No matter how hard I try, npm refuses to ignore my TypeScript source code file

Question

No matter how hard I try, npm refuses to ignore my TypeScript source code file

I have a project that I developed using TypeScript and compiled to JavaScript before publishing it as a CLI tool through npm. However, I am facing an issue where the TypeScript source code is being included in the npm package, along with other random .ts files.

While I don't mind having the TypeScript files in the package, it adds unnecessary bytes for the end user who won't need them.

I have tried to exclude the TypeScript files using various methods, but they still end up in the package.

Here is a simplified setup:

{
    "name": "example",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "main": "readme.js"
}

Despite trying to ignore all .ts files in the project using a .npmignore file, the readme.ts file still gets included.

To reproduce the issue, I created a few source code files:

touch readme.ts
touch readme.js

When generating the npm package, the readme.ts file is included, even though only readme.js is referenced in the package.json file.

I am puzzled as to why this is happening, since I have specifically excluded all .ts files and only specified readme.js in the package.json.

$ npm --version
6.13.1

typescript npm glob npm-publish

Answer 1

Answer №1

Concise Response: When dealing with files named readme.* in npm, they will be included regardless of attempts to exclude them in your .npmignore file.

NPM Test File Overview:

One of npm's tests for the npm-cli known as "certain files included unconditionally" commences at line #511, and includes a scenario focused on a file named readme.randomext.

From the analysis of this test, it is evident that any file matching the pattern readme.* will be part of the tarball (.tgz) file despite specified exclusions in the .npmignore file.

Here is an excerpt from the aforementioned test suite entitled pack-files-and-ignores.js

test('certain files included unconditionally', function (t) {
  var fixture = new Tacks(
    Dir({
      'package.json': File({
        name: 'npm-test-files',
        version: '1.2.5'
      }),
      '.npmignore': File(
        'package.json',
        'README',
        'Readme',
        'readme.md',
        'readme.randomext',   // <----
        'changelog',
        'CHAngelog',
        'ChangeLOG.txt',
        'history',
        'HistorY',
        'HistorY.md',
        'license',
        'licence',
        'LICENSE',
        'LICENCE'
      ),
      'README': File(''),
      'Readme': File(''),
      'readme.md': File(''),
      'readme.randomext': File(''),     // <----
      'changelog': File(''),
      'CHAngelog': File(''),
      'ChangeLOG.txt': File(''),
      'history': File(''),
      'HistorY': File(''),
      'HistorY.md': File(''),
      'license': File(''),
      'licence': File(''),
      'LICENSE': File(''),
      'LICENCE': File('')
    })
  )
  withFixture(t, fixture, function (done) {
    t.ok(fileExists('package.json'), 'package.json included')
    t.ok(fileExists('README'), 'README included')
    t.ok(fileExists('Readme'), 'Readme included')
    t.ok(fileExists('readme.md'), 'readme.md included')
    t.ok(fileExists('readme.randomext'), 'readme.randomext included')    // <----
    t.ok(fileExists('changelog'), 'changelog included')
    t.ok(fileExists('CHAngelog'), 'CHAngelog included')
    t.ok(fileExists('ChangeLOG.txt'), 'ChangeLOG.txt included')
    t.ok(fileExists('license'), 'license included')
    t.ok(fileExists('licence'), 'licence included')
    t.ok(fileExists('LICENSE'), 'LICENSE included')
    t.ok(fileExists('LICENCE'), 'LICENCE included')
    done()
  })
})

Possible Solutions:

There are a couple of strategies that can be employed:

The straightforward approach involves modifying the file name, for instance, to read-me.ts and then specifying read-me.ts in your .npmignore file. Given that you already have *.ts listed in your .npmignore, explicitly stating read-me.ts may not be necessary.
If the renaming is not feasible, consider the following alternatives:
- Incorporate a postpack script in the scripts section of your package.json. For example:
```
"scripts": {
  "postpack": "node ./fix-it.js",
  ...
},
```
- Subsequently, in the file fix-it.js, utilize the node-tar package to:
  1. Extract the tarball (.tgz).
  2. Eliminate the undesired file(s) like readme.ts.
  3. Repackage to generate a new tarball (.tgz).
- The progression for publishing your package would entail:
  1. Execute npm pack
    
