cross platform "rm" command

Question

I currently have the following script in my package.json for deleting all ".js" files in my bundles folder for when I run "npm run build". It works fine when running it in dev servers but breaks when it is run in a Windows machine.

{   "scripts": {     "build": "rm bundles/*.js && webpack",   }, } 

Since I am hashing all my build files, I am required to delete them all before adding new ones, such that I don't end up with a bunch of old builds.

Is there a "rm bundles/*.js" that would work in both Mac and Windows?

Answer 1

The npm package rimraf is available for command-line usage in scripts.

First install locally into your project:

$ npm install --save-dev rimraf 

Then update the build script in your package.json file:

"scripts": {    "prebuild": "rimraf bundles/*.js",    "build": "webpack" } 

The rimraf command (named after rm -rf) deletes the files.

Documentation:
https://www.npmjs.com/package/rimraf#cli

rimraf is a well established project with over 3,000 4,000 ⭐s on GitHub.