node-gyp

Node.js native addon build tool

node-gyp is a cross-platform command-line tool written in Node.js for compiling native addon modules for Node.js, which takes away the pain of dealing with the various differences in build platforms. It is the replacement to the node-waf program which is removed for node v0.8. If you have a native addon for node that still has a wscript file, then you should definitely add a bindings.gyp file to support the latest versions of node.

Multiple target versions of node are supported (i.e. 0.7, 0.8, 1.0, etc.), regardless of what version of node is actually installed on your system (node-gyp downloads the necessary development files for the target version).

Features:

• Easy to use, consistent interface
• Same commands to build your module on every platform
• Supports multiple target versions of Node

Installation

To install with npm, invoke:

$ npm install -g node-gyp

You will also need to install:

• On Unix
  • python
  • make
  • A proper C/C++ compiler toolchain, like GCC
• On Windows
  • Python
  • Microsoft Visual C++ (Express version works well)

How to Use

To compile your native addon, first go to its root directory:

$ cd my_node_addon

From here, you can invoke the node-gyp executable. The next step is to generate the appropriate project build files for the current platform. Use configure for that:

$ node-gyp configure --target=0.7

Note: The configure step looks for the first .gyp file in the current directory to processs. See below for instructions on creating the .gyp file.

Now you will have either a Makefile (on Unix platforms) or a vcxproj file (on Windows) in the current directory. Next invoke the build step:

$ node-gyp build

Now you have your compiled .node bindings file! The compiled bindings end up in out/Debug or out/Release, depending on the build mode. At this point you can require the .node file with Node and run your tests!

Note: To create a Debug build of the bindings file, pass the --debug (or -d) switch to build.

(Optional) Copy the compiled bindings into an appropriate directory for runtime loading detection (with node-bindings), using the copy command:

$ node-gyp copy

So for example, if you are on a 64-bit OS X machine and your target node version is 0.7, then the copy command above would copy the bindings from out/Release/bindings.node to compiled/0.7/darwin/x64/bindings.node.

The "gyp" file

Previously when node had node-waf you had to write a wscript file. The replacement for that is the bindings.gyp file, which describes the configuration to build your module in a JSON-like format. A barebones gyp file appropriate for building a node addon looks like:

{
  'targets': [
    {
      'target_name': 'bindings',
      'sources': [ 'src/bindings.cc' ]
    }
  ]
}

Some additional resources:

• "Hello World" node addon example
• gyp user documentation
• gyp input format reference

Commands

node-gyp responds to the following commands:

• build - Invokes make/msbuild.exe and builds the native addon
• clean - Removes any generated project files and the out dir
• configure - Generates project build files for the current platform
• copy - Copies a compiled bindings to an appropriate dir for runtime detection
• install - Installs node development files for the given version

License

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2012 Nathan Rajlich <nathan@tootallnate.net>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.