Node Bloat Scanner

A Node.js CLI tool that scans your node_modules directory and ranks packages by their size (bloat), helping you identify which dependencies are taking up the most disk space.

Features

- 🔍 Scans all packages in node_modules (including scoped packages)
- 📊 Ranks packages by disk size (largest = most bloated)
- 📈 Shows file count, version, and formatted sizes
- 💾 Optional JSON export for further analysis
- ⚡ Fast recursive directory scanning
- 📦 Installable as npm package - use with npx

Installation

$3

``bash


Run directly with npx (no installation needed)

npx node-bloat-scanner

Or install globally

npm install -g node-bloat-scanner
node-bloat-scanner
`

$3

`bash


Clone or download the repository

npm install

Run locally

npm start

or

node scanner.js
`

Usage

$3

`bash


Scan node_modules in current directory


npx node-bloat-scanner
`

$3

`bash


Limit number of results shown

npx node-bloat-scanner --limit 20

or

npx node-bloat-scanner -l 20

Export results to JSON

npx node-bloat-scanner --json

or

npx node-bloat-scanner -j

Scan a specific path

npx node-bloat-scanner /path/to/project

Show help

npx node-bloat-scanner --help
`

Output Example

`
🔍 Scanning node_modules...

Found 245 items in node_modules

📊 Analyzing package sizes...

Processed: 245 packages...

✅ Scan complete!

====================================================================================================
📦 TOP 50 MOST BLOATED PACKAGES (by size)
====================================================================================================

Rank Package Name Size Files Version
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 webpack 45.2 MB 1,234 5.88.0
2 @types/node 12.5 MB 456 18.15.0
3 typescript 8.3 MB 234 5.0.0
...

====================================================================================================
📊 Summary:
Total packages scanned: 245
Total size: 156.7 MB
Average package size: 639.2 KB
Top 50 packages account for: 142.3 MB
====================================================================================================
`

How It Works

1. Scans the node_modules directory recursively
2. Calculates the total size of each package (excluding nested node_modules)
3. Counts the number of files in each package
4. Extracts package metadata from package.json (name, version, description)
5. Ranks packages by size (largest first)
6. Displays results in a formatted table

Notes

- The script skips nested node_modules directories to avoid double-counting
- Scoped packages (e.g., @types/node) are handled correctly
- Permission errors are handled gracefully
- The .bin` directory is excluded from the scan

License

MIT