jdx/aube

aube

Never forget to install.

Aube installs automatically when you run a script. The tightest security defaults of any Node.js package manager - and the only one with a lifecycle-script jail. Drops into existing projects using existing lockfiles.

aube means dawn in French. Pronounced /ob/, like "ohb".

Read the docs

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Why Try It

Fast installs. Warm installs are about 7x faster than pnpm and about 3x faster than Bun in the current benchmarks. Repeat test commands run up to 42x faster than pnpm and up to 4x faster than Bun.

Existing lockfiles. Reads and writes pnpm-lock.yaml, package-lock.json, npm-shrinkwrap.json, yarn.lock, and bun.lock in place.

Cheap repeat commands. aubr test, aube test, and aube exec vitest auto-install when dependencies are stale, then skip that work when nothing changed. aubx uses a local binary when one is installed, or a throwaway environment for one-off tools.

Less disk use. A global content-addressable store lets projects share package files instead of keeping a full copy of the same dependencies in every checkout.

Secure defaults. Out of the box, exotic transitive deps are blocked, lifecycle scripts wait for approval, trust downgrades fail at resolve, and brand-new releases sit in a 24h cooling window. One paranoid: true line adds the build jail and turns the soft gates into hard fails.

Install

The recommended path is mise:

mise use -g aube

aube switches Node.js versions itself: if a project pins Node through package.json (devEngines.runtime), .nvmrc, or .node-version, every script and binary run through aube gets that version. If you want plain node, pnpm, yarn, and npm-family commands to go through the same resolver, opt into shell activation with eval "$(aube activate zsh)", eval "$(aube activate bash)", or aube activate fish | source. When a pinned version is missing, aube delegates the install to mise if you have it (one shared Node store on disk) and downloads from nodejs.org otherwise.

Check that it is on your PATH:

aube --version

Inside a project, you can also pin aube with mise:

mise use aube

aube is also published on npm:

npm install -g --ignore-scripts=false @endevco/aube
npx --ignore-scripts=false @endevco/aube --version

The npm package uses an install script to fetch native binaries for performance. The npm commands above include the flag that keeps that working even if your npm config disables scripts. We still recommend mise for the smoothest install and runtime management path.

Homebrew installs come from the jdx tap:

brew install jdx/tap/aube

See other install methods.

First Run

Run aube in an existing Node.js project:

aubr test

aubr is shorthand for aube run. Before it starts the script, aube checks whether node_modules is fresh for the current package.json and lockfile. If dependencies are missing or stale, it installs them first; otherwise it goes straight to the script.

You usually do not need a separate aube install in day-to-day work. Run the script or binary you actually wanted:

aubr build
aube test
aube exec vitest
aubx cowsay hi

Use aube install when the install itself is the task: first local setup without running a script, updating a lockfile, Docker layers, production-only installs, or CI flows.

If the project already has a supported lockfile, aube reads it and writes updates back to the same file. That makes it easy to try aube locally without forcing the rest of the team to switch package managers first.

For a new project with no lockfile, aube creates aube-lock.yaml.

Daily Commands

aube add react            # add a dependency
aube add -D vitest        # add a dev dependency
aube remove react         # remove a dependency
aube update               # update dependencies within package.json ranges
aubr build                # run a package.json script, auto-installing first if needed
aube test                 # run the test script, auto-installing first if needed
aube exec vitest          # run a local binary, auto-installing first if needed
aubx cowsay hi            # run a local bin, or fetch one in a throwaway environment
aube install              # install only, for setup or lockfile/install modes
aube ci                   # clean, frozen install for CI

You can also run scripts directly:

aube dev
aube build
aube lint

If the script exists in package.json, aube treats that as aube run <script>.

Shortcuts: aubr and aubx

aubr and aubx are multicall shims for aube run and aube dlx. They share a binary with aube and dispatch purely on argv[0], so every flag that works on the full command also works on the shim:

aubr build            # aube run build
aubx cowsay hi        # aube dlx cowsay hi

aubr <name> runs a package script first, then falls back to a matching local binary. aubx <name> prefers an installed local binary before fetching into a throwaway environment; pass -p / --package to force the package that should be installed for a one-off command.

The release archives ship all three binaries side by side; no extra setup is needed when you install aube via mise or the tarball.

Shell activation

aube activate bash, aube activate zsh, and aube activate fish create an aube-owned shim directory and print the shell code to put it on PATH. Activated shells route node, npm, npx, pnpm, pnpx, yarn, and yarnpkg through aube. node uses the resolved project runtime; package-manager shims route to aube commands so the existing project lockfile kind stays authoritative.

CI

Use aube ci when the lockfile must be treated as the source of truth:

aube ci

It removes node_modules, verifies the lockfile is fresh for the current package.json, then installs.

For Docker layers or workflows where you only want to update the lockfile:

aube install --lockfile-only

For production-only installs:

aube install --prod

Workspaces

aube supports workspace projects and the workspace: protocol.

aube install -r
aube run test -r
aube add zod --filter @acme/api

If a project already uses pnpm-workspace.yaml, aube can read and write it. New aube-first workspaces can use aube-workspace.yaml.

Lockfile Compatibility

aube is not compatible with every historical lockfile shape. Older pnpm v5/v6 lockfiles should be upgraded with pnpm before switching. Yarn PnP projects need to move to a node_modules linker first — aube writes node_modules, not .pnp.cjs.

When more than one lockfile exists, prefer keeping one canonical lockfile for the project so teammates and CI do not fight over dependency state.

Dependency Scripts

aube skips dependency lifecycle scripts by default, except for packages on its built-in trusted-dependencies list. That protects installs from unexpected build steps while keeping packages that require an installer functional out of the box. An explicit deny rule always overrides the built-in trust.

To allow packages that need build scripts:

aube approve-builds

You can inspect packages whose scripts were skipped:

aube ignored-builds

For approved packages, jailBuilds: true runs lifecycle scripts with a scrubbed env and temporary HOME. It defaults to false today and is planned to default to true in the next major version. Use package globs in jailBuildPermissions or jailBuildExclusions for packages that need specific env vars, paths, network, or a full opt-out.

Package Layout

aube uses an isolated node_modules layout. Packages are linked through node_modules/.aube/, and package files are stored once in $XDG_DATA_HOME/aube/store/ (defaulting to ~/.local/share/aube/store/).

That means:

• several projects with similar dependencies share package files and use less disk space;
• dependencies stay isolated, so phantom dependencies are harder to rely on accidentally;
• repeated installs can reuse package files already on disk.

Commands You May Recognize

aube supports the common package-manager surface:

aube list
aube why react
aube outdated
aube audit
aube pack
aube publish
aube link
aube unlink
aube config get registry
aube store path
aube store prune

aube also matches pnpm 11's runtime surface: aube runtime set node <version> pins a Node version in devEngines.runtime and the lockfile, and aube runtime list shows what a project resolves to. aube node runs Node through that resolver, and shell activation can expose compatible tool shims. Some pnpm commands are intentionally out of scope: setup and self-update belong in tools like mise, and registry account helpers such as whoami, token, owner, search, pkg, and set-script are compatibility stubs that point you to the npm command instead.

Learn More

• Documentation
• Benchmarks
• Lockfile compatibility
• Run scripts and binaries

CI

Thanks to Namespace for providing CI for aube.

Star History

Contributors

Built by jdx.

License

MIT