A typical approach to handle private npm modules is to put them to a Git repository, and then use npm install with the path to that repository to install the module.
If you enter the dependency into your package.json file, you can even install using npm install without the need to specify the repository url every time. I.e., if you add
"myPrivateModule": "git+ssh://git#github.com:myGitHubAccount/myPrivateModule.git"
as a dependency, you can install using
$ npm install myPrivateModule
and everything works fine :-).
Now I have a problem in that myPrivateModule is private, yes, but not a dependency. Instead, it's a dependency only for development time, hence I put it into the section devDependencies in the package.json file.
Once you do this,
$ npm install myPrivateModule
does not work any longer, as it now searches the public registry instead of using the registered path to the repository.
Is there a possibility to make this work, without the need to specify the full-blown path each and every time?
Just npm install with no arguments should read package.json and install it.
Related
There's a public tool (csso-cli) that can be installed with npm install -g csso-cli to be available globally. Now I need to make a modification to it and change one of its dependencies (csso) to a newer version to use the latest features. So I cloned the repository and installed that with npm install -g ./. It did copy that local code directory to my global npm installation location, but none of the required dependencies were added. There simply isn't a node_modules subdirectory in the install location.
How can I properly install an npm package from a local directory, including all external dependencies, as if it were installed from a public repository? Maybe I need to create some sort of package file first and install that? I don't know much about npm. I searched the web but couldn't find anything. (All instructions are missing the dependencies.) I've read the npm documentation but am still no wiser. That topic isn't covered here, still only incomplete installations without dependencies seem possible. Who needs that?
Looks like I needed the npm pack command. It creates an archive of the package from the local directory. When installing that file with npm install -g my-package-1.0.0.tgz all dependencies are properly installed as well. Plus, the package file doesn't contain the git files.
I've searched through other questions such as this one, but they all seem to be about a local npm link stopping working for another reason than mine. I assume this is a common use-case issue, so if I'm doing something methodically wrong, I'm more than happy to take suggestions on how I should be doing it.
Principally, I have a private npm module that I'm working on called #organisation/module. When working locally, I'll run npm link on it, and use it within my 'host' project as npm link #organisation/module — this all works great with hot-reloading, etc. I'll also import it as import module from '#organisation/module.
However, since I also want to publish my local changes to npm (as #organisation/module) from time to time, for build testing and production code, I need to run npm install #organisation/module on the host project.
This then seems to break the implicit npm link I set up earlier... I assume mainly because they are the same name, and npm favors an install over a link?
When I want to make live, local changes again, the only way I can currently get it to work is via npm uninstall #organisation/module and then to re-link it.
Is there a way to keep the published module installed (in order to avoid careless mistakes, like forgetting to reinstall it for build testing), but always favour the local, linked instance?
Diagram for ref:
Have you tried locally installing with the other method npm provides.
npm install /absolute/path/packageName
I believe this will change your entry in package.json to look like this:
"dependencies" {
...
"packageName": "file:../../path/to/packageName",
...
}
Since npm link creates a symlink in the global folder, while npm install is local to the project npm install takes precedence. You can read about npm link here: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/link
To avoid this, my suggestion would be to use npm install <path to local> and when you need to use the production code use npm install #organization/module. This would update your node_modules per code basis. Read about npm install here: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install
Hope this helps :)
Go to the directory where your local package is located open package.json change the name from original_name to "original_name_local".
write npm link on terminal at the same location.
After this go to your working directory and write npm install <path to local>
Now whereever you're requiring or importing update the name to "original_name_local"
for example if it's require('space-cleaner') then change it to require('space-cleaner_local')
Like this you can have both local as well as production package just change the name wherever required.
Otherwise you can remove package by removing it from package.json and deleting from node_modules.
if local is needed go to local package directory and on terminal write npm link and then on your working directory write npm install ./path/to/package
if production then again delete the package as told above and write npm install package_name
I have a simple question that i cant seem to find the answer for. I cloned a git repo to my local machine.
When attempting to start node, I receive an error because i don't have the required npm dependencies installed. However, they are located in the packages.json file that was cloned.
I was wondering if there was a simple way to install the dependencies located in that file, without having to npm install for every individual package.
Within the directory of the package.json file, just run npm install. It will read package.json and install all dependencies. If you want to limit it to only non-dev dependencies, use npm install --only=production.
It appears that when I run npm link, it will install the project globally, and it seems to install devDependencies with it.
Is there a way to run npm link without devDependencies, perhaps with the --only=production flag?
In npm#4.x or lower
When you run npm link in other_module then you will get both dependencies and devDependencies symlinked.
The --production flag doesn't change anything, still creates a symlink to the whole directory
In npm#5.1.0
They fixed it!
If you remove node_modules and then do npm link --only=production, it runs an install before symlinking, and therefore devDependencies folder are indeed excluded.
This is currently not possible with npm link. The problem is, if you install only prod dependencies in that dependency, you're able to link it, but you're not able to develop on that dependency anymore (since missing devDependencies). And vice-versa: If you install devDependencies, you can't link anymore.
The solution: A package called npm-local-development at https://github.com/marcj/npm-local-development
It basically does the same thing as npm link, but works around the devDependency limitation by setting up a file watcher and syncs file changes automatically in the background, excluding all devDependencies/peerDependencies.
You install npm-local-development: npm i -g npm-local-development
You create file called .links.json in your root package.
You write every package name with its local relative folder path into it like so
{
"#shared/core": "../../my-library-repo/packages/core"
}
Open a console and run npm-local-development in that root package. Let it run in the background.
Disclaimer: I'm the author of this free open-source project.
A workaround I use is npm pack then point to the packed file in the example
I create my Node project (npm init). In this project, i want to use Node REST Client from git hub https://github.com/dchester/node-rest-client.
update package.json with dependency:
...
"dependencies": {
"rest-client": "*"
},
...
create dir node_modules in my project
Copy the rest-client into the directory 'node_modules'
Run 'npm install' to install this dependency, however it doesn't.
What am i doing wrong? how to properly install dependency that is not from npm central repo?
Thank You
It looks like you'll have to do it manually for every module. However as the accepted answer in How to install a private NPM module without my own registry? by Mihai points out, npm knows about git:
npm install git://github.com/visionmedia/express.git
furthermore, besides going into the directory and typing npm install there it is possible to specify the path as argument:
npm install path/to/somedir
There's another useful answer in How to install a private NPM module without my own registry? where you can see you can also specify a url pointing to a tarball. I suggest you take a look at that thread.