1--- 2section: cli-commands 3title: npm-run-script 4description: Run arbitrary package scripts 5--- 6 7# npm-run-script(1) 8 9## Run arbitrary package scripts 10 11### Synopsis 12 13```bash 14npm run-script <command> [--silent] [-- <args>...] 15 16alias: npm run 17``` 18 19### Description 20 21This runs an arbitrary command from a package's `"scripts"` object. If no 22`"command"` is provided, it will list the available scripts. `run[-script]` is 23used by the test, start, restart, and stop commands, but can be called 24directly, as well. When the scripts in the package are printed out, they're 25separated into lifecycle (test, start, restart) and directly-run scripts. 26 27As of [`npm@2.0.0`](https://blog.npmjs.org/post/98131109725/npm-2-0-0), you can 28use custom arguments when executing scripts. The special option `--` is used by 29[getopt](https://goo.gl/KxMmtG) to delimit the end of the options. npm will pass 30all the arguments after the `--` directly to your script: 31 32```bash 33npm run test -- --grep="pattern" 34``` 35 36The arguments will only be passed to the script specified after ```npm run``` 37and not to any pre or post script. 38 39The `env` script is a special built-in command that can be used to list 40environment variables that will be available to the script at runtime. If an 41"env" command is defined in your package, it will take precedence over the 42built-in. 43 44In addition to the shell's pre-existing `PATH`, `npm run` adds 45`node_modules/.bin` to the `PATH` provided to scripts. Any binaries provided by 46locally-installed dependencies can be used without the `node_modules/.bin` 47prefix. For example, if there is a `devDependency` on `tap` in your package, 48you should write: 49 50```bash 51"scripts": {"test": "tap test/\*.js"} 52``` 53 54instead of 55 56```bash 57"scripts": {"test": "node_modules/.bin/tap test/\*.js"} 58``` 59 60to run your tests. 61 62The actual shell your script is run within is platform dependent. By default, 63on Unix-like systems it is the `/bin/sh` command, on Windows it is the `cmd.exe`. 64The actual shell referred to by `/bin/sh` also depends on the system. 65As of [`npm@5.1.0`](https://github.com/npm/npm/releases/tag/v5.1.0) you can 66customize the shell with the `script-shell` configuration. 67 68Scripts are run from the root of the module, regardless of what your current 69working directory is when you call `npm run`. If you want your script to 70use different behavior based on what subdirectory you're in, you can use the 71`INIT_CWD` environment variable, which holds the full path you were in when 72you ran `npm run`. 73 74`npm run` sets the `NODE` environment variable to the `node` executable with 75which `npm` is executed. Also, if the `--scripts-prepend-node-path` is passed, 76the directory within which `node` resides is added to the 77`PATH`. If `--scripts-prepend-node-path=auto` is passed (which has been the 78default in `npm` v3), this is only performed when that `node` executable is 79not found in the `PATH`. 80 81If you try to run a script without having a `node_modules` directory and it fails, 82you will be given a warning to run `npm install`, just in case you've forgotten. 83 84You can use the `--silent` flag to prevent showing `npm ERR!` output on error. 85 86You can use the `--if-present` flag to avoid exiting with a non-zero exit code 87when the script is undefined. This lets you run potentially undefined scripts 88without breaking the execution chain. 89 90### See Also 91 92* [npm scripts](/using-npm/scripts) 93* [npm test](/cli-commands/npm-test) 94* [npm start](/cli-commands/npm-start) 95* [npm restart](/cli-commands/npm-restart) 96* [npm stop](/cli-commands/npm-stop) 97* [npm config](/cli-commands/npm-config) 98