Zx — Write Better Shell Scripts with JavaScript

Overview

zx is Google's tool for writing shell scripts in JavaScript/TypeScript. It wraps child_process, auto-escapes arguments, and provides sensible defaults — giving you the power of the JavaScript ecosystem in your scripts.

#!/usr/bin/env zx

await $`cat package.json | grep name`

const branch = await $`git branch --show-current`
await $`dep deploy --branch=${branch}`

const name = 'foo & bar'
await $`mkdir /tmp/${name}`  // No quotes needed — auto-escaped

Bash is great for simple tasks, but when scripts grow complex, a full programming language helps. zx adds helpful wrappers around child_process, escapes arguments, and gives sensible defaults. Think: bash + JavaScript in one script.