39 GB	^9.0.1	@storybook/manager-webpack4
26	4.42M	67.51 GB	^11.1.0	vite-plugin-checker
27	4.26M	65.10 GB	^9.1.0	expo-modules-autolinking
28	4.15M	63.38 GB	9.0.0	@expo/image-utils
29	4.15M	63.30 GB	9.1.0	commitizen
30	4.04M	61.65 GB	^9.1.0	@serverless/dashboard-plugin
31	3.94M	60.09 GB	^7.0.1	mochawesome-merge
32	3.86M	58.96 GB	^8.1.0	@electron/get
33	3.79M	57.90 GB	^9.1.0	@expo/metro-config
34	3.61M	55.08 GB	^11.0.0	@semantic-release/changelog
35	3.54M	54.05 GB	~8.1.0	@expo/cli
36	3.21M	49.01 GB	3.0.1	browser-sync
37	3.14M	47.99 GB	^10.0.0	rollup-plugin-typescript2
38	3.10M	47.36 GB	^11.2.0	vite-plugin-inspect
39	2.94M	44.93 GB	9.1.0	@module-federation/dts-plugin
40	2.94M	44.81 GB	10.1.0	@openapitools/openapi-generator-cli
41	2.93M	44.75 GB	^8.1	cli-ux
42	2.91M	44.47 GB	9.1.0	@module-federation/third-party-dts-extractor
43	2.80M	42.82 GB	9.1.0	@module-federation/managers
44	2.80M	42.68 GB	^9.0.1	@storybook/manager-webpack5
45	2.77M	42.36 GB	^11.0.0	postcss-cli
46	2.65M	40.44 GB	^11.1.1	azurite
47	2.62M	39.96 GB	^9.1.0	@vue/cli-service
48	2.49M	37.99 GB	^9.1.0	sequelize-cli
49	2.37M	36.14 GB	^11.2.0	nitropack
50	2.32M	35.44 GB	8.1.0	@vercel/fun	vercel/fun#110
51	2.25M	34.32 GB	^11.1.1	@electron/universal
52	2.18M	33.35 GB	^9.0.0	@ionic/utils-fs
53	2.17M	33.11 GB	11.1.0	@vercel/gatsby-plugin-vercel-builder
54	2.13M	32.46 GB	^9.0.1	@electron/notarize
55	2.13M	32.46 GB	^11.2.0	serverless-offline
56	2.10M	32.13 GB	^10.1.0	firebase-tools
57	2.09M	31.94 GB	^9.0.1	ember-cli-typescript
58	2.04M	31.22 GB	^11.2.0	gatsby-core-utils
59	1.98M	30.27 GB	^8.1.0	rollup-plugin-copy
60	1.97M	30.14 GB	9.1.0	@module-federation/data-prefetch
61	1.91M	29.18 GB	11.2.0	sonarqube-scanner
62	1.89M	28.87 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/conventional-commits
63	1.88M	28.77 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/symlink-dependencies
64	1.88M	28.77 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/symlink-binary
65	1.88M	28.77 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/npm-install
66	1.88M	28.76 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/npm-publish
67	1.88M	28.73 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/create-symlink
68	1.88M	28.72 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/resolve-symlink
69	1.88M	28.65 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/get-packed
70	1.86M	28.41 GB	^9.0.0	@cypress/browserify-preprocessor
71	1.85M	28.28 GB	^10.1.0	cypress-terminal-report
72	1.82M	27.86 GB	^10.1.0	fixturify
73	1.82M	27.74 GB	^9.1.0	@lerna/profiler
74	1.79M	27.29 GB	^10.0.0	fixturify-project
75	1.65M	25.25 GB	^9.1.0	@stackbit/sdk
76	1.65M	25.21 GB	^9.1.0	@stackbit/utils
77	1.65M	25.18 GB	^8.1.0	@stackbit/cms-core
78	1.65M	25.18 GB	^11.1.1	@docusaurus/utils
79	1.64M	25.05 GB	^8.1.0	broccoli-output-wrapper
80	1.60M	24.48 GB	^1.0.0	phantomjs-prebuilt
81	1.60M	24.47 GB	^10.0.0	@electron/osx-sign
82	1.60M	24.45 GB	^11.1.1	@docusaurus/core
83	1.59M	24.24 GB	^10.0.0	@remix-run/dev
84	1.57M	23.99 GB	^11.1.1	@docusaurus/mdx-loader
85	1.57M	23.96 GB	^11.2.0	@docusaurus/utils-validation
86	1.56M	23.86 GB	^11.2.0	@compodoc/compodoc
87	1.54M	23.47 GB	^8.1.0	cucumber-html-reporter
88	1.52M	23.20 GB	^11.1.1	@compodoc/ngd-transformer
89	1.50M	22.89 GB	^11.1.1	gh-pages
90	1.49M	22.78 GB	^10.1.0	builder-util
91	1.48M	22.60 GB	^10.1.0	electron-publish
92	1.44M	22.03 GB	^10.1.0	app-builder-lib
93	1.44M	21.97 GB	^8.0.0	s3rver
94	1.39M	21.28 GB	^10.0.1	cypress-mochawesome-reporter
95	1.39M	21.27 GB	^10.1.0	dmg-builder
96	1.38M	21.11 GB	^10.1.0	electron-builder
97	1.37M	20.89 GB	^8.0.1	fs-merger
98	1.36M	20.80 GB	^7.0.1	mock-aws-s3
99	1.35M	20.58 GB	^11.1.0	vite-plugin-static-copy
100	1.30M	19.83 GB	^11.1.1	@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs

[alexparish]

The change to get-uri is merged but still waiting for it to be published: TooTallNate/proxy-agents#341

[alexparish]

get-uri version 6.0.4 has now been published removing the fs-extra dependency 🎉

[Taureon]

Top 100 dependents that still use fs-extra.

Downloads Traffic Version Package

[Contents of the table I expunged so the quote wouldn't be huge]

If I did my math right, that sums up to 7040 GB (and 6440.48 GB without get-uri) of inefficiently used bandwidth per month.
Awesome, I love npm.

[talentlessguy]

removed fs-extra from @vercel/fun: vercel/fun#110

[MichaelDeBoey]

Removed it from all React Router packages: remix-run/react-router#13736

[MichaelDeBoey]

TypeStrong/fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin#866