Import and use the 'fs' module in TypeScript

# Import and use the 'fs' module in TypeScript

To import and use the fs module in TypeScript, make sure to install the type definitions for node by running npm i -D @types/node and import fs with the following line import * as fs from 'fs'.

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npm install -D @types/node

yarn add -D @types/node

This will add the typings for Node as a development dependency in your project. The node typings include the type definitions for the built-in fs module.

Here is an example of how to import and use fs.

I'll post a code snippet that uses the module synchronously and the next code snippet will use the async version of the same methods.

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// ✅ using the fs module synchronously
import * as fs from 'fs';
import * as path from 'path';

function readFile() {
  const dirContents = fs.readdirSync(__dirname);
  console.log(dirContents);

  const fileContents = fs.readFileSync(
    path.join(__dirname, 'another-file.ts'),
    {
      encoding: 'utf-8',
    },
  );

  console.log(fileContents);
}

readFile();

We imported the fs and path built-in modules and used the readdirSync and readFileSync methods.

The readdirSync method reads the contents of a directory and readFileSync - the contents of a specific file.

Here is the output after running the code from the snippet.

Now let's look at how you would use the promises version of the fs module.

# Using the fs module asynchronously in TypeScript

Here is a code snippet that uses the async (promises) version of the same methods.

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// ✅ using the async module asynchronously
import { promises as fsPromises } from 'fs';
import * as path from 'path';

async function readFile() {
  try {
    // ✅ Read contents of directory
    const dirContents = await fsPromises.readdir(__dirname);
    console.log(dirContents);

    // ✅ Read contents of `another-file.ts` in the same directory
    const fileContents = await fsPromises.readFile(
      path.join(__dirname, './another-file.ts'),
      { encoding: 'utf-8' },
    );
    console.log(fileContents);
  } catch (err) {
    console.log('error is: ', err);
  }
}

readFile();

Notice that the import statement is different, now we are importing promises from fs.

We used the fsPromises.readdir method to read the contents of the directory and the fsPromises.readFile method to read the contents of a file.

The example assumes that you have a file named another-file.ts that is located in the same directory.

If you need to read more about a specific method the fs module implements and how to use it, check out the Node.js docs for fs.

If you get the error Cannot find module 'fs' Error in TypeScript, click on the link and follow the instructions.