opn

A better node-open. Opens stuff like websites, files, executables. Cross-platform.

Why?

• Actively maintained
• Supports app arguments
• Safer as it uses spawn instead of exec
• Fixes most of the open node-open issues
• Includes the latest xdg-open script for Linux

Install

$ npm install --save opn

Usage

const opn = require('opn');

// opens the image in the default image viewer
opn('unicorn.png').then(() => {
	// image viewer closed
});

// opens the url in the default browser
opn('http://sindresorhus.com');

// specify the app to open in
opn('http://sindresorhus.com', {app: 'firefox'});

// specify app arguments
opn('http://sindresorhus.com', {app: ['google chrome', '--incognito']});

API

Uses the command open on OS X, start on Windows and xdg-open on other platforms.

opn(target, [options])

Returns a promise for the spawned child process. You'd normally not need to use this for anything, but it can be useful if you'd like to attach custom event listeners or perform other operations directly on the spawned process.

target

Required
Type: string

The thing you want to open. Can be a URL, file, or executable.

Opens in the default app for the file type. Eg. URLs opens in your default browser.

options

Type: object

wait

Type: boolean
Default: true

Wait for the opened app to exit before calling the callback. If false it's called immediately when opening the app.

On Windows you have to explicitly specify an app for it to be able to wait.

app

Type: string, array

Specify the app to open the target with, or an array with the app and app arguments.

The app name is platform dependent. Don't hard code it in reusable modules. Eg. Chrome is google chrome on OS X, google-chrome on Linux and chrome on Windows.

Related

• opn-cli - CLI for this module

License

MIT © Sindre Sorhus