The structure of my project is as follows:
packages/
client/
package.json
server/
package.json
shared/
package.json
lerna.json
package.json
The package.json file of client contains the following dependencies:
{
"name": "#my-project/client",
"dependencies": {
// ...
"#my-project/shared": "*",
"cool-components": "^1.0.0',
// ...
}
}
#my-project/shared is the package name of the packages/shared directory.
I am willing to use npm link to develop the cool-components library, and to use npm link to use its code within #my-project/client.
Currently, I tried to run:
cd packages/client
npm link cool-components
And for unlinking:
npm unlink cool-components
But, I get an error claiming that #my-project/shared is not in the NPM registry.
This is absolutely understandable; When I run NPM commands in the scope of #my-project/client, it is not familiar with its sibling packages, and it tries to look for this package in the registry. This is the reason we should use lerna add in the root instead of npm install within each package.
Even though I understand the cause, I couldn't find a proper way to use npm link to develop another package while using it within my Lerna monorepo.
You add #my-project/shared dependency to #my-project/client with:
// this creates link between packages
lerna add #my-project/shared --scope=#my-project/client
Now if you check node modules inside #my-project/client you should see
#my-project/shared.
If you want to access a dependency in your node package, you use
require.resolve:
// require.resolve will get you the absolute path
const packagePath = require.resolve("#my-project/build/index.js");
// to use the this package, for exampe in express.static
// path.dirname will give you path until build directory
// so you are going to serve up that folder
app.use(express.static(path.dirname(packagePath)));
in client side, importing module from node modules path should work without any configuration. If it does not, try to resolve the node modules path to absolute path.
I need to install a module from a private github repo. In order to do that I'll run npm install git+https://[API-KEY]:x-oauth-basic#github.com/<name>/<repo>.git#<branch>.
My package.json file would look something like this:
"dependencies: {
...
"private-repo-name": "git+https://[API-KEY]:x-oauth-basic#github.com/<name>/<repo>.git#<branch>",
...
}
In this case, "private-repo-name" corresponds to the name field of the package.json of the private repo, i.e.:
"name": "private-repo-name"
My question is: How do I change the package name during npm install without changing the name field of the private repo?
Note: For public npm modules this wouldn't be a problem due to npm modules not sharing namespaces in the npm registry, but for privately developed modules that arent hosted in npm, there is a potential for the module name to conflict with current or future public npm modules in the npm registry.
it can be done by setting up system HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variable to your private repo. after that it will work for command like npm install. but it will install the package with the name they have in the repo.
It turns out that you can simply run npm install new-name#git+https://[API-KEY]:x-oauth-basic#github.com/<name>/<repo>.git#<branch>
how to install multiple versions of package using npm
There's no coupling between the keys in the dependencies field & the name field in the private repo.
i.e.
"dependencies: {
...
"new-name": "git+https://[API-KEY]:x-oauth-basic#github.com/<name>/<repo>.git#<branch>",
...
}
After this, commands like npm update new-name would work as expected.
I have a private package on the file system that I'm trying to install in an Angular 8 project. So far with non-angular projects, this has worked fine. From the root of the Angular project I do:
npm i -S ../the-other-project-dependency/dist
The error message is:
npm ERR! Could not install from "../the-other-project-dependency/the-other-project-dependency" as it does not contain a package.json file.
The part of this that is true is that the-other-project-dependency does not contain a package.json file.
The package.json file is in ../the-other-project-dependency/dist. Specifically, it is in the dist directory.
So I'm not sure if NPM is saying that the dist directory should be named the-other-project-dependency?
I tried renaming dist to the-other-project-dependency and now it gets passed that error, but it gives an error for another private project dependency:
Specifically it says:
`the-other-project-dependency/yet-another-private-dependency` could not be installed as it does not contain a `package.json` file.
So it looks as if NPM does not understand how to work with locally installed packages. In this last case it seems as if it's saying the yet-another-private-package-dependency should be laid out as a sibling of the-other-project-dependency and it's not reading the file system path to that dependency.
I assumed per this post that using local file deps should just work.
Update
I think it's a bug in NPM. I filed a report here
Resolution
Was able to get it working using yarn, but I had to remove the local private packages and reinstall them with yarn, as yarn uses a slightly different path string for local dependencies.
I have a downloaded module repo, I want to install it locally, not globally in another directory?
