eslint-plugin-remove-comments

An ESLint plugin to automatically remove comments from your code while preserving important directives like eslint-disable, TypeScript directives, JSDoc, and more.

Features

- Reliable auto-fix - Removes comments automatically with ESLint's --fix option
- Selective preservation - Keep important comments like:
- ESLint directives (eslint-disable, eslint-enable, etc.)
- TypeScript directives (@ts-ignore, @ts-expect-error, etc.)
- Triple-slash references (/// )
- JSDoc comments (optional)
- TODO/FIXME/NOTE markers (optional)
- Empty catch block comments
- Custom patterns via regex
- JSX support - Works with React/JSX files
- TypeScript support - Full TypeScript type definitions included
- Zero dependencies - Lightweight and fast
- Fully tested - 119 comprehensive tests across 6 test suites

Installation

``bash
npm install --save-dev eslint-plugin-remove-comments
`

Usage

$3

Add to your ESLint config:

`js
// eslint.config.js (ESLint 9+)
import removeComments from 'eslint-plugin-remove-comments';

export default [
{
plugins: {
'remove-comments': removeComments
},
rules: {
'remove-comments/remove-all': 'error'
}
}
];
`

Or for ESLint 8:

`js
// .eslintrc.js
module.exports = {
plugins: ['remove-comments'],
rules: {
'remove-comments/remove-all': 'error'
}
};
`

$3

`bash
npx eslint --fix .
`

Options

$3

Preserve JSDoc comments (comments starting with /**).

`js
{
rules: {
'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
preserveJSDoc: true
}]
}
}
`

Example:

`js
// Before
/**
* Calculates the sum of two numbers
* @param {number} a - First number
* @param {number} b - Second number
* @returns {number} The sum
*/
function add(a, b) {
// This comment will be removed
return a + b;
}

// After (with preserveJSDoc: true)
/**
* Calculates the sum of two numbers
* @param {number} a - First number
* @param {number} b - Second number
* @returns {number} The sum
*/
function add(a, b) {
return a + b;
}
`

$3

Preserve TODO, FIXME, NOTE, HACK, and XXX comments (case-insensitive, requires colon).

`js
{
rules: {
'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
preserveTodos: true
}]
}
}
`

Example:

`js
// Before
// TODO: implement error handling
// FIXME: memory leak here
// NOTE: this is important
// Just a regular comment
function process() {
// ...
}

// After (with preserveTodos: true)
// TODO: implement error handling
// FIXME: memory leak here
// NOTE: this is important
function process() {
// ...
}
`

$3

Preserve comments matching custom regex patterns.

`js
{
rules: {
'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
preservePatterns: [
'^KEEP:', // Keep comments starting with "KEEP:"
'@license', // Keep license comments
'prettier-ignore' // Keep Prettier directives
]
}]
}
}
`

$3

You can combine multiple options:

`js
{
rules: {
'remove-comments/remove-all': ['error', {
preserveJSDoc: true,
preserveTodos: true,
preservePatterns: ['^KEEP:', '@license']
}]
}
}
`

Always Preserved

These comments are always preserved regardless of options:

- ESLint directives: // eslint-disable, / eslint-enable /, etc.
- TypeScript directives: // @ts-ignore, // @ts-expect-error, // @ts-nocheck, // @ts-check
- Triple-slash references: ///
- Empty catch blocks: Comments in empty catch blocks (e.g., catch (e) { / ignore / })

Examples

$3

`js
// Input
function calculate() {
// Calculate the result
const x = 1; // Initialize x
/ Block comment /
return x * 2;
}

// Output
function calculate() {
const x = 1;
return x * 2;
}
`

$3

`js
// Input & Output (no change)
// eslint-disable-next-line no-console
console.log('Debug info');
`

$3

`js
// Input & Output (no change)
// @ts-ignore
const value = unknownApi();
`

$3

`js
// Input
function Component() {
// Component logic
return (


Use Cases

- Minification: Remove comments before production builds
- Code cleanup: Remove outdated or unnecessary comments
- Consistency: Enforce a no-comments policy in certain files
- Pre-processing: Clean code before further transformations

License

MIT