# sindresorhus/execa

Process execution for humans

Repository: https://github.com/sindresorhus/execa
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/execa
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: nodejs, spawn, exec, spawned-processes, javascript, child-process, shell, execute, binary, streams
Last push: 2026-07-31T02:10:22+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 96/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 95, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3924, "days_push": 34, "days_rel": 34, "gap_med": 29, "n_releases_24m": 10}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7592, forks 260 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:01.829791+00:00)

## What it is
Execa is a Node.js library for executing child processes with a simple, promise-based API built on top of child_process. It offers shell-free execution without escaping or quoting, subprocess piping, detailed errors, and improved Windows support.

## Use cases
- run shell commands from a node script
- spawn child processes in javascript
- execute local npm binaries without npx
- pipe multiple subprocesses together
- avoid shell injection when running commands
- capture stdout and stderr of a command
- run git or cli tools programmatically

## When to choose
- you need to run external commands from Node.js with a clean promise API
- you want safe command execution without manual escaping or quoting
- you need to pipe subprocesses and access intermediate results
- you need reliable cross-platform behavior including Windows shebangs and PATHEXT

## When to avoid
- you need to run commands in a language other than JavaScript/Node.js
- you only need a one-off shell script where bash or zx is simpler
- you need interactive terminal control or a full PTY

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, developer-tools, concurrency, error-handling
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform, windows
- tags: child-process, subprocess, shell-execution, promise-based, process-spawning, command-line, automation, nodejs, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- sindresorhus/execa (main) score 96

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:01.829791+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:36:53.166785+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/sindresorhus/execa (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:01.829791+00:00, sha 3297b6fa0449)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/execa (fetched 2026-08-29T08:32:32.176353+00:00, sha 2e9ae057705b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.