A tool to prevent files and folders from syncing to iCloud.
It does this by creating a folder named ".nosync" (which iCloud will not sync) to hold the unsynced files and symlinking to them from the original location.
This can come in handy, for example, if you want to keep node packages on iCloud, but don't want it to sync
all their node_modules folders.
If the file or folder already exists, nosync will move it to the unsynced location, then create a
symlink pointing to it with the original location and name. If a file or folder does not exist at the
specified location, a symlink is created that points to a new folder at the unsynced location.
Add a scope mapping for the GitHub npm package manager by adding a .npmrc file with the line:
@romancow:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com/
Then install the package:
npm install @romancow/nosync
or
yarn add @romancow/nosync
More info on using the GitHub npm package registry here.
You might also want to add your nosync folder (".nosync" by default) to your .gitignore since things you don't want to sync are typically also things you don't want in git.
Theres is one function to import:
const nosync = require('@romancow/nosync');Or with ES modules:
import nosync from '@romancow/nosync';The nosync function accepts a single path or an array of paths to not sync:
// symlinks "node_modules" to ".nosync/node_modules" in the current working directory
nosync("./node_modules")
// symlinks "build" to ".nosync/build", "dist" to ".nosync/dist", and "types" to ".nosync/types"
nosync(["./build", "./dist", "./types"])It can also accept an object mapping paths to where they should be located within
the .nosync folder:
nosync({
// symlinks "es6" to ".nosync/artifacts/build"
"es6": "artifacts/build",
// symlinks "cjs" to ".nosync/artifacts/dist"
"cjs": "artifacts/dist",
// symlinks "types" to ".nosync/artifacts/types"
"types": "artifacts/types"
})The nosync function also accepts a second options argument.
There are currently three options:
- base
- The folder to copy unsynced files and folders to. Defaults to `./.nosync`. Note that in order for iCloud to ignore it, it be named something iCloud ignores (such as containing ".nosync"). You could, however, point it to a folder outside of iCloud drive to prevent syncing.
- check
- If true, will only copy and symlink files if the path includes the iCloud drive folder. If false, it won't check iCloud status. Default is false.
- overwrite
- If a file or folder exists at the given path and already exists in the nosync folder, this option determines whether or not to overwrite the one in the nosync folder. Default is false.
nosync({ "node_modules": "node_modules.nosync" }, { base: "./", check: true, overwrite: true })No Sync can also be used on the command line:
nosync node_modules
You can pass multiple paths:
nosync build dist types
Or pass options:
nosync node_modules --check
Supported options are (check above for what they do):
- -V, --version
- output the version number
- -b, --base <path>
- Base folder to store non-synced files
- -c, --check
- Check that files are in iCloud folder
- -o, --overwrite
- Overwrite existing files in nosync folder
- -p, --paths <json file>
- JSON file with paths to not sync
- -s, --silent
- Suppresses console information
- -h, --help
- output usage information
So if you wanted to hide your "node_modules" folder from iCloud before calling install on a fresh package, you could do something like this:
nosync node_modules && npm install
Or if you want check to make sure it's on your iCloud drive before doing it:
nosync node_modules -c && npm install
Or if initializing a new package:
nosync node_modules && npm init
The -paths options allows you to specify a JSON file to use to specify the paths that shouldn't be
synced by iCloud:
nosync --paths nosync.json
This allows you to set a configuration file within an actual project, specifying which files and folders
not to sync, varying it based on the individual needs of that project. The json can be either an array of
paths, or an object mapping paths to where they should be located within the .nosync folder.
If paths are specified as both command line arguments and in a json file, then they will all be "nosynced".
If neither is specified, then nosync will look for a paths json file named "nosync.json" in the current
working directory.
If you want to hide your nosync folder in Visual Studio Code's explorer side bar: