JSLab
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Working directory

Run a tab inside a folder on your Mac, so relative imports, node_modules and .env resolve there.

By default a tab isn’t tied to any folder. Give it a working directory, and it runs as if it lived in that folder.

Set a working directory

Point a tab at a folder and relative imports, files and process.cwd() resolve there.

Choose Actions → Set Working Directory…, or click the working-directory button in the status bar, and pick a folder. It’s also Set Working Directory… in the command palette.

Each tab has its own working directory, and it’s kept with the tab across relaunches.

What changes

With a working directory set:

  • <working directory>/node_modules is searched before JSLab’s own installed packages.
  • process.cwd(), __dirname and import.meta.dir are that folder, and relative imports written as string literals resolve there.
  • __filename and import.meta.path are <working directory>/<tab title>.<extension>.
  • A .env file in that folder is loaded into the run. See Environment variables.
  • The status bar shows the folder’s name. Click it to change the folder.
import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
import config from "./config.json";

config; // read from the working directory
await readFile("./README.md", "utf8");

Clear it

Choose Actions → Clear Working Directory, or click the × beside the folder’s name in the status bar.

If the folder goes missing

If the folder is moved or deleted, the status bar marks it as not found, and a run reports Working directory not found with a Change… button to pick another folder.

From a terminal

jslab --cwd <dir> opens a file in a new tab with that working directory. See The jslab CLI.

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