Tests a user's permissions for the file or directory specified by path. The mode argument is an optional integer that specifies the accessibility checks to be performed. mode should be either the value fs.constants.F_OK or a mask consisting of the bitwise OR of any of fs.constants.R_OK, fs.constants.W_OK, and fs.constants.X_OK (e.g.fs.constants.W_OK | fs.constants.R_OK). Check File access constants for possible values of mode.

The final argument, callback, is a callback function that is invoked with a possible error argument. If any of the accessibility checks fail, the error argument will be an Error object. The following examples check if package.json exists, and if it is readable or writable.

import { access, constants } from 'node:fs';

const file = 'package.json';

// Check if the file exists in the current directory.
access(file, constants.F_OK, (err) => {
  console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'does not exist' : 'exists'}`);
});

// Check if the file is readable.
access(file, constants.R_OK, (err) => {
  console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'is not readable' : 'is readable'}`);
});

// Check if the file is writable.
access(file, constants.W_OK, (err) => {
  console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'is not writable' : 'is writable'}`);
});

// Check if the file is readable and writable.
access(file, constants.R_OK | constants.W_OK, (err) => {
  console.log(`${file} ${err ? 'is not' : 'is'} readable and writable`);
});

Do not use fs.access() to check for the accessibility of a file before calling fs.open(), fs.readFile(), or fs.writeFile(). Doing so introduces a race condition, since other processes may change the file's state between the two calls. Instead, user code should open/read/write the file directly and handle the error raised if the file is not accessible.

write (NOT RECOMMENDED)

import { access, open, close } from 'node:fs';

access('myfile', (err) => {
  if (!err) {
    console.error('myfile already exists');
    return;
  }

  open('myfile', 'wx', (err, fd) => {
    if (err) throw err;

    try {
      writeMyData(fd);
    } finally {
      close(fd, (err) => {
        if (err) throw err;
      });
    }
  });
});

write (RECOMMENDED)

import { open, close } from 'node:fs';

open('myfile', 'wx', (err, fd) => {
  if (err) {
    if (err.code === 'EEXIST') {
      console.error('myfile already exists');
      return;
    }

    throw err;
  }

  try {
    writeMyData(fd);
  } finally {
    close(fd, (err) => {
      if (err) throw err;
    });
  }
});

read (NOT RECOMMENDED)

import { access, open, close } from 'node:fs';
access('myfile', (err) => {
  if (err) {
    if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
      console.error('myfile does not exist');
      return;
    }

    throw err;
  }

  open('myfile', 'r', (err, fd) => {
    if (err) throw err;

    try {
      readMyData(fd);
    } finally {
      close(fd, (err) => {
        if (err) throw err;
      });
    }
  });
});

read (RECOMMENDED)

import { open, close } from 'node:fs';

open('myfile', 'r', (err, fd) => {
  if (err) {
    if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
      console.error('myfile does not exist');
      return;
    }

    throw err;
  }

  try {
    readMyData(fd);
  } finally {
    close(fd, (err) => {
      if (err) throw err;
    });
  }
});

The "not recommended" examples above check for accessibility and then use the file; the "recommended" examples are better because they use the file directly and handle the error, if any.

In general, check for the accessibility of a file only if the file will not be used directly, for example when its accessibility is a signal from another process.

On Windows, access-control policies (ACLs) on a directory may limit access to a file or directory. The fs.access() function, however, does not check the ACL and therefore may report that a path is accessible even if the ACL restricts the user from reading or writing to it.

Asynchronously tests a user's permissions for the file specified by path.