package-directory

Install the package-directory package using npm to find the root directory of a Node.js project or npm package.

npm install package-directory

A "type-only" package.json is defined as a file that contains exactly one key, which is "type" with a string value (e.g., { "type": "module" }).

If you set ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: true, the search will treat these files as if no package.json exists and continue climbing up the directory tree until it finds a package.json with additional properties or reaches the root directory.

import {packageDirectory} from 'package-directory';

// This will skip package.json files that only define the module type
const directory = await packageDirectory({ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: true});

Use the asynchronous packageDirectory() function to find the root directory of the current project. It returns a Promise that resolves to the absolute path of the project root or undefined if no package.json is found.

import {packageDirectory} from 'package-directory';

console.log(await packageDirectory());
//=> '/Users/sindresorhus/foo'

The library provides both asynchronous and synchronous methods to locate the project root:

• packageDirectory(options?): Returns a Promise for the project root path or undefined.
• packageDirectorySync(options?): Returns the project root path or undefined synchronously.

Both packageDirectory() and packageDirectorySync() accept an optional options object to refine the search behavior:

• cwd: The directory to start searching from. Defaults to process.cwd().
• ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: A boolean that defaults to false. When set to true, it ignores package.json files that only contain the type field. This is useful if you want to treat {"type":"module"} files as ESM scope markers rather than package roots.

// Example of using options
const root = await packageDirectory({
	cwd: './some/path',
	ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: true
});

Use packageDirectorySync() to find the directory containing the nearest package.json file synchronously. This is useful in environments where await is not available or preferred.

Options

• cwd: The directory to start searching from. Defaults to process.cwd().
• ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: If true, the function will skip package.json files that only contain a "type": "module" (or other string) field and continue searching up the directory tree for a more substantial package.json.

import {packageDirectorySync} from 'package-directory';

const directory = packageDirectorySync({cwd: 'path/to/search'});

Use packageDirectory() to find the directory containing the nearest package.json file, starting from a specified directory.

By default, it starts from the current working directory (process.cwd()).

Options

• cwd: The directory to start searching from. Defaults to process.cwd().
• ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: If true, the function will skip package.json files that only contain a "type": "module" (or other string) field and continue searching up the directory tree for a more substantial package.json.

import {packageDirectory} from 'package-directory';

const directory = await packageDirectory({cwd: 'path/to/search'});

Synchronously find the root directory of a Node.js project or npm package by searching upwards for a package.json file. Returns the absolute path of the project root or undefined if no package root is found.

Use this for simple scripts or when synchronous execution is required.

import {packageDirectorySync} from 'package-directory';

console.log(packageDirectorySync());
//=> '/Users/sindresorhus/foo'

Both packageDirectory and packageDirectorySync accept an optional Options object to customize the search behavior:

• cwd: The directory to start searching from. Defaults to process.cwd().
• ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson: If set to true, the search will ignore package.json files that only contain the type field (e.g., {"type":"module"}). This allows treating such files as ESM scope markers rather than package roots. Defaults to false.

type Options = {
	readonly cwd?: string;
	readonly ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson?: boolean;
};