    The postpack script will automatically produce the updated .tgz file without the specified file(s).
  2. Execute
```
npm publish ./path/to/mypackage.tgz
```

Answer 2

Concise Response: When dealing with files named readme.* in npm, they will be included regardless of attempts to exclude them in your .npmignore file.

NPM Test File Overview:

One of npm's tests for the npm-cli known as "certain files included unconditionally" commences at line #511, and includes a scenario focused on a file named readme.randomext.

From the analysis of this test, it is evident that any file matching the pattern readme.* will be part of the tarball (.tgz) file despite specified exclusions in the .npmignore file.

Here is an excerpt from the aforementioned test suite entitled pack-files-and-ignores.js

test('certain files included unconditionally', function (t) {
  var fixture = new Tacks(
    Dir({
      'package.json': File({
        name: 'npm-test-files',
        version: '1.2.5'
      }),
      '.npmignore': File(
        'package.json',
        'README',
        'Readme',
        'readme.md',
        'readme.randomext',   // <----
        'changelog',
        'CHAngelog',
        'ChangeLOG.txt',
        'history',
        'HistorY',
        'HistorY.md',
        'license',
        'licence',
        'LICENSE',
        'LICENCE'
      ),
      'README': File(''),
      'Readme': File(''),
      'readme.md': File(''),
      'readme.randomext': File(''),     // <----
      'changelog': File(''),
      'CHAngelog': File(''),
      'ChangeLOG.txt': File(''),
      'history': File(''),
      'HistorY': File(''),
      'HistorY.md': File(''),
      'license': File(''),
      'licence': File(''),
      'LICENSE': File(''),
      'LICENCE': File('')
    })
  )
  withFixture(t, fixture, function (done) {
    t.ok(fileExists('package.json'), 'package.json included')
    t.ok(fileExists('README'), 'README included')
    t.ok(fileExists('Readme'), 'Readme included')
    t.ok(fileExists('readme.md'), 'readme.md included')
    t.ok(fileExists('readme.randomext'), 'readme.randomext included')    // <----
    t.ok(fileExists('changelog'), 'changelog included')
    t.ok(fileExists('CHAngelog'), 'CHAngelog included')
    t.ok(fileExists('ChangeLOG.txt'), 'ChangeLOG.txt included')
    t.ok(fileExists('license'), 'license included')
    t.ok(fileExists('licence'), 'licence included')
    t.ok(fileExists('LICENSE'), 'LICENSE included')
    t.ok(fileExists('LICENCE'), 'LICENCE included')
    done()
  })
})

Possible Solutions:

There are a couple of strategies that can be employed:

The straightforward approach involves modifying the file name, for instance, to read-me.ts and then specifying read-me.ts in your .npmignore file. Given that you already have *.ts listed in your .npmignore, explicitly stating read-me.ts may not be necessary.
If the renaming is not feasible, consider the following alternatives:
- Incorporate a postpack script in the scripts section of your package.json. For example:
```
"scripts": {
  "postpack": "node ./fix-it.js",
  ...
},
```
- Subsequently, in the file fix-it.js, utilize the node-tar package to:
  1. Extract the tarball (.tgz).
  2. Eliminate the undesired file(s) like readme.ts.
  3. Repackage to generate a new tarball (.tgz).
- The progression for publishing your package would entail:
  1. Execute npm pack
    
    The postpack script will automatically produce the updated .tgz file without the specified file(s).
  2. Execute
```
npm publish ./path/to/mypackage.tgz
```

No matter how hard I try, npm refuses to ignore my TypeScript source code file

Answer №1

NPM Test File Overview:

Possible Solutions:

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