What is an easy way to do this?
you just provide one <folder> argument to npm install, argument should point toward the local folder instead of the package name:
npm install /path
From the npm-link documentation:
In the local module directory:
$ cd ./package-dir
$ npm link
In the directory of the project to use the module:
$ cd ./project-dir
$ npm link package-name
Or in one go using relative paths:
$ cd ./project-dir
$ npm link ../package-dir
This is equivalent to using two commands above under the hood.
Since asked and answered by the same person, I'll add a npm link as an alternative.
from docs:
This is handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and test it iteratively without having to continually rebuild.
cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into the dir of your main project
npm link ../node-redis # link the dir of your dependency
[Edit] As of NPM 2.0, you can declare local dependencies in package.json
"dependencies": {
"bar": "file:../foo/bar"
}
npm pack + package.json
This is what worked for me:
STEP 1: In module project, execute npm pack:
This will build a <package-name>-<version>.tar.gz file.
STEP 2: Move the file to the consumer project
Ideally you can put all such files in a tmp folder in your consumer-project root:
STEP 3: Refer it in your package.json:
"dependencies": {
"my-package": "file:/./tmp/my-package-1.3.3.tar.gz"
}
STEP 4: Install the packages:
npm install or npm i or yarn
Now, your package would be available in your consumer-project's node_modules folder.
Good Luck...
Neither of these approaches (npm link or package.json file dependency) work if the local module has peer dependencies that you only want to install in your project's scope.
For example:
/local/mymodule/package.json:
"name": "mymodule",
"peerDependencies":
{
"foo": "^2.5"
}
/dev/myproject/package.json:
"dependencies":
{
"mymodule": "file:/local/mymodule",
"foo": "^2.5"
}
In this scenario, npm sets up myproject's node_modules/ like this:
/dev/myproject/node_modules/
foo/
mymodule -> /local/mymodule
When node loads mymodule and it does require('foo'), node resolves the mymodule symlink, and then only looks in /local/mymodule/node_modules/ (and its ancestors) for foo, which it doen't find. Instead, we want node to look in /local/myproject/node_modules/, since that's where were running our project from, and where foo is installed.
So, we either need a way to tell node to not resolve this symlink when looking for foo, or we need a way to tell npm to install a copy of mymodule when the file dependency syntax is used in package.json. I haven't found a way to do either, unfortunately :(
Missing the main property?
As previous people have answered npm i --save ../location-of-your-packages-root-directory.
The ../location-of-your-packages-root-directory however must have two things in order for it to work.
package.json in that directory pointed towards
main property in the package.json must be set and working i.g. "main": "src/index.js", if the entry file for ../location-of-your-packages-root-directory is ../location-of-your-packages-root-directory/src/index.js
So I had a lot of problems with all of the solutions mentioned so far...
I have a local package that I want to always reference (rather than npm link) because it won't be used outside of this project (for now) and also won't be uploaded to an npm repository for wide use as of yet.
I also need it to work on Windows AND Unix, so sym-links aren't ideal.
Pointing to the tar.gz result of (npm package) works for the dependent npm package folder, however this causes issues with the npm cache if you want to update the package. It doesn't always pull in the new one from the referenced npm package when you update it, even if you blow away node_modules and re-do your npm-install for your main project.
so.. This is what worked well for me!
Main Project's Package.json File Snippet:
"name": "main-project-name",
"version": "0.0.0",
"scripts": {
"ng": "ng",
...
"preinstall": "cd ../some-npm-package-angular && npm install && npm run build"
},
"private": true,
"dependencies": {
...
"#com/some-npm-package-angular": "file:../some-npm-package-angular/dist",
...
}
This achieves 3 things:
Avoids the common error (at least with angular npm projects) "index.ts is not part of the compilation." - as it points to the built (dist) folder.
Adds a preinstall step to build the referenced npm client package to make sure the dist folder of our dependent package is built.
Avoids issues where referencing a tar.gz file locally may be cached by npm and not updated in the main project without lots of cleaning/troubleshooting/re-building/re-installing.
I hope this is clear, and helps someone out.
The tar.gz approach also sort of works..
npm install (file path) also sort of works.
