Why use @folder/readdir and not some other lib?

It's blazing fast.
It has a simple, straightforward API and intuitive options for advanced use cases.
Optionally returns an array of file objects (extends node.js native fs.Dirent). Returns path strings by default.
No dependencies

Usage

const readdir = require('{%= name %}');
const options = {};

// async usage
console.log(await readdir('somedir', options));
console.log(await readdir(['two', 'dirs'], options));

// sync usage
console.log(readdir.sync('somedir', options));
console.log(readdir.sync(['two' 'dirs'], options));

params

Both the async and sync functions take the same arguments:

readdir(dir, options);

dir (string|array) - one or more directories to read
options - see available options

Options

absolute

When true, absolute paths are returned. Otherwise, returned paths are relative to options.base if defined, or the given directory.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { absolute: true }));

base

The base directory from which relative paths should be created.

Type: string

Default: Defaults to the directory passed as the first argument.

Example

const files = await readdir('some/dir', { base: 'dir' });
console.log(files);

basename

When true, only the basename of each file is returned.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { basename: true }));

depth

The maximum folder depth to recursively read directories.

Type: number

Default: undefined

Example

const files = await readdir('some/dir', { depth: 2 });
console.log(files);

dot

Dotfiles are included in the result by default. Pass false to ignore all dotfiles. Use [onEach][], [onFile][], [onDirectory][], or [isMatch] if you need something more granular.

Type: boolean

Default: true

Example

const files = await readdir('.');
console.log(files);
//=> ['.DS_Store', '.git', 'LICENSE', 'README.md', 'package.json']

const files = await readdir('.', { dot: false });
console.log(files);
//=> ['LICENSE', 'README.md', 'package.json']

filter

Type: function|string|array|regexp

Default: undefined

Example

// only return file paths with "foo" somewhere in the path
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { filter: /foo/ }));

// only return file paths without "foo" somewhere in the path
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { filter: file => !/foo/.test(file.path) }));

follow

Follow symbolic links.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { follow: true }));

isMatch

Default: undefined

Example

// only return file paths with "/.git/" somewhere in the path
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { isMatch: /\/\.git\// }));

// only return file paths that are not inside "node_modules"
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { isMatch: file => !file.relative.includes('node_modules') }));

// get all files that are not named .DS_Store
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { isMatch: file => file.name !== '.DS_Store' }));

// use globs
const picomatch = require('picomatch');
const isMatch = picomatch('*/*.js');
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { isMatch: file => isMatch(file.relative) }));

nodir

When true directories are excluded from the result.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

objects

Return fs.Dirent objects instead of paths.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { objects: true }));

onDirectory

Function to be called on all directories.

Type: function

Default: undefined

Example

const onDirectory = file => {
  if (file.name === 'node_modules') {
    file.recurse = false;
  }
};
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { onDirectory }));

onEach

Function to be called on all directories and files.

Type: function

Default: undefined

Example

const onEach = file => {
  if (file.name === 'node_modules') {
    file.recurse = false;
  }
  if (file.isFile() && file.name[0] === '.') {
    file.keep = true;
  }
};
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { onEach }));

onFile

Function to be called on all files.

Type: function

Default: undefined

Example

const onFile = file => {
  if (file.isFile() && file.name[0] === '.') {
    file.keep = true;
  }
};
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { onFile }));

onSymbolicLink

Function to be called on all symbolic links.

Type: function

Default: undefined

Example

const onSymbolicLink = file => {
  // do stuff
};
console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { onSymbolicLink }));

realpath

When true, the realpath of the file is returned in the result. This can be used in combination with other options, like basename or relative.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { realpath: true }));

recursive

Type: function Type: string Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

const files = await readdir('some/dir', { recursive: true });
console.log(files);

symlinks

Returns the first directory level of symbolic links. Use options.follow to recursively follow symlinks.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { symlinks: true }));

unique

Return only unique file paths. Only needed when options.realpath is true.

