SPFx Commands Cheat Sheet

Overview

 

SharePoint Framework supports modern toolchain. The modern toolchain includes a wide range of open source tools including Node.js, npm, Yeoman, Gulp, TypeScript, and more. So is the set of commands used across the lifetime of SPFx solution development right from solution creation to deployment and testing. We use the set of commands based on our implementation needs. The command list is huge, so I decided to try making them available in one place.

 

In this article, we will revise all the useful commands for SharePoint Framework.

 

Node.js Commands

 

Node.js is an open source JavaScript runtime, used to build and run the applications.

 

Command	Description	Example
-v, --version	Display node’s version.	node -v
-h, --help	Display node command line options	node -h

 

NPM Commands

 

Node Package Manager installs modules and its dependencies.

 

Install

Install a package.

 

Outline

npm install (with no args, in package directory)
npm install [<@scope>/] <package-name>

aliases: npm i, npm add

 

Command	Description	Example
npm i -g <package-name>	Install a package globally	npm i -g @microsoft/generator-sharepoint
npm install --global <package-name>
npm i -g <package-name1> <package-name2>	Install multiple packages at once	npm i -g yo gulp
npm install --global <package-name1> <package-name2>
npm install (with no args, in package directory)	Install all modules listed as dependencies in package.json	npm i
npm i -g npm	Update npm itself	npm i -g npm
npm i <package-name> --save	Enable NPM to include the packages to dependencies section of the package.json file	npm i jquery –save
npm i <package-name> --save-exact   npm i <package-name> -E	Avoid caret or tilde dependencies only at first level
npm i <package-name> --save-dev   npm i <package-name> -D	Package will appear in your devDependencies
npm i <package-name> -- save-optional   npm i <package-name> -O	Package will appear in your optionalDependencies
npm i tsd -g	TSD is a package manager to search and install TypeScript definition files

Update

Update a package.

 

Outline

npm update [-g] [<package-name>...]

aliases: up, upgrade

 

Description	Command	Example
Report globally outdated packages	npm outdated --global
Report locally outdated packages	npm outdated
Update the package globally	npm update -g <package-name>	npm update -g @microsoft/generator-sharepoint
Update the package globally	npm update <package-name>	npm update jquery
Update all dependencies to the minimum required version	npm update --save

Other helpful commands

 

Command	Description
npm ls <package-name> -g --depth=0	Check the version of installed package
npm shrinkwrap	Lockdown the package dependencies
npm link	symlink a package folder (library component)
npm ls -g <library-name>	Check the folder location of SPFx library
npm unlink <library-name>	Unlink an SPFx library that was symlinked during development in your SPFx project, navigate to SPFx project root folder and run the command.
npm unlink	Remove local npm link to the library, navigate to the SPFx library root folder and run the command

Gulp

Automates SPFx development and deployment tasks.

gulp <command> [optional pararms]

Command	Description
gulp bundle	Creates a new build and writes manifest to the temp folder. This will minify the required assets to upload to CDN. The minified assets are located at “temp\deploy” folder.
gulp bundle --ship	The ship switch denotes distribution.
gulp package	Create the packages inside ./dist folder
gulp package-solution	Create the solution package (sppkg) in sharepoint\solution folder
gulp package-solution --ship	The ship switch denotes distribution.
gulp deploy-azure-storage	Deploy the assets (JavaScript, CSS files) to Azure CDN
gulp --update	Update config.json to the latest version
gulp clean	Removes all files from previous builds
gulp clean-build	Clean the build folder.
gulp serve	Serve code for testing in the browser
gulp serve --nobrowser	Will not automatically launch the SharePoint Workbench
gulp build	Build all of the packages
gulp test	Runs the tests specified in each package's tests folder

 

Yeoman SharePoint Generator

 

Scaffolding tool for Modern web apps. Used as SPFx solution generator and builds the required project structure.

yo @microsoft/sharepoint [optional pararms]

Optional Parameter	Description
--help	See the list of command-line options available for the SharePoint generator.
--skip-cache	Do not remember prompt answers.
--skip-install	Do not automatically install dependencies.
--component-type	The type of component ("webpart", "extension", or “library”)
--component-name	Name of the component. (Web part name)
--component-description	Description of the component. (Web part description)
--framework	Framework to use for the solution. ("none", "react", or "knockout")
--plusbeta	Use the beta packages
--extension-type	The type of extension (ApplicationCustomizer, FieldCustomizer, ListViewCommandSet)
--solution-name	SPFx solution name
--environment	Target environment for SPFx solution ("onprem", "onprem19" or "spo")
--package-manager	The package manager for the solution ("npm", "pnpm", or "yarn")
--skip-feature-deployment	Allow the tenant admin the choice of being able to deploy the components to all sites immediately without running any feature deployment or adding apps in sites.
--is-domain-isolated	The web part will be rendered in isolated domain using IFrame.

 

Other Commands

 

Command	Description	Example
tsd install <package-name> --save	TSD is a package manager to search and install TypeScript definition files. Typings will help for auto complete while writing the code in the code editor.	tsd install jquery --save
code .	Open the solution in the code editor of your choice.

 

Summary

 

SharePoint Framework supports a wide range of open source tools, so is the set of commands used across the lifetime of SPFx solution development right from solution creation to deployment and testing. I have tried to get together a commonly used.