This was all based off of a generated client from an openapi spec that we wanted to keep in a separate location (rather than using copy-pasta for individual files)
======
UPDATE:
======
There are additional errors with a regular development flow with the above solution, as npm's versioning scheme with local files is absolutely terrible. If your dependent package changes frequently, this whole scheme breaks because npm will cache your last version of the project and then blow up when the SHA hash doesn't match anymore with what was saved in your package-lock.json file, among other issues.
As a result, I recommend using the *.tgz approach with a version update for each change. This works by doing three things.
First:
For your dependent package, use the npm library "ng-packagr". This is automatically added to auto-generated client packages created by the angular-typescript code generator for OpenAPI 3.0.
As a result the project that I'm referencing has a "scripts" section within package.json that looks like this:
"scripts": {
"build": "ng-packagr -p ng-package.json",
"package": "npm install && npm run build && cd dist && npm pack"
},
And the project referencing this other project adds a pre-install step to make sure the dependent project is up to date and rebuilt before building itself:
"scripts": {
"preinstall": "npm run clean && cd ../some-npm-package-angular && npm run package"
},
Second
Reference the built tgz npm package from your main project!
"dependencies": {
"#com/some-npm-package-angular": "file:../some-npm-package-angular/dist/some-npm-package-angular-<packageVersion>.tgz",
...
}
Third
Update the dependent package's version EVERY TIME you update the dependent package. You'll also have to update the version in the main project.
If you do not do this, NPM will choke and use a cached version and explode when the SHA hash doesn't match. NPM versions file-based packages based on the filename changing. It won't check the package itself for an updated version in package.json, and the NPM team stated that they will not fix this, but people keep raising the issue: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/348
for now, just update the:
"version": "1.0.0-build5",
In the dependent package's package.json file, then update your reference to it in the main project to reference the new filename, ex:
"dependencies": {
"#com/some-npm-package-angular": "file:../some-npm-package-angular/dist/some-npm-package-angular-1.0.0-build5.tgz",
...
}
You get used to it. Just update the two package.json files - version then the ref to the new filename.
Hope that helps someone...
I came across different solution than above while installing custom build package for CKEditor5.
So I uploaded package to app root directory, than:
npm add file:./ckeditor5
In my package.json package is listed as a file:
"ckeditor5-custom-build": "file:ckeditor5",
I think this answer could be relevant to the topic on how to add local package.
For installing local module / package, that not yet on npm or you are developing an npm package and want to test it locally before publishing it. You can try this -
npm i yalc -g
Go to the module/package folder then -
yalc publish
Your packakge is ready to use, now go the project you want to install it -
yalc add <Your package name>
Package will be installed to you project. If you want to remove it -
yalc remove <Your package name>
For more recent versions of npm (I'm using 8.1.3 under macOS Big Sur), the sequence of commands is even easier...
cd /path-where-your-local-project-is/
npm init
This will ask you for some data related to your project and properly initialises your project.json file.
Once that is done, you can install additional modules with:
cd /path-where-your-local-project-is/
npm install --save-dev some-npm-module .
That's all you need!
Note: I believe that the trailing dot is not necessary if you're inside the project directory, but I also think that it doesn't hurt to add it :-)
(I wonder why the official docs still don't explain this...)
Setting npm up as the root user is straighforward and workds. Except you have to run npm commands as root (not recommended). So I thought I'd try setting it up as a non-root user.
According to npm documentation, a non-root user without root access can set up npm by:
creating a .npmrc file with root, binroot, and manroot pointing to folders that the user owns.
Then running the install script.
OK. Install was fine.
But node can't see the packages provided by npm.
So how do I make node aware of the packages provided by npm? (I didn't have to do anything when I previously installed npm as root).
I can set require.paths within node, or set the NODE_PATH environment variable, but to what?
Thanks.
This worked for me:
Make a ~/.node folder
mkdir ~/.node
Edit ~/.npmrc and add the line
prefix = ~/.node
Edit your ~/.profile or ~/.bash_profile and add these lines
PATH="$HOME/.node/bin:$PATH"
NODE_PATH="$HOME/.node/lib/node_modules:$NODE_PATH"
Now I can do things like npm -g install http-server and it will install to ~/.node without root. With this in place, when I then type http-server, it runs.
Through a little exploration, it seems you can either:
set your NODE_PATH to whatever npm's root directory is, or
while in node, invoke require.paths.push('path_to_npm_root')