Question 1

read-package-up vs read-pkg: which should I use?

Accepted Answer

Use read-package-up when you need automatic discovery of the closest package.json, as it combines finding and reading. Use read-pkg if you already have the file path and only need parsing, as it's a simpler alternative for direct reads.

Question 2

How to disable normalization in read-package-up?

Accepted Answer

Set the 'normalize' option to false in the function call, like `readPackageUp({normalize: false})`. This returns raw package.json data without npm standardization, useful for custom processing.

Question 3

Does read-package-up work in monorepos?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it finds the closest package.json from the current directory, so it can access package-specific metadata in monorepos. However, it won't automatically find root package.json unless you start from that directory.

Question 4

What errors does read-package-up handle?

Accepted Answer

It throws enhanced JSON parsing errors if package.json is invalid, and returns undefined if no file is found. This allows for graceful error handling in scripts without crashing on missing files.

Question 5

Can I use read-package-up synchronously in async code?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but avoid it in performance-critical async functions as `readPackageUpSync()` blocks the event loop. Prefer the async `readPackageUp()` in such cases to maintain non-blocking operations.

Question 6

Is read-package-up compatible with TypeScript?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it includes TypeScript definitions, so you can import it directly in TypeScript projects with full type support for the returned package.json object and options.

read-package-up

What is read-package-up?

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