fscli

fscli brings Node fs to the terminal with the same method names JavaScript developers already use in code.

It is intentionally thin: fscli readFile, fscli mkdir, fscli rmdir, fscli rm, fscli cp, and the rest all call the matching file system method from the JavaScript runtime you are already using.

Compatibility

• Runtimes: Node >= 18
• Module format: ESM CLI package
• Required APIs: Node's or compatible built-in file system APIs
• Implementation note: the current command surface follows the Promise-based Node file system exports in the Node version that runs fscli

Goals

• Keep shell usage close to the Node fs method surface JavaScript developers already know
• Support global installation for daily terminal use
• Work cleanly through npx and bunx when installed locally
• Accept JSON values for option objects, arrays, booleans, and numbers
• Stay small enough to feel like a native terminal tool, not a framework

Installation

Global install is the recommended setup:

npm install -g @fscli/fscli

Local project install also works:

npm install --save-dev @fscli/fscli

Then run it from the project root with:

npx fscli readFile ./package.json '{"encoding":"utf8"}'
bunx fscli readFile ./package.json '{"encoding":"utf8"}'

Basic entry points:

fscli
fscli --help
fscli --version

Usage

The command name is the Node file system method name:

fscli <command> [...positionals]
fscli <command> --<param> <value> ...
fscli --help
fscli --version

Run fscli or fscli --help to print the live command list from the runtime that is executing it.

Examples:

fscli rmdir -P ./path/here
fscli readFile ./package.json '{"encoding":"utf8"}'
fscli writeFile ./tmp/hello.txt "hello from fscli" '{"encoding":"utf8"}'
fscli mkdir --path ./tmp/nested --options '{"recursive":true}'
fscli rm --path ./tmp/nested --options '{"recursive":true,"force":true}'
fscli cp --src ./src --dest ./backup --options '{"recursive":true}'
fscli readdir --path . --options '{"withFileTypes":true}'

Argument decoding

CLI values are decoded before they are passed into Node:

• true and false become booleans
• Numeric strings become numbers
• JSON arrays, JSON objects, and JSON strings are parsed with JSON.parse
• Everything else is passed as a plain string

That keeps option objects close to normal JavaScript:

fscli mkdir ./tmp/cache '{"recursive":true}'
fscli writeFile ./data.json '{"ok":true}' '{"encoding":"utf8"}'

If you are on PowerShell, escape inner double quotes inside JSON:

fscli mkdir --path .\tmp\nested --options "{\"recursive\":true}"

Output behavior

• Strings are written directly to stdout
• Uint8Array results are written as raw bytes
• Everything else is printed with Node's default console.log formatting

Command Reference

This reference reflects the current package on Node v22.14.0. fscli positions itself as Node fs for your terminal, while the current command surface follows the Promise-based file system exports available in the runtime that executes it. Different Node or Bun versions and different runtimes can change what you see here. For the live list on your machine, run fscli or fscli --help.

| Command | Parameters | Flags | | ------------ | ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | access | path, mode | -P = --path-M = --mode | | appendFile | path, data, options | -P = --path-D = --data-O = --options | | chmod | path, mode | -P = --path-M = --mode | | chown | path, uid, gid | -P = --path-U = --uid-G = --gid | | copyFile | src, dest, mode | -S = --src-D = --dest-M = --mode | | cp | src, dest, options | -S = --src-D = --dest-O = --options | | glob | pattern, options | -P = --pattern-O = --options | | lchmod | path, mode | -P = --path-M = --mode | | lchown | path, uid, gid | -P = --path-U = --uid-G = --gid | | link | existingPath, newPath | -E = --existingPath-N = --newPath | | lstat | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | lutimes | path, atime, mtime | -P = --path-A = --atime-M = --mtime | | mkdir | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | mkdtemp | prefix, options | -P = --prefix-O = --options | | open | path, flags, mode | -P = --path-F = --flags-M = --mode | | opendir | args | -A = --args | | readFile | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | readdir | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | readlink | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | realpath | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | rename | oldPath, newPath | -O = --oldPath-N = --newPath | | rm | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | rmdir | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | stat | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | statfs | path, options | -P = --path-O = --options | | symlink | target, path, type_ | -T = --target-P = --path-Y = --type_ | | truncate | path, len | -P = --path-L = --len | | unlink | path | -P = --path | | utimes | path, atime, mtime | -P = --path-A = --atime-M = --mtime | | watch | filename, options | -F = --filename-O = --options | | writeFile | path, data, options | -P = --path-D = --data-O = --options |

For the most stable usage across Node versions, prefer positional arguments when you already know the method signature.

Tests

Run the package test suite with:

npm test

The current suite covers package metadata, publish-facing docs, and real CLI execution against temporary files and directories.

Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/fscli/fscli
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@fscli/fscli
• Homepage: https://fscli.github.io/fscli

License

Apache-2.0