Rewrite a callback file read using fs/promises

The file-reading code you wrote works, but it's nested three callbacks deep and hard to follow.

BeginnerRead 5 minDoing: about 20 minutes6 steps

What you'll have at the end

The same file-reading script rewritten with async/await and no callbacks left

Before you start

You need

A script that already reads two or more files with the plain callback-based file system module, one read nested inside the previous read's callback.

Not covered

Files too big to hold in memory all at once, which need the streaming read methods instead of a single whole-file read.

Leans on

6 steps

Why does your Node process die silently on a rejected promise?

if the rewritten script starts dying without warning on a rejection you did not expect, that recipe walks through diagnosing exactly why.

Stream a log file too big to fit in memory

if the file being read is too large to load whole into memory, that recipe covers the streaming version instead of a single whole-file read.

Checked 25 Aug 2026