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 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 macOS, start on Windows and xdg-open on other platforms.

opn(target, [options])

Returns a promise for the spawned child process. You would 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

Type: string

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

Opens in the default app for the file type. For example, URLs opens in your default browser.

options

Type: Object

wait

Type: boolean
Default: true

Wait for the opened app to exit before fulfilling the promise. If false it's fulfilled 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. For example, Chrome is google chrome on macOS, google-chrome on Linux and chrome on Windows.

opn-cli - CLI for this module

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opn