{"id":12932,"library":"buildr","title":"JavaScript and CSS Buildr Tool","description":"This package, `buildr`, is an early JavaScript and CSS processing tool designed to act as a builder, bundler, packer, minifier, merger, and checker for JavaScript (including CoffeeScript) and CSS (including LessCSS) assets. Its last published version, 0.8.7, was released approximately 13 years ago, requiring Node.js versions 0.4.0 or greater. Due to its extreme age and the rapid evolution of frontend build tooling, `buildr` is effectively abandoned. It lacks modern features, security updates, and compatibility with contemporary JavaScript ecosystems or Node.js runtimes. Differentiators at the time of its release would have been its all-in-one approach to various asset processing tasks before the advent of more specialized and modular tools like Grunt, Gulp, Webpack, or Rollup.","status":"abandoned","version":"0.8.7","language":"javascript","source_language":"en","source_url":"http://github.com/balupton/buildr.npm","tags":["javascript","coffee","lesscss","less","css","builder","package","compile"],"install":[{"cmd":"npm install buildr","lang":"bash","label":"npm"},{"cmd":"yarn add buildr","lang":"bash","label":"yarn"},{"cmd":"pnpm add buildr","lang":"bash","label":"pnpm"}],"dependencies":[],"imports":[{"note":"This package exclusively used CommonJS (`require`) as it predates native ES Modules support in Node.js. Direct ESM imports are not supported.","wrong":"import buildr from 'buildr';\nimport { buildr } from 'buildr';","symbol":"buildr","correct":"const buildr = require('buildr');"},{"note":"Based on the package description, the primary functionality would likely be accessed via methods on the main `buildr` object. Destructuring named exports would not have been a common pattern for such an old CommonJS module, and might not be supported.","wrong":"const { build } = require('buildr');\nbuild('src/index.js', 'dist/bundle.js');","symbol":"Buildr.build","correct":"const buildr = require('buildr');\nbuildr.build('src/index.js', 'dist/bundle.js');"},{"note":"While a CLI might have existed, `npx` is a modern command runner that did not exist when this package was active. Global installation was the typical approach for CLI tools.","wrong":"npx buildr <command>","symbol":"CLI Usage","correct":"npm install -g buildr\nbuildr <command> <options>"}],"quickstart":{"code":"const buildr = require('buildr');\nconst path = require('path');\nconst fs = require('fs');\n\nconst inputJs = 'console.log(\"Hello from buildr JS!\");';\nconst inputCss = '.container { color: blue; }';\n\n// Create dummy input files for demonstration\nfs.writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'input.js'), inputJs);\nfs.writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'input.css'), inputCss);\n\nconsole.log('Attempting to process assets with an abandoned build tool...');\n\n// This is a hypothetical API usage, as concrete examples for this ancient version are unavailable.\n// It demonstrates the expected pattern for a pre-modern build tool.\ntry {\n  // Simulate a JS bundling/minification task\n  const bundledJs = buildr.bundleJs(path.join(__dirname, 'input.js'));\n  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'output.js'), bundledJs);\n  console.log('JavaScript processed successfully (hypothetically). Output to output.js');\n\n  // Simulate a CSS minification task\n  const minifiedCss = buildr.minifyCss(path.join(__dirname, 'input.css'));\n  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'output.css'), minifiedCss);\n  console.log('CSS processed successfully (hypothetically). Output to output.css');\n\n  console.warn('\\nWARNING: This package is abandoned and likely incompatible with modern Node.js versions.');\n  console.warn('The above code is illustrative of a hypothetical API based on its description, not guaranteed to run.');\n} catch (error) {\n  console.error('\\nERROR: Failed to run buildr. This is expected due to package abandonment and incompatibility:');\n  console.error(error.message);\n  console.error('Please consider modern alternatives like Webpack, Rollup, or esbuild.');\n}\n\n// Clean up dummy files\nfs.unlinkSync(path.join(__dirname, 'input.js'));\nfs.unlinkSync(path.join(__dirname, 'input.css'));","lang":"javascript","description":"This quickstart illustrates the hypothetical usage of `buildr` for bundling and minifying JavaScript and CSS files, reflecting a typical workflow for build tools from its era. It emphasizes that the package is abandoned and unlikely to function on modern Node.js environments."},"warnings":[{"fix":"Do not use this package. Migrate to modern asset bundlers and processors such as Webpack, Rollup, esbuild, or Vite.","message":"The `buildr` package, last updated 13 years ago, is incompatible with modern Node.js versions (v12+). It was built for Node.js 0.4.0 and will likely encounter runtime errors or fail to install on current environments.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":">=0.8.7"},{"fix":"Ensure your project uses CommonJS and imports `buildr` with `const buildr = require('buildr');`. However, given its abandonment, modern alternatives are strongly recommended which support ESM.","message":"This package exclusively uses CommonJS (`require`). Attempting to import it using ES Module `import` syntax will result in a runtime error.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":">=0.8.7"},{"fix":"Immediately replace `buildr` with actively maintained, secure build tools. Do not include this package in any project dependencies.","message":"As an abandoned package, `buildr` has not received any security patches for over a decade. Using it in any production or even development environment poses significant security risks, including potential supply chain vulnerabilities.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":">=0.8.7"},{"fix":"Re-evaluate your project's build pipeline and adopt contemporary tools and practices for asset processing. This includes dedicated transpilers (Babel), bundlers (Webpack, Rollup, esbuild), and minifiers (Terser, CSSNano).","message":"The core functionalities (bundling, minifying, checking) that `buildr` once offered are now handled by highly optimized, modular, and actively developed tools. `buildr`'s approach is entirely obsolete.","severity":"deprecated","affected_versions":">=0.8.7"}],"env_vars":null,"last_verified":"2026-04-19T00:00:00.000Z","next_check":"2026-07-18T00:00:00.000Z","problems":[{"fix":"Ensure `npm install buildr` was run. However, given the package's age, installation itself might fail on modern systems. Consider it effectively unavailable.","cause":"The package `buildr` is not installed or the Node.js module resolution path is incorrect.","error":"Error: Cannot find module 'buildr'"},{"fix":"This package is CommonJS-only. If your project is ESM, you cannot directly `require` it. Even if you could, the package is abandoned and should not be used. If forced to use CJS, rename `.mjs` files to `.js` and remove `\"type\": \"module\"`.","cause":"Attempting to use `require` in an ES Module context (e.g., in a file with `\"type\": \"module\"` in `package.json` or a `.mjs` file).","error":"TypeError: require is not a function"},{"fix":"This error is indicative of deep-seated incompatibility. There is no practical fix for this abandoned package; it cannot run on modern systems. Seek alternatives.","cause":"The package's build scripts or dependencies are incompatible with your current operating system or Node.js environment, likely due to fundamental system changes over the last decade.","error":"Error: The 'prebuild' script failed with an unexpected error."}],"ecosystem":"npm","meta_description":null,"install_score":null,"install_tag":null,"quickstart_score":null,"quickstart_tag":null,"pypi_latest":null,"cli_name":"buildr"}