Question 1

How do I use package-directory to find the project root in async Node.js code?

Accepted Answer

Import the packageDirectory function and call it with optional options like cwd. For example, await packageDirectory({ cwd: './someDir' }) returns the root path or undefined if not found, as shown in the README usage.

Question 2

package-directory vs find-up: which should I use for file searching?

Accepted Answer

Use package-directory specifically for locating the project root via package.json, while find-up is more general for finding any file by name. package-directory integrates with find-up but is optimized for this common task, reducing boilerplate code.

Question 3

How can I ignore package.json files that only have a type field in ESM projects?

Accepted Answer

Set the ignoreTypeOnlyPackageJson option to true when calling the API. This treats such files as ESM scope markers instead of package roots, preventing incorrect detection in modern Node.js setups, as explained in the README.

Question 4

Does package-directory work in monorepos with multiple package.json files?

Accepted Answer

It finds the nearest package.json from the starting directory, so in monorepos, it will only return the first valid root encountered. For multi-root detection, you might need to implement custom logic or use other tools.

Question 5

What happens if there's no package.json in the directory tree?

Accepted Answer

The function returns undefined, so your code should handle this case. It's designed to fail gracefully, but you may need fallback mechanisms for projects without standard npm structure.

Question 6

Can I start the search from a specific folder instead of the current working directory?

Accepted Answer

Yes, use the cwd option in the options object. For instance, packageDirectorySync({ cwd: '/path/to/start' }) will begin searching from that directory, as documented in the API section.

package-directory

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