# npm-packlist
[](https://travis-ci.com/npm/npm-packlist)
Get a list of the files to add from a folder into an npm package
These can be handed to [tar](http://npm.im/tar) like so to make an npm
package tarball:
```js
const packlist = require('npm-packlist')
const tar = require('tar')
const packageDir = '/path/to/package'
const packageTarball = '/path/to/package.tgz'
packlist({ path: packageDir })
.then(files => tar.create({
prefix: 'package/',
cwd: packageDir,
file: packageTarball,
gzip: true
}, files))
.then(_ => {
// tarball has been created, continue with your day
})
```
This uses the following rules:
1. If a `package.json` file is found, and it has a `files` list,
then ignore everything that isn't in `files`. Always include the
readme, license, notice, changes, changelog, and history files, if
they exist, and the package.json file itself.
2. If there's no `package.json` file (or it has no `files` list), and
there is a `.npmignore` file, then ignore all the files in the
`.npmignore` file.
3. If there's no `package.json` with a `files` list, and there's no
`.npmignore` file, but there is a `.gitignore` file, then ignore
all the files in the `.gitignore` file.
4. Everything in the root `node_modules` is ignored, unless it's a
bundled dependency. If it IS a bundled dependency, and it's a
symbolic link, then the target of the link is included, not the
symlink itself.
4. Unless they're explicitly included (by being in a `files` list, or
a `!negated` rule in a relevant `.npmignore` or `.gitignore`),
always ignore certain common cruft files:
1. .npmignore and .gitignore files (their effect is in the package
already, there's no need to include them in the package)
2. editor junk like `.*.swp`, `._*` and `.*.orig` files
3. `.npmrc` files (these may contain private configs)
4. The `node_modules/.bin` folder
5. Waf and gyp cruft like `/build/config.gypi` and `.lock-wscript`
6. Darwin's `.DS_Store` files because wtf are those even
7. `npm-debug.log` files at the root of a project
You can explicitly re-include any of these with a `files` list in
`package.json` or a negated ignore file rule.
## API
Same API as [ignore-walk](http://npm.im/ignore-walk), just hard-coded
file list and rule sets.
The `Walker` and `WalkerSync` classes take a `bundled` argument, which
is a list of package names to include from node_modules. When calling
the top-level `packlist()` and `packlist.sync()` functions, this
module calls into `npm-bundled` directly.
