franc-cli

library8.0.0jsnpmunverified

franc-cli is a command-line interface (CLI) tool for detecting the natural language of textual input. It acts as a convenient shell wrapper around the core `franc` library, which supports identifying over 180 languages, including various scripts and dialects. The current stable version for `franc-cli` is 8.0.0, which corresponds to breaking changes introduced in `franc` library versions 6.x.x. The project generally follows the `franc` library's release cadence, with updates often driven by new Unicode versions or improvements in language detection models. Its key differentiator is providing quick, direct command-line access to language detection without requiring programmatic integration, making it suitable for shell scripting, data processing pipelines, and rapid prototyping. It is an ESM-only package, requiring Node.js version 12 or higher for execution.

data

github ↗package ↗

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v? · npm install

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

node 18–226 runs

build_error

glibc

node 18–226 runs

build_error

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

The `franc-cli` package is a command-line tool. For programmatic language detection within JavaScript/TypeScript applications, you should install and import from the `franc` library package. This library is ESM-only since v6.

import { franc } from 'franc'

This function, from the `franc` library, was renamed from `franc.all` to `francAll` in `franc` v6. It is also ESM-only, requiring a native ES module import.

import { francAll } from 'franc'

The `franc` library, which `franc-cli` uses under the hood, became ESM-only in version 6.0.0. Attempting to `require()` it will result in a runtime error (`ERR_REQUIRE_ESM`).

N/A

This quickstart demonstrates how to programmatically execute the `franc-cli` command-line tool from a Node.js script using `child_process` and capture its output to detect the language of a given text string.

import { spawn } from 'child_process'; const textToAnalyze = "Alle menslike wesens word vry en gelyk in waardigheid en regte gebore."; const child = spawn('franc-cli', [textToAnalyze]); let output = ''; child.stdout.on('data', (data) => { output += data.toString(); }); child.stderr.on('data', (data) => { console.error(`stderr: ${data}`); }); child.on('close', (code) => { if (code === 0) { console.log(`Detected language: ${output.trim()}`); } else { console.error(`franc-cli exited with code ${code}`); } });

franc --version

Debug

Known footguns

breakingThe `franc` library, on which `franc-cli` is based, transitioned to an ESM-only package in version 6.0.0. Consequently, `franc-cli@8.0.0` and newer are also ESM-only. This means `require()` statements are no longer supported, and Node.js 12+ is required.

breakingThe `franc` library's `franc.all()` method was renamed to `francAll()` in version 6.0.0 for better ESM compatibility and adherence to naming conventions.

gotcha`franc-cli` is a command-line interface tool. It is not designed to be imported directly into JavaScript/TypeScript code as a library. For programmatic language detection, you should install and use the `franc` library package.

gotchaThe version numbers of `franc-cli` do not directly correlate with the `franc` library versions. For example, `franc-cli@8.0.0` is built upon `franc@6.x.x`. Always consult the monorepo's changelog for specific version dependencies and breaking changes affecting the underlying library.

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Version history

Breaking-change detection hasn't run for this library yet.

Audit

Security & dependencies

CVE tracking and dependency tree are planned for a later release.

Agent activity

13 hits · last 30 days

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Resources

githubhttps://github.com/wooorm/franc.git#main ↗

packagehttps://www.npmjs.com/package/franc-cli ↗