craft dlx

Run a package's bin without adding it to the project.

craft dlx [OPTIONS] <COMMAND> [ARGS]...

Alias: craft x.

Options

Option	Does
-p, --package <PACKAGE>	The package to install, when its bin is named differently

Plus the global options.

Behaviour

craft installs the package into its own directory under ~/.craft/dlx, then runs its bin from your current directory, passing the arguments along and exiting with the bin's exit code. Your project's package.json, craft.lock and node_modules aren't touched, and dlx works outside any project.

• Which version: craft dlx cowsay runs the version latest points to, checking for a newer one each time. A version or range (cowsay@1.6.0, create-vite@6) reuses the earlier install, so it also works --offline.
• Which bin: the package's only bin, or else the one named after the package (without its scope). Name another with -p:

  craft dlx -p typescript tsc --version

• PATH: the package's own bins come first, then your project's node_modules/.bin.
• The install is quiet; warnings and errors still show.

Examples

craft dlx create-vite my-app --template react-ts
craft x cowsay hello
craft dlx -p @angular/cli ng new my-app
craft dlx -p typescript@5.6 tsc --init

$ craft dlx cowsay@1.6.0 hello
 _______
< hello >
 -------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

A package with several bins and none named after it needs -p:

error: toolbox has no bin named toolbox; it provides: tool-a, tool-b