List of currently loaded node.js modules?

Question

Is there a function in node.js that gives me all currently loaded modules - or even better, their filenames?

I want to restart my process as soon as a loaded module gets updated and so need to know which files need to be monitored for changes...

Answer 1

Check the module module source. Your answer is:

Object.keys(require('module')._cache);

Answer 2

To complement Anatoliy's helpful answer:

Since Node.js v0.3.0, require.cache contains the loaded non-core modules:

 Object.keys(require.cache);  # lists full filenames of loaded non-core modules

The advantage of require.cache is that it is documented, unlike module._cache.

Note:

• Core modules such as util do NOT show up in require.cache.

  • To test if a module is a core module, use require.resolve(<name>): if it returns <name>, i.e., merely the module name itself, the module is core; non-core modules will return their full filename.

• require.cache contains a hash of all currently loaded non-core modules as module instances, keyed by their full filenames.

Answer 3

Here is a full example if you want to filter on a specific lib / module name :

const libs = Object.keys(require('module')._cache);

const filteredItems = libs.filter(item => {
   return item.includes('aLibName');
});

console.log(filteredItems);