execa
Execute external processes with a better API and error handling for Node.js.
Utilities npm MIT
Used in agent projects
46
0.4% of 12,697 public repos built with AI coding agents
Rank in utilities
#45 of 109
by use in those projects
Downloads
172M
npm, last 7 days, execa
GitHub stars
7,614
last push Oct 6, 2026
How execa is used
execa is a dependency in 46 of the 12,697 public GitHub projects set up for AI coding agents that we scanned (0.4%), #45 of 109 in utilities. The most used alternative there is clsx. Projects that use it most often also use chalk (65.2%), tsx (65.2%), Zod (65.2%). It is more common in projects set up for Kiro (4.8%) than for GitHub Copilot (0.5%).
Often used with execa
| chalk | 65.2% of execa projects · 37.3× more than average |
|---|---|
| tsx | 65.2% of execa projects · 6.6× more than average |
| Zod | 65.2% of execa projects · 3.8× more than average |
| Commander | 47.8% of execa projects · 32.8× more than average |
| lru-cache | 43.5% of execa projects · 86.3× more than average |
| Vitest | 45.7% of execa projects · 3.7× more than average |
| Prettier | 54.3% of execa projects · 3.1× more than average |
| Anthropic SDK | 41.3% of execa projects · 24.9× more than average |
By coding agent
| Claude Code | 0.9% of projects set up for it |
|---|---|
| Cursor | 0.7% of projects set up for it |
| GitHub Copilot | 0.5% of projects set up for it |
| Kiro | 4.8% of projects set up for it |
| Gemini CLI | 1.4% of projects set up for it |
Share of public repos configured for each agent that list execa as a dependency.
Install
| Package | npm install execa |
|---|---|
| Main stacks | TypeScript / JavaScript (42), Next.js (3), Rust (1) |
| Example projects | handsontable/handsontable, crbnos/carbon, amelioro/ameliorate, commercetools/ui-kit, richardsondx/checkmate |
Alternatives to execa
| Tool | Used in agent projects | Downloads / wk | GitHub stars | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| clsx npm Tiny utility for conditionally constructing className strings. |
2,251 (17.7%) | 126M | 9,847 | MIT |
| date-fns npm Modern JavaScript date utility library with comprehensive formatting functions. |
1,079 (8.5%) | 97.6M | 36.6K | MIT |
| uuid npm Generate RFC9562 compliant UUIDs for unique identifiers in applications. |
454 (3.6%) | 296M | 15.3K | MIT |
| PyYAML pypi YAML parser and emitter for reading and writing YAML configuration files. |
385 (3.0%) | 239M | 2,954 | MIT |
| Lodash npm Modular utility library with methods for common programming tasks and data manipulation. |
269 (2.1%) | 162M | 61.4K | MIT |
| bn.js npm Big number library for handling arbitrary-precision integers in JavaScript. |
217 (1.7%) | 62.1M | 1,230 | MIT |
| python-dateutil pypi Extensions to Python's datetime module for advanced date and time manipulation. |
165 (1.3%) | 233M | 2,638 | Dual License |
| yaml npm JavaScript YAML parser and stringifier with full spec compliance. |
164 (1.3%) | 179M | 1,693 | ISC |