@folder/xdg

Get cross-platform XDG Base Directories or their equivalents. Works with Linux, Windows (win32), or MacOS (darwin).

Please consider following this project's author, Jon Schlinkert, and consider starring the project to show your :heart: and support.

Install

Install with npm:

$ npm install --save @folder/xdg

Usage

Add the following line of code to your Node.js application:

const xdg = require('@folder/xdg');

The main export is a function that may be called with an options object:

const dirs = xdg(/* options */);
console.log(dirs);

/* This output is on MacOS, see examples for Linux and Windows below */
console.log(dirs.config); // => '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Preferences'
console.log(dirs.cache); // => '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Caches'
console.log(dirs.data); // => '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Application Support'

See example output by platform.

Options

| Option | Type | Description | Default Value | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | cachedir | string | Override the default cachedir | Platform specific, see below | | configdir | string | Override the default configdir | | | datadir | string | Override the default datadir | | | env | object | The env object to use for getting paths. | process.env | | expanded | boolean | Expand paths into an object. See the Expanded Paths example for more details. | undefined | | homedir | string | The user's home directory. | os.homedir() | | platform | string | The platform to use: darwin, linux, win32 | process.platform | | resolve | function | Custom function for resolving paths to each directory. The default function attempts to respect casing in the user's existing directories. | undefined | | runtimedir | string | Override the default runtimedir | | | subdir | string | A sub-directory to join to the path, typically the name of your application. This path is joined differently on each platform. See examples. | xdg | | tempdir | string | The temp directory to use. | os.tmpdir() |

See examples below.

Examples

console.log(xdg.darwin());
console.log(xdg.linux());
console.log(xdg.win32());
// or, if you want "expanded" paths (see the "expanded paths" example)
console.log(xdg({ expanded: true, platform: 'darwin' }));
console.log(xdg({ expanded: true, platform: 'linux' }));
console.log(xdg({ expanded: true, platform: 'win32' }));

console.log(xdg());

MacOS (darwin)

{
  cache: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Caches/xdg',
  config: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Preferences/xdg',
  configdirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Preferences/xdg', '/etc/xdg' ],
  data: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Application Support/xdg',
  datadirs: [
    '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Application Support/xdg',
    '/usr/local/share/',
    '/usr/share/'
  ],
  runtime: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T/xdg'
}

Linux

{
  cache: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.cache/xdg',
  config: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.config/xdg',
  configdirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/.config/xdg', '/etc/xdg' ],
  data: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.local/share/xdg',
  datadirs: [
    '/Users/jonschlinkert/.local/share/xdg',
    '/usr/local/share/',
    '/usr/share/'
  ],
  runtime: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T/xdg'
}

Windows (win32)

{
  cache: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/xdg/Cache',
  config: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Roaming/xdg/Config',
  configdirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Roaming/xdg/Config' ],
  data: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/xdg/Data',
  datadirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/xdg/Data' ],
  runtime: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T/xdg'
}

console.log(xdg({ expanded: true, subdir: 'FooBar' }));

Extra directories

Note that the expanded object includes four additional path properties for convenience:

• cwd - set via options.cwd or process.cwd()
• home - set via options.homedir or os.homedir()
• temp - set via options.tempdir or os.tmpdir()
• cache.logs - set at path.join(cachedir, 'logs')

MacOS (darwin)

{
  cwd: '/Users/jonschlinkert/dev/@folder/xdg',
  home: '/Users/jonschlinkert',
  temp: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T',
  cache: { 
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Caches/FooBar',
    logs: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Caches/FooBar/Logs' 
  },
  config: {
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Preferences/FooBar',
    dirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Preferences/FooBar', '/etc/FooBar' ]
  },
  data: {
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Application Support/FooBar',
    dirs: [
      '/Users/jonschlinkert/Library/Application Support/FooBar',
      '/usr/local/share/',
      '/usr/share/'
    ]
  },
  runtime: { home: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T/FooBar' }
}

Linux

{
  cwd: '/Users/jonschlinkert/dev/@folder/xdg',
  home: '/Users/jonschlinkert',
  temp: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T',
  cache: { 
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.cache/FooBar',
    logs: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.cache/FooBar/Logs'
  },
  config: {
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.config/FooBar',
    dirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/.config/FooBar', '/etc/FooBar' ]
  },
  data: {
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/.local/share/FooBar',
    dirs: [
      '/Users/jonschlinkert/.local/share/FooBar',
      '/usr/local/share/',
      '/usr/share/'
    ]
  },
  runtime: { home: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T/FooBar' }
}

