How do I get the path to the current script with Node.js?

I found it after looking through the documentation again. What I was looking for were the __filename and __dirname module-level variables.

• __filename is the file name of the current module. This is the resolved absolute path of the current module file. (ex:/home/kyle/some/dir/file.js)
• __dirname is the directory name of the current module. (ex:/home/kyle/some/dir)

This command returns the current directory:

var currentPath = process.cwd();

For example, to use the path to read the file:

var fs = require('fs');
fs.readFile(process.cwd() + "\\text.txt", function(err, data)
{
    if(err)
        console.log(err)
    else
        console.log(data.toString());
});

So basically you can do this:

fs.readFile(path.resolve(__dirname, 'settings.json'), 'UTF-8', callback);

Use resolve() instead of concatenating with '/' or '\' else you will run into cross-platform issues.

Note: __dirname is the local path of the module or included script. If you are writing a plugin which needs to know the path of the main script it is:

require.main.filename

or, to just get the folder name:

require('path').dirname(require.main.filename)

Use __dirname!!

__dirname

The directory name of the current module. This the same as the path.dirname() of the __filename.

Example: running node example.js from /Users/mjr

console.log(__dirname);
// Prints: /Users/mjr
console.log(path.dirname(__filename));
// Prints: /Users/mjr

https://nodejs.org/api/modules.html#modules_dirname

For ESModules you would want to use: import.meta.url