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docs: document package.json's "exports" field #7323

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70 changes: 70 additions & 0 deletions docs/lib/content/configuring-npm/package-json.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -339,6 +339,76 @@ not much else.

If `main` is not set, it defaults to `index.js` in the package's root folder.

### exports

The exports field is an object that maps entry points to modules. This field is
only supported by modern Node.js versions. It acts as a more featureful
alternative to the main field. Each key can be an explicit path for mapping
entry points to modules 1 to 1, or it can include a wild card (`*`) for mapping
multiple entry points that fit the wild card to corrosponding modules.

Each value in the exports field object can be an array of entry point string
where each path will be iterated through and the first path that leads to a
module will be used. The value also does not necessarily need to map to a
JavaScript module, it can also map to a JSON file.

For example, you could have:

```json
{
"exports": {
".": "./index.js",
"./*": "./*.js",
"./*.js": "./*.js",
"./foo": "./path/to/foo.js",
"./package.json": "./package.json",
"./baz": [ "./try-here.js", "./then-try-here.js" ]
}
}
```

If someone installed your package with this in your `package.json`, they could
`require("my-package")` and it would be mapped to
`./node_modules/my-package/index.js` because of `".": "./index.js"`.<br>
If they did `require("my-package/bar")` or `require("my-package/bar.js")`, it
would be mapped to `./node_modules/my-package/bar.js` because of the wild cards
(`*`).<br>
If they did `require("my-package/foo")` it would be mapped to
`./node_modules/my-package/path/to/foo.js` because of the explicit mapping
`"./foo": "./path/to/foo.js"`.

The exports field also supports conditional exports, which will use a different
object to resolve entry points to modules depending on if the consumer of your
package is using CommonJS `require()` calls or ESM `import`
statements/expressions.

Here is an example of conditional exports:

```json
"exports": {
"require": {
".": "./index.cjs",
"./*": "./*.cjs",
"./*.js": "./*.cjs",
"./foo": "./path/to/foo.cjs",
"./package.json": "./package.json",
"./baz": [ "./try-here.cjs", "./then-try-here.cjs" ]
},
"import": {
".": "./index.js",
"./*": "./*.js",
"./*.js": "./*.js",
"./foo": "./path/to/foo.js",
"./package.json": "./package.json",
"./baz": [ "./try-here.js", "./then-try-here.js" ]
}
}
```

More information on the exports field can be found
[on the Node.js Docs](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/packages.html#package-entry-points)
.

### browser

If your module is meant to be used client-side the browser field should be
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