javascript-obfuscator · sanex3339 · Mar 22, 2026 · Mar 22, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ v5.4.0
 * Fixed `reservedNames` not preserving class method and property names when `stringArray` or `deadCodeInjection` is enabled. Fixes https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator/issues/1279
 * Fixed infinite loop / stack overflow when `reservedNames` patterns match all generated identifier names. Now throws a descriptive error instead. Fixes https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator/issues/1382
 * Fixed `transformObjectKeys` changing evaluation order when object expression is inside a sequence expression with preceding side effects (e.g. `return aux(ys), { min }`). Fixes https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator/issues/1246
+* Fixed CLI `--options-preset` not applying preset values for options not explicitly set via command line (e.g. `splitStrings` from `high-obfuscation` preset was ignored). Fixes https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator/issues/1236
 * Replaced `mkdirp` dependency with native `fs.mkdirSync({ recursive: true })`. Fixes https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator/issues/1275. Thank you https://github.com/roli-lpci!
 * Replaced `conf` dependency with custom implementation using `env-paths` and native `fs`
 

diff --git a/src/cli/JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.ts b/src/cli/JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import * as path from 'path';
 
 import { TInputCLIOptions } from '../types/options/TInputCLIOptions';
 import { TInputOptions } from '../types/options/TInputOptions';
+import { TOptionsPreset } from '../types/options/TOptionsPreset';
 
 import { IFileData } from '../interfaces/cli/IFileData';
 import { IInitializable } from '../interfaces/IInitializable';
@@ -24,11 +25,10 @@ import { StringArrayEncoding } from '../enums/node-transformers/string-array-tra
 import { StringArrayIndexesType } from '../enums/node-transformers/string-array-transformers/StringArrayIndexesType';
 import { StringArrayWrappersType } from '../enums/node-transformers/string-array-transformers/StringArrayWrappersType';
 
-import { DEFAULT_PRESET } from '../options/presets/Default';
-
 import { ArraySanitizer } from './sanitizers/ArraySanitizer';
 import { BooleanSanitizer } from './sanitizers/BooleanSanitizer';
 
+import { Options } from '../options/Options';
 import { CLIUtils } from './utils/CLIUtils';
 import { IdentifierNamesCacheFileUtils } from './utils/IdentifierNamesCacheFileUtils';
 import { JavaScriptObfuscator } from '../JavaScriptObfuscatorFacade';
@@ -112,33 +112,47 @@ export class JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI implements IInitializable {
 
     /**
      * @param {TInputCLIOptions} inputOptions
+     * @param {commander.Command} command
      * @returns {TInputOptions}
      */
-    private static buildOptions(inputOptions: TInputCLIOptions): TInputOptions {
-        const inputCLIOptions: TInputOptions = JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.filterOptions(inputOptions);
+    private static buildOptions(inputOptions: TInputCLIOptions, command: commander.Command): TInputOptions {
+        const inputCLIOptions: TInputOptions = JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.filterOptions(inputOptions, command);
         const configFilePath: string | undefined = inputOptions.config;
         const configFileLocation: string = configFilePath ? path.resolve(configFilePath, '.') : '';
         const configFileOptions: TInputOptions = configFileLocation ? CLIUtils.getUserConfig(configFileLocation) : {};
 
+        const presetName: TOptionsPreset =
+            inputCLIOptions.optionsPreset ?? configFileOptions.optionsPreset ?? OptionsPreset.Default;
+        const presetOptions: TInputOptions = Options.getOptionsByPreset(presetName);
+
         return {
-            ...DEFAULT_PRESET,
+            ...presetOptions,
             ...configFileOptions,
             ...inputCLIOptions
         };
     }
 
     /**
+     * Filters out options that were not explicitly set by the user.
+     * Commander.js sets default values for all options, which would
+     * override preset values. Only user-provided options should be kept.
+     *
      * @param {TObject} options
+     * @param {commander.Command} command
      * @returns {TInputOptions}
      */
-    private static filterOptions(options: TInputCLIOptions): TInputOptions {
+    private static filterOptions(options: TInputCLIOptions, command: commander.Command): TInputOptions {
         const filteredOptions: TInputOptions = {};
 
         Object.keys(options).forEach((option: keyof TInputCLIOptions) => {
             if (options[option] === undefined) {
                 return;
             }
 
+            if (command.getOptionValueSource(String(option)) === 'default') {
+                return;
+            }
+
             filteredOptions[option] = options[option];
         });
 
@@ -152,7 +166,7 @@ export class JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI implements IInitializable {
         this.configureHelp();
 
         this.inputPath = path.normalize(this.commands.args[0] || '');
-        this.inputCLIOptions = JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.buildOptions(this.commands.opts());
+        this.inputCLIOptions = JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.buildOptions(this.commands.opts(), this.commands);
         this.sourceCodeFileUtils = new SourceCodeFileUtils(this.inputPath, this.inputCLIOptions);
         this.obfuscatedCodeFileUtils = new ObfuscatedCodeFileUtils(this.inputPath, this.inputCLIOptions);
         this.identifierNamesCacheFileUtils = new IdentifierNamesCacheFileUtils(

diff --git a/test/fixtures/sample-long-string.js b/test/fixtures/sample-long-string.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+var x = "This is a long string and it should really be split by the obfuscator";
+console.log(x);
diff --git a/test/functional-tests/cli/JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.spec.ts b/test/functional-tests/cli/JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.spec.ts
@@ -1511,6 +1511,51 @@ describe('JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI', function (): void {
             });
         });
 
+        /**
+         * https://github.com/javascript-obfuscator/javascript-obfuscator/issues/1236
+         */
+        describe('`--options-preset` should apply preset options that are not explicitly set via CLI', () => {
+            const longStringFixturePath: string = path.join(fixturesDirName, 'sample-long-string.js');
+
+            let obfuscatedCode: string;
+
+            before(async () => {
+                await JavaScriptObfuscatorCLI.obfuscate([
+                    'node',
+                    'javascript-obfuscator',
+                    longStringFixturePath,
+                    '--output',
+                    outputFilePath,
+                    '--options-preset',
+                    'medium-obfuscation',
+                    '--string-array',
+                    'false',
+                    '--dead-code-injection',
+                    'false',
+                    '--control-flow-flattening',
+                    'false',
+                    '--self-defending',
+                    'false',
+                    '--debug-protection',
+                    'false',
+                    '--disable-console-output',
+                    'false',
+                    '--seed',
+                    '1'
+                ]);
+
+                obfuscatedCode = fs.readFileSync(outputFilePath, 'utf8');
+            });
+
+            it('should apply `splitStrings` from preset without explicit `--split-strings` flag', () => {
+                assert.match(obfuscatedCode, /'.+'\s*\+\s*'.+'\s*\+\s*'.+'/);
+            });
+
+            after(() => {
+                fs.unlinkSync(outputFilePath);
+            });
+        });
+
         after(() => {
             rimraf.sync(outputDirName);
         });
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
		@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
		var x = "This is a long string and it should really be split by the obfuscator";
		console.log(x);