Node Coding Practices

Node.js Coding Practices

Application skill for felixge Node style + Microsoft nodejs-guidelines platform ingest (awesome-guidelines). For generic JS modules, load javascript-coding-practices. TypeScript Node: add typescript-coding-standards.

Core Principle

Node quality is small modules with strict style and reproducible npm packaging, felixge layout habits, top-level requires, no prototype hacks, env-aware servers, cross-platform deps.

When to Use / NOT

• Node.js apps, npm packages, Express/Fastify servers, CLI tools, native-addon consumers.
• Reviewing .js CommonJS/ESM on Node before merge.

NOT when:

• Browser-only bundles, javascript-coding-practices.
• Pure TypeScript without JS overlap, typescript-coding-standards primary.
• MDN documentation examples, mdn-code-examples-practices.

Workflow

1. Format, 2-space, semicolons, quotes, braces (node-style-formatting-layout.md).
2. Functions/modules, size, closures, requires (node-style-functions-modules.md).
3. Naming/conditionals, ===, predicates, camelCase (node-style-conditionals-naming.md).
4. Platform, npm, PORT, Windows, native (node-style-platform-verify.md).
5. Verify, ESLint/EditorConfig + npm test + platform notes for native deps.

Red Flags

• Tabs or mixed tab/space indent
• Trailing whitespace
• Missing semicolons (ASI reliance) on felixge-profile projects
• Double quotes for ordinary strings (felixge profile)
• Allman braces (brace on next line)
• Multi-binding var a, b, c on one statement
• snake_case identifiers
• Loose == / !=
• Complex if without named predicate variable
• Deeply nested if/else without early return
• Anonymous nested callback pyramids
• Array.prototype / native prototype extension
• Setters with side effects; eval/with
• require/import mid-file
• Hard-coded listen port without env override
• Committed node_modules
• Wild "*" production dependency versions
• Windows MAX_PATH ignored in deep nested installs
• Global -g tools causing version skew
• nodemon in production deployment docs
• Public npm package Windows-only without platform check

Verification

• ESLint (felixge-aligned or project config) on changed files
• EditorConfig indent/charset/end_of_line
• npm install && npm test (or npm start smoke)
• Capsule probes on server PORT and require placement
• Native addon: document/build verify on Windows if node-gyp in tree

References

• awesome-guidelines/references/node-style-learning-note.md
• awesome-guidelines/references/node-style-formatting-layout.md
• awesome-guidelines/references/node-style-functions-modules.md
• awesome-guidelines/references/node-style-conditionals-naming.md
• awesome-guidelines/references/node-style-platform-verify.md

Related skills

• javascript-coding-practices, modern const/let, ES modules
• powershell-scripting-practices, Windows shell glue adjacent to Node on Windows
• shell-scripting-practices, Unix deploy scripts