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rushx

The rushx command is similar to npm run or pnpm run: It invokes a shell script that is defined in the "scripts" section of the package.json file for an individual project. Any additional CLI parameters are passed only to that shell script without any validation.

Consider this very simple example project:

<my project>/package.json

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "build": "rm -Rf lib && tsc",
    "test": "jest"
  }
}

If you invoke rushx alone, it will simply display the available commands:

usage: rushx [-h]
       rushx [-q/--quiet] <command> ...

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help            Show this help message and exit.
  -q, --quiet           Hide rushx startup information.

Project commands for my-project:
  build: "rm -Rf lib && tsc"
  test:  "jest"

If you invoke rushx build, then it would run rm -Rf lib && tsc. If you add a parameter such as rushx build --verbose, it is blindly appended to the end of the string: rm -Rf lib && tsc --verbose.

rush vs rushx​

It's easy to confuse these two commands:

  • rush invokes a generic operation that affects the entire repo ("global commands") or else affects multiple projects ("bulk commands"). Such commands should be carefully designed. Rush enforces that their parameters must be validated and documented.
  • rushx performs custom operations for one single project. Although some of these are used to implement bulk commands, many of them will be helper scripts that are understood only by the developers of that particular project. Rush does not rigorously validate these commands.

Why use "rushx" instead of "pnpm run" or "npx"?​

The rushx command has similar functionality as pnpm run or npx, but with some additional benefits:

  • Ensures deterministic tooling by using the Rush version selector
  • Prepares the shell environment based on Rush's configuration
  • Implements additional validations