# globby > User-friendly glob matching Based on [`fast-glob`](https://github.com/mrmlnc/fast-glob) but adds a bunch of useful features. ## Features - Promise API - Multiple patterns - Negated patterns: `['foo*', '!foobar']` - Expands directories: `foo` → `foo/**/*` - Supports `.gitignore` and similar ignore config files - Supports `URL` as `cwd` ## Install ```sh npm install globby ``` ## Usage ``` ├── unicorn ├── cake └── rainbow ``` ```js import {globby} from 'globby'; const paths = await globby(['*', '!cake']); console.log(paths); //=> ['unicorn', 'rainbow'] ``` ## API Note that glob patterns can only contain forward-slashes, not backward-slashes, so if you want to construct a glob pattern from path components, you need to use `path.posix.join()` instead of `path.join()`. ### globby(patterns, options?) Returns a `Promise` of matching paths. #### patterns Type: `string | string[]` See supported `minimatch` [patterns](https://github.com/isaacs/minimatch#usage). #### options Type: `object` See the [`fast-glob` options](https://github.com/mrmlnc/fast-glob#options-3) in addition to the ones below. ##### expandDirectories Type: `boolean | string[] | object`\ Default: `true` If set to `true`, `globby` will automatically glob directories for you. If you define an `Array` it will only glob files that matches the patterns inside the `Array`. You can also define an `object` with `files` and `extensions` like below: ```js import {globby} from 'globby'; const paths = await globby('images', { expandDirectories: { files: ['cat', 'unicorn', '*.jpg'], extensions: ['png'] } }); console.log(paths); //=> ['cat.png', 'unicorn.png', 'cow.jpg', 'rainbow.jpg'] ``` Note that if you set this option to `false`, you won't get back matched directories unless you set `onlyFiles: false`. ##### gitignore Type: `boolean`\ Default: `false` Respect ignore patterns in `.gitignore` files that apply to the globbed files. ##### ignoreFiles Type: `string | string[]`\ Default: `undefined` Glob patterns to look for ignore files, which are then used to ignore globbed files. This is a more generic form of the `gitignore` option, allowing you to find ignore files with a [compatible syntax](http://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore). For instance, this works with Babel's `.babelignore`, Prettier's `.prettierignore`, or ESLint's `.eslintignore` files. ### globbySync(patterns, options?) Returns `string[]` of matching paths. ### globbyStream(patterns, options?) Returns a [`stream.Readable`](https://nodejs.org/api/stream.html#stream_readable_streams) of matching paths. For example, loop over glob matches in a [`for await...of` loop](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/for-await...of) like this: ```js import {globbyStream} from 'globby'; for await (const path of globbyStream('*.tmp')) { console.log(path); } ``` ### convertPathToPattern(path) Convert a path to a pattern. [Learn more.](https://github.com/mrmlnc/fast-glob#convertpathtopatternpath) ### generateGlobTasks(patterns, options?) Returns an `Promise` in the format `{patterns: string[], options: Object}`, which can be passed as arguments to [`fast-glob`](https://github.com/mrmlnc/fast-glob). This is useful for other globbing-related packages. Note that you should avoid running the same tasks multiple times as they contain a file system cache. Instead, run this method each time to ensure file system changes are taken into consideration. ### generateGlobTasksSync(patterns, options?) Returns an `object[]` in the format `{patterns: string[], options: Object}`, which can be passed as arguments to [`fast-glob`](https://github.com/mrmlnc/fast-glob). This is useful for other globbing-related packages. Takes the same arguments as `generateGlobTasks`. ### isDynamicPattern(patterns, options?) Returns a `boolean` of whether there are any special glob characters in the `patterns`. Note that the options affect the results. This function is backed by [`fast-glob`](https://github.com/mrmlnc/fast-glob#isdynamicpatternpattern-options). ### isGitIgnored(options?) Returns a `Promise<(path: URL | string) => boolean>` indicating whether a given path is ignored via a `.gitignore` file. Takes `cwd?: URL | string` as options. ```js import {isGitIgnored} from 'globby'; const isIgnored = await isGitIgnored(); console.log(isIgnored('some/file')); ``` ### isGitIgnoredSync(options?) Returns a `(path: URL | string) => boolean` indicating whether a given path is ignored via a `.gitignore` file. Takes `cwd?: URL | string` as options. ## Globbing patterns Just a quick overview. - `*` matches any number of characters, but not `/` - `?` matches a single character, but not `/` - `**` matches any number of characters, including `/`, as long as it's the only thing in a path part - `{}` allows for a comma-separated list of "or" expressions - `!` at the beginning of a pattern will negate the match [Various patterns and expected matches.](https://github.com/sindresorhus/multimatch/blob/main/test/test.js) ## Related - [multimatch](https://github.com/sindresorhus/multimatch) - Match against a list instead of the filesystem - [matcher](https://github.com/sindresorhus/matcher) - Simple wildcard matching - [del](https://github.com/sindresorhus/del) - Delete files and directories - [make-dir](https://github.com/sindresorhus/make-dir) - Make a directory and its parents if needed