@tayaee/sortini

@tayaee/sortini is a zero-dependency CLI utility that sorts INI file sections and keys to minimize diff noise. Built for maximum compatibility across Node.js versions (v12+).

Quickstart

Run directly via npx (defaults to in-place edit, no backup, and auto-encoding):

# In-place sort (latest version)
npx @tayaee/sortini config.ini

# Preview changes as unified diff without modifying files
npx @tayaee/sortini -d config.ini

# Sort in-place and create a backup (config-YYYYmmdd-HHMMSS.ini)
npx @tayaee/sortini -b config.ini

# Print sorted output to stdout without modifying files
npx @tayaee/sortini --no-in-place config.ini

Direct GitHub Execution & Specific Version Tags

# Latest main branch
npx github:tayaee/sortini config.ini

Sorting & Formatting Rules

1. key=value Formatting: Strips spaces around = into a clean key=value format.
2. Global Parameters: Key-value pairs before any [section] stay at the top, sorted alphabetically.
3. Alphabetical Sorting: Section headers ([section]) and keys within each section are sorted alphabetically (A-Z).
4. Inline Comment Column Alignment: Inline comments (; or #) are aligned to column stops 40 ➔ 60 ➔ 80 ➔ min 2 spaces (respects quotes).
5. Standalone Comment Preservation: Comments attached above items/sections are preserved with internal blank lines stripped.
6. Section Spacing: Exactly 1 blank line is placed between sections for clean readability.

CLI Options

| Option | Short | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | --in-place | -i | Sort input files in place (default) | | --no-in-place | - | Print sorted output to stdout without modifying files | | --diff | -d | Print unified diff without modifying files (exits 1 if diff exists, 0 if sorted) | | --backup | -b | Create a backup (file-YYYYmmdd-HHMMSS.ini) before editing in-place | | --no-backup | - | Do not create a backup file (default) | | --encoding <enc> | -e | File encoding: auto (default, preserves BOM), utf-8, latin1, utf16le | | --newline-format <fmt> | -n | Newline format: windows (default, CRLF \r\n), linux (LF \n), macos (CR \r) | | --help | -h | Display help message | | --version | -v | Display version number |

Exit Status

| Mode | Exit Code | Condition | | --- | --- | --- | | Normal Mode (--in-place, --no-in-place) | 0 | Success or file already sorted | | | 1 | File error, permission denied, invalid args, or internal failure | | Diff Mode (-d, --diff) | 0 | File is already sorted (no diff) | | | 1 | File needs sorting (diff printed) or error occurred |

License

MIT License