Windows (win32)

{
  cwd: '/Users/jonschlinkert/dev/@folder/xdg',
  home: '/Users/jonschlinkert',
  temp: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T',
  cache: { 
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/FooBar/Cache',
    logs: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/FooBar/Cache/Logs'
  },
  config: {
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Roaming/FooBar/Config',
    dirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Roaming/FooBar/Config' ]
  },
  data: {
    home: '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/FooBar/Data',
    dirs: [ '/Users/jonschlinkert/AppData/Local/FooBar/Data' ]
  },
  runtime: { home: '/var/folders/vd/53h736bj0_sg9gk04c89k0pr0000gq/T/FooBar' }
}

API

Aside from the main export, xdg(), several platform-specific methods are exposed to simplify getting paths for specific platforms. Note that you can accomplish the same thing by passing the platform on the options to the main export, e.g. { platform: 'linux' }.

The main export, and each method, returns an object with the following properties (see the XDG Base Directories docs below for more details on how each property is set):

• cache
• config
• configdirs
• data
• datadirs
• runtime

Main Export

xdg

Get the XDG Base Directory paths for Linux, or equivalent paths for Windows or MaxOS.

Params

• options {Object}
• returns {Object}: Returns an object of paths for the current platform.

.darwin

Get XDG equivalent paths for MacOS. Used by the main export when process.platform is darwin. Aliased as xdg.macos().

Params

• options {Object}
• returns {Object}: Returns an object of paths.

Example

const dirs = xdg.darwin();
// or
const dirs = xdg.macos();

.linux

Get XDG equivalent paths for Linux. Used by the main export when process.platform is linux.

• returns {Object}: Returns an object of paths.
• returns {Object}: Returns an object of paths.

Example

const dirs = xdg.linux();

.win32

Get XDG equivalent paths for MacOS. Used by the main export when process.platform is win32. Aliased as xdg.windows().

Params

• options {Object}
• returns {Object}: Returns an object of paths.

Example

const dirs = xdg.win32();
// or
const dirs = xdg.windows();

XDG Base Directories

This documentation is from the Arch Linux XDG Base Directory docs.

User directories

• XDG_CONFIG_HOME

  • Where user-specific configurations should be written (analogous to /etc).
  • Should default to $HOME/.config.

• XDG_CACHE_HOME

  • Where user-specific non-essential (cached) data should be written (analogous to /var/cache).
  • Should default to $HOME/.cache.

• XDG_DATA_HOME

  • Where user-specific data files should be written (analogous to /usr/share).
  • Should default to $HOME/.local/share.

• XDG_RUNTIME_DIR

  • Used for non-essential, user-specific data files such as sockets, named pipes, etc.
  • Not required to have a default value; warnings should be issued if not set or equivalents provided.
  • Must be owned by the user with an access mode of 0700.
  • Filesystem fully featured by standards of OS.
  • Must be on the local filesystem.
  • May be subject to periodic cleanup.
  • Modified every 6 hours or set sticky bit if persistence is desired.
  • Can only exist for the duration of the user's login.
  • Should not store large files as it may be mounted as a tmpfs.

System directories

• XDG_DATA_DIRS

  • List of directories seperated by : (analogous to PATH).
  • Should default to /usr/local/share:/usr/share.

• XDG_CONFIG_DIRS

  • List of directories seperated by : (analogous to PATH).
  • Should default to /etc/xdg.

About

Pull requests and stars are always welcome. For bugs and feature requests, please create an issue.

Running and reviewing unit tests is a great way to get familiarized with a library and its API. You can install dependencies and run tests with the following command:

$ npm install && npm test

(This project's readme.md is generated by verb, please don't edit the readme directly. Any changes to the readme must be made in the .verb.md readme template.)

To generate the readme, run the following command:

$ npm install -g verbose/verb#dev verb-generate-readme && verb

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Author

Jon Schlinkert

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License

Copyright © 2023, Jon Schlinkert. Released under the MIT License.

This file was generated by verb-generate-readme, v0.8.0, on July 24, 2023.