Type: boolean

Default: undefined

Example

console.log(await readdir('some/dir', { unique: true }));

Tips & Tricks

Use the onFile option to operate on files as they are read from the file system, before they are pushed onto the results array.

This allows you to pricisely control which files are returned.

(Note that even when you specify that files should be returned as paths rather than objects, all functions passed on the options will receive files as objects, so that you may manipulate the paths that are returned however you need to)

const readdir = require('@folder/readdir');
const isMatch = file => true;

module.exports = async (dir, options) => {
  const opts = { absolute: true, recursive: true, objects: true, ...options };
  const files = [];

  const onFile = file => {
    if (isMatch(file)) {
      files.push(file);
    }
  };

  await readdir(dir, { ...opts, onFile });
  return files;
};

Files and directories

The onFile option does not receive dir objects, only dirents (files). If you need both files and directories, you can do the following:

const readdir = require('@folder/readdir');
const isMatch = file => true;

module.exports = async (dir, options) => {
  const opts = { recursive: true, objects: true, ...options };
  const files = [];

  const onDirectory = file => {
    if (file.name === 'node_modules') {
      file.recurse = false;
    }
  };

  const onFile = file => {
    if (isMatch(file)) {
      files.push(file);
    }
  };

  await readdir(dir, { ...opts, onFile, onDirectory });
  return files;
};

Or you can use onEach (which gives you each file before it has been determined whether or not the file will be returned based on other criteria and options. this allows you to override default behavior in a granular way), or onPush (which gives you a file that is going to be returned in the results array).

Here, we only show onEach, since it's identical to onPush in terms of usage.

const readdir = require('@folder/readdir');

const ignore = ['node_modules', '.git'];
const isIgnored = file => ignore.includes(file.nane);

module.exports = async (dir, options) => {
  const opts = { recursive: true, objects: true, ...options };
  const files = [];

  const onEach = file => {
    if (file.isDirectory()) {
      file.recurse = !isIgnored(file);
    } else {
      files.push(file);
    }
  };

  await readdir(dir, { ...opts, onFile, onEach });
  return files;
};

Benchmarks

(Note that only the benchmarks against fdir are included here since that library claims to be the fastest)

To run the benchmarks yourself, you'll need to cd into the bench folder and run $ npm i. Run the recursive-large benchmarks last, and before you run them cd into bench/fixtures and do $ npm i.

Specs

CPU: Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK 2.4GHz
Cores: 16 (8 Physical)
RAM: 64GB
Disk: Apple APPLE SSD AP2048N 1864GB NVMe (PCIe x4)
OS: macOS macOS Big Sur (darwin)
Kernel: 20.3.0 x64
Node: v15.14.0
V8: 8.6.395.17-node.28

# single directory (~5-10 files)
  @folder/readdir x 24,938 ops/sec (124,693 runs sampled)
             fdir x 24,771 ops/sec (123,858 runs sampled)

# recursive ~220 files
  @folder/readdir x 1,915 ops/sec (9,576 runs sampled)
             fdir x 1,850 ops/sec (9,253 runs sampled)

# recursive ~2,700 files
  @folder/readdir x 155 ops/sec (780 runs sampled)
             fdir x 145 ops/sec (730 runs sampled)

# recursive ~57,200 files (just gatsby!)
  @folder/readdir x 11 ops/sec (57 runs sampled)
             fdir x 10 ops/sec (54 runs sampled)

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Why use @folder/readdir and not some other lib?

Usage

Options

absolute

base

basename

depth

dot

filter

follow

isMatch

nodir

objects

onDirectory

onEach

onFile

onSymbolicLink

realpath

recursive

symlinks

unique

Tips & Tricks

Benchmarks

Files

.verb.md

Latest commit

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File metadata and controls

Why use @folder/readdir and not some other lib?

Usage

Options

absolute

base

basename

depth

dot

filter

follow

isMatch

nodir

objects

onDirectory

onEach

onFile

onSymbolicLink

realpath

recursive

symlinks

unique

Tips & Tricks

Benchmarks