You can use [**npx**][1] *plus* [**mkdirp**][2] for a relatively lightweight, portable solution without global installs

Add this to `package.json`:

```js
"scripts": {
  "create-dir": "npx mkdirp _site/assets",
}
```

And then use like this:

```bash
$ npm run create-dir
```

[1]: https://medium.com/@maybekatz/introducing-npx-an-npm-package-runner-55f7d4bd282b
[2]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/mkdirp

I'm trying to have a script that looks like this:

    {
        "scripts":
            "setup": "mkdir -p ./my-dir"
    }

And it fails, at least on Windows, even if I run it from a Git Bash prompt. Even trying just `mkdir ./my-dir` doesn't work. I can't figure out any reason it should fail.

The error it gives is a "syntax incorrect" error:

    > my-app@0.0.1 stage C:\my-app
    > mkdir ./my-dir
    
    The syntax of the command is incorrect.
    
    npm ERR! Windows_NT 6.1.7601
    npm ERR! argv "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe" "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "run" "stage"
    npm ERR! node v6.4.0
    npm ERR! npm  v3.10.3
    npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
    npm ERR! my-app@0.0.1 stage: `mkdir ./my-dir`
    npm ERR! Exit status 1
    npm ERR!
    npm ERR! Failed at the my-app@0.0.1 stage script 'mkdir ./my-dir'.
    npm ERR! Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
    npm ERR! If you do, this is most likely a problem with the my-app package,
    npm ERR! not with npm itself.
    npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
    npm ERR!     mkdir ./my-dir
    npm ERR! You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
    npm ERR!     npm bugs my-app
    npm ERR! Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
    npm ERR!     npm owner ls my-app
    npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
    
    npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
    npm ERR!     C:\my-app\npm-debug.log

If this won't work, is there a cross-platform friendly way to initialize an empty directory?


Can't use mkdir in NPM script from Windows

The syntax for [`npm install`][1] includes both of the following overloads:

```bash
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<tag>
npm install [<@scope>/]<name>@<version>
```

For tag, you can specify either `@latest` and `@beta` like this:

```bash
npm install @11ty/eleventy@latest  # latest stable release
npm install @11ty/eleventy@beta    # latest beta release
```

Interestingly, if you don't specify a tag, the default, set by your [npm config][2], is `@latest`


You can also find out which versions are available by running [`npm view`][4]

```bash
npm view @11ty/eleventy
```

[![npm view][5]][5]


  [1]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install
  [2]: https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/config#tag
  [4]: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/view.html
  [5]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/14pRi.png

I need to install a _beta_ version `3.0.0` of [react-docgen][1].

Is it possible to install a *beta* version via npm? 


[1]: https://github.com/reactjs/react-docgen
