@ratcopycat/license-lens

A tiny CLI tool to scan node_modules and generate a markdown report of all package licenses.

Installation

npm install -g @ratcopycat/license-lens

Or use directly with npx (no installation required):

npx @ratcopycat/license-lens

Usage

Run in your project directory:

npx @ratcopycat/license-lens

This will create a LICENSES.md file with a table of all dependencies and their licenses.

Options

-o, --output <file>   Output file path (default: LICENSES.md)
-d, --dir <path>      Target directory to scan (default: current directory)
-h, --help            Show help message
-v, --version         Show version number

Examples

# Generate report in current directory
npx license-lens

# Custom output file
npx license-lens -o licenses-report.md

# Scan a specific directory
npx license-lens -d ./my-project

Output

The generated markdown file includes:

• Total package count
• MIT vs Non-MIT license breakdown
• Sorted table with package name, version, and license type
• Visual indicators (✅ for MIT, ❌ for non-MIT)

Programmatic Usage

const { scanLicenses, scanNodeModules, generateMarkdown } = require('license-lens');

// Full scan with file output
scanLicenses('./my-project', 'LICENSES.md');

// Or use individual functions
const packages = scanNodeModules('./my-project/node_modules');
const markdown = generateMarkdown(packages);

License

MIT