Generate copyright/license header for JavaScript/TypeScript files

Synopsis

The lb4 copyright command runs inside a Node.js project with package.json to add or update copyright/license header for JavaScript and TypeScript files based on package.json and git history.

The command also supports lerna monorepos. It traverses all packages within the monorepo and apply copyright/license headers.

lb4 copyright [options]

The following is an example of such headers.

// Copyright IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors 2020. All Rights Reserved.
// Node module: @loopback/cli
// This file is licensed under the MIT License.
// License text available at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT

The year(s) is built from the git history of the file and Node module is read from the name property in package.json.

Please note the command expects git is installed.

Options

--owner : (Optional) The owner of the copyright, such as IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors.

--license : (Optional) The name of the license, such as MIT.

--gitOnly : (Optional) A flag to control if only git tracked files are updated. Default to true.

--updateLicense: (Optional) A flag to control if package.json and LICENSE files should be updated to reflect the selected license id.

--exclude: (Optional) One or more glob patterns with , delimiter to exclude files that match the patterns from being updated.

Interactive Prompts

The command prompts you for:

1. The copyright owner. The default value is read from copyright.owner or author in the package.json.

2. The license name. The default value is read from license in the package.json.

   If the license name is CUSTOM, you'll be prompted to provide a custom template. For example:

   Copy

   =============================================================================
   Licensed Materials - Property of <%= owner %>
   (C) Copyright <%= owner %> <%= years %>
   US Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure
   restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with <%= owner %>.
   =============================================================================
   

   To avoid such prompt, create the license-header.template in the root directory of your package, its content will be read as the license header template without prompting.

The default owner is IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors and license is MIT with the following package.json.

{
  "name": "@loopback/boot",
  "version": "2.0.2",
  "author": "IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors",
  "copyright.owner": "IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors",
  "license": "MIT"
}

Output

The following output is captured when lb4 copyright is run against loopback4-example-shopping.

? Copyright owner: IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors
? License name: (Use arrow keys or type to search)
❯ MIT (MIT License)
  ISC (ISC License)
  Artistic-2.0 (Artistic License 2.0)
  Apache-2.0 (Apache License 2.0)
  ...
? Do you want to update package.json and LICENSE? No
Updating project loopback4-example-recommender (packages/recommender)
Updating project loopback4-example-shopping (packages/shopping)
Updating project loopback4-example-shopping-monorepo (.)