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archiver
Create ZIP and TAR archives programmatically with Archiver — bundle files, directories, and streams into compressed archives with progress tracking. Use when tasks involve generating downloadable bundles, backing up directories, creating deployment packages, or building export features that zip multiple files together.
#zip#tar#archive#compression#bundling
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Usage
$
✓ Installed archiver v1.0.0
Getting Started
- Install the skill using the command above
- Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
- Reference the skill in your prompt
- The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically
Example Prompts
- "Summarize the key findings in quarterly-report.pdf"
- "Extract all tables and figures from this research paper"
Documentation
Create ZIP and TAR archives from files, directories, and streams. Streaming architecture for large archives.
Setup
bash
# Install archiver for creating archives.
npm install archiver
npm install -D @types/archiver
Creating a ZIP Archive
typescript
// src/archive/zip.ts — Bundle multiple files into a ZIP archive.
import archiver from "archiver";
import fs from "fs";
export async function createZip(files: string[], outputPath: string): Promise<void> {
const output = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
const archive = archiver("zip", { zlib: { level: 9 } });
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
output.on("close", () => {
console.log(`Archive created: ${archive.pointer()} bytes`);
resolve();
});
archive.on("error", reject);
archive.pipe(output);
for (const file of files) {
archive.file(file, { name: file.split("/").pop()! });
}
archive.finalize();
});
}
Archiving Directories
typescript
// src/archive/directory.ts — Recursively add an entire directory to a ZIP.
import archiver from "archiver";
import fs from "fs";
export async function zipDirectory(sourceDir: string, outputPath: string): Promise<void> {
const output = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
const archive = archiver("zip", { zlib: { level: 6 } });
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
output.on("close", resolve);
archive.on("error", reject);
archive.pipe(output);
// Add entire directory, preserving structure
archive.directory(sourceDir, false);
// Or nest under a folder name inside the archive
// archive.directory(sourceDir, "my-project");
archive.finalize();
});
}
Adding Buffers and Streams
typescript
// src/archive/buffers.ts — Add in-memory content (buffers, strings) to archives
// without writing temporary files.
import archiver from "archiver";
import fs from "fs";
export async function createArchiveFromData(
entries: { name: string; content: string | Buffer }[],
outputPath: string
): Promise<void> {
const output = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
const archive = archiver("zip", { zlib: { level: 6 } });
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
output.on("close", resolve);
archive.on("error", reject);
archive.pipe(output);
for (const entry of entries) {
archive.append(entry.content, { name: entry.name });
}
archive.finalize();
});
}
// Example: bundle generated reports
// await createArchiveFromData([
// { name: "report.csv", content: csvString },
// { name: "report.json", content: JSON.stringify(data) },
// { name: "README.txt", content: "Generated reports bundle" },
// ], "reports.zip");
TAR Archives
typescript
// src/archive/tar.ts — Create gzipped TAR archives for deployment or backup.
import archiver from "archiver";
import fs from "fs";
export async function createTarGz(sourceDir: string, outputPath: string): Promise<void> {
const output = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
const archive = archiver("tar", { gzip: true, gzipOptions: { level: 9 } });
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
output.on("close", resolve);
archive.on("error", reject);
archive.pipe(output);
archive.directory(sourceDir, false);
archive.finalize();
});
}
Progress Tracking
typescript
// src/archive/progress.ts — Track archive creation progress for large bundles.
import archiver from "archiver";
import fs from "fs";
export async function createZipWithProgress(
sourceDir: string,
outputPath: string,
onProgress: (percent: number) => void
): Promise<void> {
const output = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
const archive = archiver("zip", { zlib: { level: 6 } });
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
output.on("close", resolve);
archive.on("error", reject);
archive.on("progress", (progress) => {
const percent = (progress.entries.processed / progress.entries.total) * 100;
onProgress(Math.round(percent));
});
archive.pipe(output);
archive.directory(sourceDir, false);
archive.finalize();
});
}
Streaming to HTTP Response
typescript
// src/archive/api.ts — Stream a ZIP archive directly to an Express response
// without writing to disk.
import archiver from "archiver";
import type { Response } from "express";
export function streamZipResponse(
res: Response,
files: { name: string; content: string | Buffer }[]
) {
res.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/zip");
res.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=export.zip");
const archive = archiver("zip", { zlib: { level: 6 } });
archive.pipe(res);
for (const file of files) {
archive.append(file.content, { name: file.name });
}
archive.finalize();
}
Information
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Author
- terminal-skills
- Category
- Documents
- License
- Apache-2.0