async-repl

This uses the native async/await support in Node 7.x and newer to let you await promises in the repl ("read-eval-print-loop" -- the interactive Node command line).

Native Alternative in Node 10

Note: Node 10 added the command line flag --experimental-repl-await which allows await support. That may be a good option for new projects or usages.

Install

npm install -g async-repl

Examples

$ async-repl
async> 1 + 2
3
async> 1 + await new Promise(r => setTimeout(() => r(2), 1000))
3
async> let x = 1 + await new Promise(r => setTimeout(() => r(2), 1000))
undefined
async> x
3
async>

const repl = require('repl');
const stubber = require('async-repl/stubber');
const replInstance = repl.start({ prompt: 'my-fancy-repl> ' });
stubber(replInstance);

Caveats

• This tool doesn't support multi-line input.

• Top-level object destructuring assignment like:

    let { x } = await someThing()
  

  doesn't currently work due to a bug in recast (see test suite), but you can workaround like:

    ({x} = await someThing())
  

• We necessarily resolve the top-level expression promise for you, so if you don't want to wait for resolution you should make sure you're not returning the promise as an expression.

    # This will not block because it's a statement
    let myPromise = makePromise()
  
    # This will block because it's an expression
    otherPromise = makePromise()
  
    # This will block because now we're using the promise value as an expression
    myPromise
  

• const variables in the repl scope can be overridden

  async> const a = 1
  undefined
  async> a = 2
  2