google-zx-scripting

name	google-zx-scripting
description	Writes and executes JavaScript-based shell scripts using Google's zx library. Use when writing shell scripts, automation, build tools, file processing, CLI tools, deployment scripts, data pipelines, or batch operations. Also covers piping, streams, parallel execution, retries, cross-platform scripting, built-in fs utilities, and minimist argument parsing.

Google ZX Scripting

Use this skill when writing scripts with Google's zx library — the tool that makes shell scripting with JavaScript/TypeScript productive and safe. Read only the reference file(s) needed for the task.

Quick Start

All zx scripts use the lite entry point for portability. Scripts are standalone .mjs files — no project setup required.

#!/usr/bin/env npx zx

import { $, fs, path, glob, chalk } from 'zx/core';

const files = await glob('src/**/*.ts');
await $`eslint ${files}`;

Run directly:

chmod +x script.mjs && ./script.mjs
# or
npx zx script.mjs

Critical Rules

1. Always use zx/core — never bare zx. Avoids the heavy CLI wrapper.
2. Template literals auto-escape — $`echo ${userInput}` is safe. Never manually quote interpolated variables.
3. Arrays expand correctly — $`cmd ${arrayOfArgs}` expands each element as a separate quoted argument.
4. Non-zero exits throw — use .nothrow() to suppress when you expect failures (e.g., grep with no matches).
5. within() for isolation — creates an async scope with its own $.cwd and $.env. Essential for parallel tasks.