HTML Pretty Printer CLI

1.0.0 · abandoned · verified Sun Apr 19

The `html` package, currently at version 1.0.0, functions as a command-line utility for pretty-printing HTML code. It is a direct Node.js port of `beautify-html.js`, which itself is based on `jsbeautifier`. The tool is designed primarily for CLI usage, accepting HTML input via `stdin`, file arguments, or interacting with the system clipboard through utilities like `pbpaste` and `pbcopy` on macOS. Its core purpose is to take minified or unformatted HTML and output a human-readable, indented version. Given its last update in 2012, the project is abandoned. Its release cadence is non-existent, and users are instructed to manually update its underlying `jsbeautifier` dependency, indicating a lack of active maintenance and potential compatibility issues with modern JavaScript environments or Node.js versions. There are no notable differentiators over modern HTML formatters beyond its extremely simple, direct CLI piping approach, which is now largely obsolete.

Common errors

```
html: command not found
```
cause The `html` CLI tool was not installed globally or is not in the system's PATH, or `npx` was not used.

fix Install the package globally: `npm install -g html` or run it via `npx html` to execute without global installation.
```
TypeError: require is not a function
```
cause Attempting to use `require('html')` in an ES module context (`type: "module"` in `package.json` or `.mjs` file).

fix If programmatic use is desired, use a modern HTML formatter that supports ESM. If forced to use this package, you must use it in a CommonJS file or configure an ES module loader to interoperate with CJS modules.
```
Error: Cannot find module 'html'
```
cause The package was not installed in the current project or is not correctly resolved by Node.js.

fix Run `npm install html` in your project directory.

Warnings

breaking This package is an abandoned CommonJS module from 2012 and is not compatible with modern ES module environments without specific loader configurations or transpilation. Attempting to `import` it will likely result in errors.
Fix: For new projects, use a modern HTML beautifier like Prettier or `js-beautify` directly. If absolutely necessary, configure Node.js to load CJS modules in an ESM context, or use `require()` if in a CJS file.
deprecated The project is explicitly abandoned. The README instructs users to manually update its core `beautify-html.js` dependency by dropping new files into the `lib/` directory, rather than receiving updates via npm. This means the version of the underlying beautifier logic is extremely outdated and will not receive security patches or improvements.
Fix: Avoid using this package. Migrate to actively maintained alternatives such as `prettier` for comprehensive code formatting, or a modern `js-beautify` version if a direct replacement is needed.
gotcha The package does not ship with TypeScript type definitions. Using it in a TypeScript project would require manually declaring types or ignoring type errors.
Fix: If programmatic use is unavoidable in TypeScript, create a declaration file (`html.d.ts`) with `declare module 'html' { export function prettyPrint(html: string, options?: any): string; }` or use `@ts-ignore`.

Install

npm install html npm
yarn add html yarn
pnpm add html pnpm

Imports

html CLI
wrong:
```
import html from 'html'
```
correct:
```
npx html
```
The primary use case is as a CLI tool; programmatic import is for CommonJS only.
prettyPrint (CommonJS)
wrong:
```
import { prettyPrint } from 'html';
```
correct:
```
const { prettyPrint } = require('html');
```
This package is an old CommonJS module and does not support ES modules natively. It also does not ship with TypeScript types.

Quickstart

Demonstrates how to use the `html` CLI tool to pretty-print a string of ugly HTML passed via stdin.

import { exec } from 'node:child_process';

const uglyHtml = '<h2><strong><a href="http://awesome.com">AwesomeCom</a></strong><span>is awesome</span></h2>';

exec(`echo "${uglyHtml}" | npx html`, (error, stdout, stderr) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error(`exec error: ${error}`);
    return;
  }
  if (stderr) {
    console.error(`stderr: ${stderr}`);
  }
  console.log('Pretty Printed HTML:\n', stdout);
  // Expected output will be formatted HTML like:
  // <h2>
  //     <strong>
  //         <a href=http://awesome.com>AwesomeCom</a>
  //     </strong>
  //     <span>
  //         is awesome
  //     </span>
  // </h2>
});

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