How to create a directory if it doesn't exist using Node.js?

Question

Is this the right way to create a directory if it doesn\'t exist. It should have full permission for the script and readable by others.

var dir = __dirname +         


        

Answer 1

You can just use mkdir and catch the error if the folder exists.
This is async (so best practice) and safe.

fs.mkdir('/path', err => { 
    if (err && err.code != 'EEXIST') throw 'up'
    .. safely do your stuff here  
    })

(Optionally add a second argument with the mode.)

---

Other thoughts:

1. You could use then or await by using native promisify.

   const util = require('util'), fs = require('fs');
   const mkdir = util.promisify(fs.mkdir);
   var myFunc = () => { ..do something.. } 
   
   mkdir('/path')
       .then(myFunc)
       .catch(err => { if (err.code != 'EEXIST') throw err; myFunc() })
   

2. You can make your own promise method, something like (untested):

   let mkdirAsync = (path, mode) => new Promise(
      (resolve, reject) => mkdir (path, mode, 
         err => (err && err.code !== 'EEXIST') ? reject(err) : resolve()
         )
      )
   

3. For synchronous checking, you can use:

   fs.existsSync(path) || fs.mkdirSync(path)
   

4. Or you can use a library, the two most popular being

   • mkdirp (just does folders)
   • fsextra (supersets fs, adds lots of useful stuff)