node-sass

node-sass is a Node.js wrapper around libsass, the C/C++ port of the popular Sass CSS preprocessor. It provides both programmatic APIs and command-line tools for compiling Sass and SCSS files into CSS, with support for source maps, custom functions, and various output styles.

Package Information

• Package Name: node-sass
• Package Type: npm
• Language: JavaScript (Node.js native module with C++ bindings)
• Installation: npm install node-sass

Core Imports

const sass = require("node-sass");

For ES modules:

import sass from "node-sass";

Basic Usage

const sass = require("node-sass");

// Compile from file
sass.render({
  file: "input.scss",
  outFile: "output.css",
}, (error, result) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error(error);
  } else {
    console.log(result.css.toString());
  }
});

// Compile from string
sass.render({
  data: "$primary-color: #333; body { color: $primary-color; }",
}, (error, result) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error(error);
  } else {
    console.log(result.css.toString());
  }
});

// Synchronous compilation
try {
  const result = sass.renderSync({
    file: "input.scss"
  });
  console.log(result.css.toString());
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

Architecture

node-sass is structured around several key components:

• Core Render Engine: Asynchronous (render) and synchronous (renderSync) compilation functions
• Sass Type System: Complete type constructors for creating and manipulating Sass values in custom functions
• CLI Interface: Command-line tool with extensive options for build processes and file watching
• Binary Management: Platform-specific binary handling with automatic downloads and caching
• File Watching: Development workflow support with automatic recompilation on file changes

Capabilities

Core Compilation

Primary Sass/SCSS compilation functionality for converting stylesheets to CSS with full configuration options.

function render(options, callback);
function renderSync(options);

Core Compilation

Sass Type System

Complete type system for creating and manipulating Sass values in custom functions, including colors, numbers, strings, lists, and maps.

const types = {
  Boolean: function(value),
  Color: function(r, g, b, a),
  Error: function(message),
  List: function(length, separator),
  Map: function(length),
  Null: function(),
  Number: function(value, unit),
  String: function(value)
};

Sass Type System

Command Line Interface

Comprehensive CLI tool for build processes, file watching, and batch compilation with extensive configuration options.

node-sass [options] <input> [output]
node-sass --watch <input> --output <output>

Command Line Interface

Environment Management

Utilities for managing platform-specific binaries, environment detection, and installation processes.

// Exposed through extensions module (internal)
function getBinaryPath();
function isSupportedEnvironment();
function getVersionInfo(binding);

Environment Management

Constants

const TRUE = sass.TRUE;     // Sass Boolean TRUE singleton
const FALSE = sass.FALSE;   // Sass Boolean FALSE singleton  
const NULL = sass.NULL;     // Sass Null singleton
const info = sass.info;     // Version information string

These constants provide direct access to commonly used Sass singleton values:

• sass.TRUE - Singleton instance representing Sass boolean true (same as sass.types.Boolean.TRUE)
• sass.FALSE - Singleton instance representing Sass boolean false (same as sass.types.Boolean.FALSE)
• sass.NULL - Singleton instance representing Sass null (same as sass.types.Null.NULL)
• sass.info - String containing version information for node-sass and libsass