# Firstline [](https://travis-ci.com/pensierinmusica/firstline) [](https://coveralls.io/r/pensierinmusica/firstline) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/firstline) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/firstline) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/firstline) ## Introduction Firstline is a [npm](http://npmjs.org) async module for [NodeJS](http://nodejs.org/), that **reads and returns the first line of any file**. It uses native JS promises and streams (requires Node >= v6.4.0). It is well tested and built for high performance. It is particularly suited when you need to programmatically access the first line of a large amount of files, while handling errors if they occur. ## Install `npm install firstline` ## Usage `firstline(filePath, [opts])` - filePath (String): the full path to the file you want to read. - opts (Object, optional): - encoding (String), set the file encoding (must be [supported by Node.js](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_buffers_and_character_encodings)). - lineEnding (String), the character used for line ending (defaults to `\n`). Incrementally reads data from `filePath` until it reaches the end of the first line. Returns a promise, eventually fulfilled with a string. ## Examples ```js // Imagine the file content is: // abc // def // ghi // firstline('./my-file.txt'); // -> Returns a promise that will be fulfilled with 'abc'. firstline('./my-file.txt', { lineEnding: '\r' }); // -> Same as above, but using '\r' as line ending. ``` *** MIT License