node --run is fast

Published August 30, 2025 | Last updated February 21, 2026

Developers in the Node.js and web ecosystems run scripts defined in package.json dozens of times daily, so even a miniscule increase in performance could improve developer experience. I found that Node’s --run flag launches scripts 8 times faster than npm run, yielding a noticeable reduction in startup overhead.

Introduction to `node --run`

Node.js v22.0.0 introduced the --run flag as an alternative to npm run, yarn run, etc.:

…the following command will run the test script of the package.json in the current folder:
$ node --run test
You can also pass arguments to the command. Any argument after -- will be appended to the script:
$ node --run test -- --verbose

Benchmark

I ran a benchmark with a no-op script to highlight the differences in overhead between the contenders:

Command	Relative	Mean [ms]
`node --run test`	Baseline	9.5 ± 1.7
`npm run test`	~8.3x slower	78.4 ± 2.2
`npm test`	~8.4x slower	79.6 ± 3.7
`yarn test`	~14.2x slower	135.1 ± 3.6
`yarn run test`	~14.5x slower	137.5 ± 5.6
`pnpm test`	~23x slower	218.9 ± 17.1
`pnpm run test`	~21.5x slower	204.1 ± 5.8

With real-world scripts, the differences would be less noticeable—this benchmark focuses solely on differences in script startup time.

Methodology

I created a package.json file with the following contents

{ "scripts": { "test": "true" } }

This defines a single script named test that runs the shell built-in command true, which executes almost instantly and does nothing.

I then used the following hyperfine command to create the benchmark:

hyperfine --warmup=1 --shell=none --reference \
  'node --run test'\
	'npm test' \
	'npm run test' \
	'yarn test' \
	'yarn run test' \
	'pnpm test' \
	'pnpm run test'

Node.js version 24.7.0, hyperfine version 1.19.0. --warmup because pnpm ran slower on its first run, which would skew the results without this flag.

Full benchmark output:

Command	Mean [ms]	Min [ms]	Max [ms]	Relative
`node --run test`	9.5 ± 1.7	5.7	11.9	1.00
`npm test`	79.6 ± 3.7	75.1	91.5	8.38 ± 1.53
`npm run test`	78.4 ± 2.2	75.1	82.6	8.25 ± 1.48
`yarn test`	135.1 ± 3.6	130.2	145.0	14.23 ± 2.54
`yarn run test`	137.5 ± 5.6	130.4	152.8	14.48 ± 2.63
`pnpm test`	218.9 ± 17.1	196.6	245.7	23.05 ± 4.45
`pnpm run test`	204.1 ± 5.8	198.9	222.1	21.49 ± 3.85

Caveats

Flag handling is strict: any flags before -- are passed to node. (Addressed in the section below.)
Unlike npm run, node --run without arguments does not list all available scripts. (Addressed in the section below.)
node --run does not run pre and post scripts. Workflows relying on pre/post scripts won’t be compatible with node --run.

Convenience wrapper

To overcome caveats #1 and #2, I use the following shell function:

nr() {
  node --run "${1-listing all scripts}" -- "${@:2}"
}

The first argument, $1, is the name of the script. Subsequent arguments, ${@:2}, are interpreted as flags for the script. This allows for passing arguments to the script without the -- separator:

$ node --run test -- --verbose
$ nr test --verbose

When no arguments are provided, ${1-listing all scripts} triggers the script listing:

$ node --run "<intentionally invalid script name>"
$ nr
Missing script: "listing all scripts" for ~/src/node-run-test/package.json

Available scripts are:
  test: true

Introduction to node --run

Benchmark

Caveats

Convenience wrapper

Introduction to `node --run`