Using Plugins#

Gulp plugins are Node Transform Streams that encapsulate common behavior to transform files in a pipeline - often placed between src() and dest() using the .pipe() method. They can change the filename, metadata, or contents of every file that passes through the stream.

Plugins from npm - using the "gulpplugin" and "gulpfriendly" keywords - can be browsed and searched on the plugin search page.

Each plugin should only do a small amount of work, so you can connect them like building blocks. You may need to combine a bunch of them to get the desired result.

const { src, dest } = require('gulp');
const uglify = require('gulp-uglify');
const rename = require('gulp-rename');

exports.default = function() {
 return src('src/*.js')
 // The gulp-uglify plugin won't update the filename
 .pipe(uglify())
 // So use gulp-rename to change the extension
 .pipe(rename({ extname: '.min.js' }))
 .pipe(dest('output/'));
}

Do you need a plugin?#

Not everything in gulp should use plugins. They are a quick way to get started, but many operations are improved by using a module or library instead.

const { rollup } = require('rollup');

// Rollup's promise API works great in an `async` task
exports.default = async function() {
 const bundle = await rollup({
 input: 'src/index.js'
 });

 return bundle.write({
 file: 'output/bundle.js',
 format: 'iife'
 });
}

Plugins should always transform files. Use a (non-plugin) Node module or library for any other operations.

const del = require('delete');

exports.default = function(cb) {
 // Use the `delete` module directly, instead of using gulp-rimraf
 del(['output/*.js'], cb);
}

Conditional plugins#

Since plugin operations shouldn't be file-type-aware, you may need a plugin like gulp-if to transform subsets of files.

const { src, dest } = require('gulp');
const gulpif = require('gulp-if');
const uglify = require('gulp-uglify');

function isJavaScript(file) {
 // Check if file extension is '.js'
 return file.extname === '.js';
}

exports.default = function() {
 // Include JavaScript and CSS files in a single pipeline
 return src(['src/*.js', 'src/*.css'])
 // Only apply gulp-uglify plugin to JavaScript files
 .pipe(gulpif(isJavaScript, uglify()))
 .pipe(dest('output/'));
}

Inline plugins#

Inline plugins are one-off Transform Streams you define inside your gulpfile by writing the desired behavior.

There are two situations where creating an inline plugin is helpful:

Instead of creating and maintaining your own plugin.
Instead of forking a plugin that exists to add a feature you want.

const { src, dest } = require('gulp');
const uglify = require('uglify-js');
const through2 = require('through2');

exports.default = function() {
 return src('src/*.js')
 // Instead of using gulp-uglify, you can create an inline plugin
 .pipe(through2.obj(function(file, _, cb) {
 if (file.isBuffer()) {
 const code = uglify.minify(file.contents.toString())
 file.contents = Buffer.from(code.code)
 }
 cb(null, file);
 }))
 .pipe(dest('output/'));
}