Variable: processShim

const processShim: object

Default export compatible with Node.js ‘process’ module structure

This object mimics the global process object in Node.js and is used as a drop-in replacement when aliased via the Vite configuration.

Type Declaration

argv

argv: string[]

Command line arguments (empty in browser)

cwd()

cwd: () => string

Get current working directory

Mocked current working directory function

Returns a placeholder working directory since the browser doesn’t have a traditional file system with a current working directory concept.

Returns

string

Always returns ”/” as the root directory

Example


import { cwd } from "ink-canvas/shims/process";
console.log(cwd()); // "/"

env

env: Record<string, string | undefined>

Environment variables object

exit()

exit: (code?) => never

Exit process (throws error in browser)

Mocks process.exit for the browser environment

In Node.js, process.exit terminates the process with the given exit code. In the browser, we cannot close the window/tab programmatically (for security reasons), so we throw an error instead to indicate that an exit was attempted.

Parameters

code?

number

The exit code (included in the error message)

Returns

never

Never returns - always throws an error

Throws

Error with message ‘process.exit(code) called’

Example


import { exit } from "ink-canvas/shims/process";
 
try {
  exit(0);
} catch (e) {
  console.error(e.message); // "process.exit(0) called"
}

nextTick()

nextTick: (callback, …args) => void

Schedule callback on next tick

Emulates Node.js process.nextTick using setTimeout

In Node.js, nextTick schedules a callback to be invoked in the next iteration of the event loop, before any I/O operations. In the browser, we approximate this behavior using setTimeout with a delay of 0.

Parameters

callback

(…args) => void

The function to execute on the next tick

args

…unknown[]

Arguments to pass to the callback function

Returns

void

Remarks

This is not a perfect emulation since setTimeout(..., 0) has different timing characteristics than the true Node.js nextTick. However, it’s sufficient for most use cases in Ink.

For better emulation, consider using queueMicrotask or Promise.resolve().then(), but setTimeout is used here for broader compatibility.

Example


import { nextTick } from "ink-canvas/shims/process";
 
nextTick(() => {
  console.log("Executed on next tick");
});
console.log("Executed first");
// Output:
// "Executed first"
// "Executed on next tick"

off()

off: (_event, _listener) => void

Remove event listener (no-op)

Mocks process.off event listener removal

In Node.js, this removes a previously registered event listener. In the browser, this is a no-op since we don’t register any listeners.

Parameters

_event

string

The name of the event (ignored)

_listener

(…args) => void

The callback function (ignored)

Returns

void

on()

on: (_event, _listener) => void

Mocks process.on event listener registration

In Node.js, this registers listeners for process events like ‘exit’, ‘uncaughtException’, ‘SIGINT’, etc. In the browser, these events don’t exist, so this is a no-op.

Parameters

_event

string

The name of the event (ignored)

_listener

(…args) => void

The callback function (ignored)

Returns

void

Example


import { on } from "ink-canvas/shims/process";
 
// This does nothing in the browser
on("exit", () => console.log("Exiting"));

once()

once: (_event, _listener) => void

Mocks process.once one-time event listener registration

In Node.js, this registers a listener that is automatically removed after being called once. In the browser, this is a no-op.

Parameters

_event

string

The name of the event (ignored)

_listener

(…args) => void

The callback function (ignored)

Returns

void

platform

platform: string

Platform identifier (“browser”)

stderr

stderr: object

Standard error stream mock

stderr.columns

columns: number = 80

Number of columns in the terminal

Default Value

80;

stderr.isTTY

isTTY: boolean = true

Indicates if the stream is connected to a TTY

Default Value


true;

stderr.rows

rows: number = 24

Number of rows in the terminal

Default Value

24;

stderr.write()

write: (_chunk) => boolean

Mock implementation of write method

Parameters

_chunk

Data to write (ignored in this mock)

string | Uint8Array<ArrayBufferLike>

Returns

boolean

Always returns true

stdin

stdin: object

Standard input stream mock

stdin.isTTY

isTTY: boolean = true

Indicates if the stream is connected to a TTY

Set to true to enable raw input mode in Ink.

Default Value


true;

stdin.on()

on: () => void

Registers an event listener

No-op in browser. Event handling is done through TerminalReadableStream.

Returns

void

stdin.pause()

pause: () => void

Pauses the stream

No-op in browser.

Returns

void

stdin.resume()

resume: () => void

Resumes the paused stream

No-op in browser.

Returns

void

stdin.setRawMode()

setRawMode: () => void

Sets raw mode for the input stream

No-op in browser. Xterm.js already provides character-by-character input similar to raw mode.

Returns

void

stdout

stdout: object

Standard output stream mock

stdout.columns

columns: number = 80

Number of columns in the terminal

This is a default value. The actual column count is determined by the Xterm.js instance dimensions in InkCanvas.

Default Value

80;

stdout.isTTY

isTTY: boolean = true

Indicates if the stream is connected to a TTY (terminal)

Set to true so that Ink enables TTY-specific features like colors and cursor manipulation.

Default Value


true;

stdout.rows

rows: number = 24

Number of rows in the terminal

This is a default value. The actual row count is determined by the Xterm.js instance dimensions in InkCanvas.

Default Value

24;

stdout.write()

write: (_chunk) => boolean

Mock implementation of write method

This is a no-op that simply returns true. The actual writing to the terminal is handled by TerminalWritableStream in InkCanvas.

Parameters

_chunk

Data to write (ignored in this mock)

string | Uint8Array<ArrayBufferLike>

Returns

boolean

Always returns true indicating the write was “successful”

version

version: string

Node.js version string (empty in browser)

versions

versions: Record<string, string>

Versions of Node.js dependencies (empty in browser)

Remarks

This object is the primary export that gets used when code imports process or node:process. It aggregates all the individual mocked properties and methods defined above.

The object structure matches Node.js’s process object, allowing code that uses process.env, process.stdout, process.nextTick, etc. to work without modification in the browser.

Example


// This works thanks to the alias configuration
import process from "node:process";
 
console.log(process.env.NODE_ENV); // "production"
console.log(process.platform); // "browser"
 
process.nextTick(() => {
  console.log("Next tick callback");
});