How do I get the path to the current script with Node js

Question

I know there's process.cwd, but that only refers to the directory where the script was called, not of the script itself. For instance, say I'm in /home/kyle/ and I run the following command:

node /home/kyle/some/dir/file.js

If I call process.cwd(), I get /home/kyle/, not /home/kyle/some/dir/. Is there a way to get that directory?How would I get the path to the script in Node.js?

Answer 1

Hello @kartik,

you can do this:

fs.readFile(path.resolve(__dirname, 'settings.json'), 'UTF-8', callback);

Use resolve() instead of concatenating with '/' or '\' else you will run into cross-platform issues.

Note: __dirname is the local path of the module or included script. If you are writing a plugin which needs to know the path of the main script it is:

require.main.filename

or, to just get the folder name:

require('path').dirname(require.main.filename)

Hope it helps!!