Command Line Options Node.js v5.10.1 Manual & Documentation

Node.js (1)

- About these Docs
- Synopsis
- Assertion Testing
- Buffer
- C/C++ Addons
- Child Processes
- Cluster
- Command Line Options
- Console
- Crypto
- Debugger
- DNS
- Domain
- Errors
- Events
- File System
- Globals
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Modules
- Net
- OS
- Path
- Process
- Punycode
- Query Strings
- Readline
- REPL
- Stream
- String Decoder
- Timers
- TLS/SSL
- TTY
- UDP/Datagram
- URL
- Utilities
- V8
- VM
- ZLIB

# Command Line Options#

Node.js comes with a wide variety of CLI options. These options expose built-in debugging, multiple ways to execute scripts, and other helpful runtime options.

To view this documentation as a manual page in your terminal, run `man node`.

## Synopsis#

`node [options] [v8 options] [script.js | -e "script"] [arguments]`

`node debug [script.js | -e "script" | <host>:<port>] …`

`node --v8-options`

Execute without arguments to start the REPL.

For more info about `node debug`, please see the debugger documentation.

## Options#

### `-v`, `--version`#

Print node's version.

### `-h`, `--help`#

Print node command line options. The output of this option is less detailed than this document.

### `-e`, `--eval "script"`#

Evaluate the following argument as JavaScript.

### `-p`, `--print "script"`#

Identical to `-e` but prints the result.

### `-c`, `--check`#

Syntax check the script without executing.

### `-i`, `--interactive`#

Opens the REPL even if stdin does not appear to be a terminal.

### `-r`, `--require module`#

Preload the specified module at startup.

Follows `require()`'s module resolution rules. `module` may be either a path to a file, or a node module name.

### `--no-deprecation`#

Silence deprecation warnings.

### `--trace-deprecation`#

Print stack traces for deprecations.

### `--throw-deprecation`#

Throw errors for deprecations.

### `--trace-sync-io`#

Prints a stack trace whenever synchronous I/O is detected after the first turn of the event loop.

### `--zero-fill-buffers`#

Automatically zero-fills all newly allocated Buffer and SlowBuffer instances.

### `--track-heap-objects`#

Track heap object allocations for heap snapshots.

### `--zero-fill-buffers`#

Automatically zero-fills all newly allocated Buffer and SlowBuffer instances.

### `--prof-process`#

Process v8 profiler output generated using the v8 option `--prof`.

### `--v8-options`#

Print v8 command line options.

### `--tls-cipher-list=list`#

Specify an alternative default TLS cipher list. (Requires Node.js to be built with crypto support. (Default))

### `--enable-fips`#

Enable FIPS-compliant crypto at startup. (Requires Node.js to be built with `./configure --openssl-fips`)

### `--force-fips`#

Force FIPS-compliant crypto on startup. (Cannot be disabled from script code.) (Same requirements as `--enable-fips`)

### `--icu-data-dir=file`#

Specify ICU data load path. (overrides `NODE_ICU_DATA`)

## Environment Variables#

### `NODE_DEBUG=module[,…]`#

`','`-separated list of core modules that should print debug information.

### `NODE_PATH=path[:…]`#

`':'`-separated list of directories prefixed to the module search path.

Note: on Windows, this is a `';'`-separated list instead.

### `NODE_DISABLE_COLORS=1`#

When set to `1` colors will not be used in the REPL.

### `NODE_ICU_DATA=file`#

Data path for ICU (Intl object) data. Will extend linked-in data when compiled with small-icu support.

### `NODE_REPL_HISTORY=file`#

Path to the file used to store the persistent REPL history. The default path is `~/.node_repl_history`, which is overridden by this variable. Setting the value to an empty string (`""` or `" "`) disables persistent REPL history.