node-gyp

node-gyp is a command-line tool that compiles native addons for Node.js. A native addon is a piece of code written in C or C++ that Node.js can load and run directly, giving programs access to low-level system features that plain JavaScript cannot reach. node-gyp takes care of the compilation step so that developers do not have to manage that process by hand.

Before using it, you need a few system tools already installed. On Linux and macOS those are Python, make, and a C++ compiler. On Windows you need Python plus the Visual C++ build tools that come with Visual Studio. Once those are in place, you install node-gyp via npm like any other package.

The typical workflow has three steps. First you run the configure command inside your addon folder, which reads a file called binding.gyp and generates the platform-appropriate build files. Then you run the build command, which compiles the code. The result is a .node file that your Node.js application can load. There is also a rebuild command that combines both steps, and a clean command to remove previous build output.

The binding.gyp file is a JSON-like configuration file that sits alongside package.json at the root of your addon project. It tells node-gyp the name of your target and which source files to compile. The format is flexible enough to handle complex multi-file projects, though a minimal addon only needs a target name and a list of source files.

node-gyp works on all major platforms with the same commands, and it supports building against different versions of Node.js, including third-party runtimes such as Electron that ship their own headers.