eslint-plugin-remove-comments

An ESLint plugin to automatically remove comments from your code while preserving important directives like eslint-disable, TypeScript directives, JSDoc, and more.

Features

• Reliable auto-fix - Removes comments automatically with ESLint's --fix option
• Selective preservation - Keep important comments like:
  • ESLint directives (eslint-disable, eslint-enable, etc.)
  • TypeScript directives (@ts-ignore, @ts-expect-error, etc.)
  • Triple-slash references (/// <reference ... />)
  • JSDoc comments (optional)
  • TODO/FIXME/NOTE markers (optional)
  • Empty catch block comments
  • Custom patterns via regex
• JSX support - Works with React/JSX files
• TypeScript support - Full TypeScript type definitions included
• Zero dependencies - Lightweight and fast
• Fully tested - 119 comprehensive tests across 6 test suites

Installation

npm install --save-dev eslint-plugin-remove-comments

Usage

Basic Setup

Add to your ESLint config:

// eslint.config.js (ESLint 9+)
import removeComments from 'eslint-plugin-remove-comments';

export default [
  {
    plugins: {
      'remove-comments': removeComments
    },
    rules: {
      'remove-comments/remove-all': 'error'
    }
  }
];

Or for ESLint 8:

// .eslintrc.js
module.exports = {
  plugins: ['remove-comments'],
  rules: {
    'remove-comments/remove-all': 'error'
  }
};

Run ESLint with Auto-fix

npx eslint --fix .

Options

preserveJSDoc

Preserve JSDoc comments (comments starting with /**).

{
  rules: {
    'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
      preserveJSDoc: true
    }]
  }
}

Example:

// Before
/**
 * Calculates the sum of two numbers
 * @param {number} a - First number
 * @param {number} b - Second number
 * @returns {number} The sum
 */
function add(a, b) {
  // This comment will be removed
  return a + b;
}

// After (with preserveJSDoc: true)
/**
 * Calculates the sum of two numbers
 * @param {number} a - First number
 * @param {number} b - Second number
 * @returns {number} The sum
 */
function add(a, b) {
  return a + b;
}

preserveTodos

Preserve TODO, FIXME, NOTE, HACK, and XXX comments (case-insensitive, requires colon).

{
  rules: {
    'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
      preserveTodos: true
    }]
  }
}

Example:

// Before
// TODO: implement error handling
// FIXME: memory leak here
// NOTE: this is important
// Just a regular comment
function process() {
  // ...
}

// After (with preserveTodos: true)
// TODO: implement error handling
// FIXME: memory leak here
// NOTE: this is important
function process() {
  // ...
}

preservePatterns

Preserve comments matching custom regex patterns.

{
  rules: {
    'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
      preservePatterns: [
        '^KEEP:',           // Keep comments starting with "KEEP:"
        '@license',         // Keep license comments
        'prettier-ignore'   // Keep Prettier directives
      ]
    }]
  }
}

Combining Options

You can combine multiple options:

{
  rules: {
    'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
      preserveJSDoc: true,
      preserveTodos: true,
      preservePatterns: ['^KEEP:', '@license']
    }]
  }
}

Always Preserved

These comments are always preserved regardless of options:

• ESLint directives: // eslint-disable, /* eslint-enable */, etc.
• TypeScript directives: // @ts-ignore, // @ts-expect-error, // @ts-nocheck, // @ts-check
• Triple-slash references: /// <reference path="..." />
• Empty catch blocks: Comments in empty catch blocks (e.g., catch (e) { /* ignore */ })

Examples

Remove All Comments

// Input
function calculate() {
  // Calculate the result
  const x = 1; // Initialize x
  /* Block comment */
  return x * 2;
}

// Output
function calculate() {
  const x = 1;
  return x * 2;
}

Preserve ESLint Directives

// Input & Output (no change)
// eslint-disable-next-line no-console
console.log('Debug info');

Preserve TypeScript Directives

// Input & Output (no change)
// @ts-ignore
const value = unknownApi();

JSX Support

// Input
function Component() {
  // Component logic
  return (
    <div>
      {/* JSX comment */}
      <p>Hello World</p>
    </div>
  );
}

// Output
function Component() {
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Hello World</p>
    </div>
  );
}

Use Cases

• Minification: Remove comments before production builds
• Code cleanup: Remove outdated or unnecessary comments
• Consistency: Enforce a no-comments policy in certain files
• Pre-processing: Clean code before further transformations

License

MIT