Local dependency in package.json

Question

I want to do something like this, so npm install also installs the package.json of ../somelocallib or more importantly its dependencies.

"dependencies": {
    "express": "*",
    "../somelocallib": "*"
}

Answer 1

npm >= 2.0.0

This feature was implemented in the version 2.0.0 of npm. Local paths can be saved using npm install -S or npm install --save, using any of these forms:

../foo/bar
~/foo/bar
./foo/bar
/foo/bar

Example package.json:

{
  "name": "baz",
  "dependencies": {
    "bar": "file:../foo/bar"
  }
}

npm ls:

app@0.0.1 /private/tmp/app
└── somelocallib@0.0.1 -> /private/tmp/somelocallib

npm < 2.0.0

Put somelocallib as dependency in your package.json as normal:

"dependencies": {
  "somelocallib": "0.0.x"
}

Then run npm link ../somelocallib and npm will install the version you're working on as a symlink.

Reference: link(1)

Answer 2

It is now possible to specify local Node module installation paths in your package.json directly. From the docs:

Local Paths

As of version 2.0.0 you can provide a path to a local directory that contains a package. Local paths can be saved using npm install -S or npm install --save, using any of these forms:

../foo/bar
~/foo/bar
./foo/bar
/foo/bar

in which case they will be normalized to a relative path and added to your package.json. For example:

{
  "name": "baz",
  "dependencies": {
    "bar": "file:../foo/bar"
  }
}

This feature is helpful for local offline development and creating tests that require npm installing where you don't want to hit an external server, but should not be used when publishing packages to the public registry.

Answer 3

This works for me.

Place the following in your package.json file

"scripts": {
    "preinstall": "npm install ../my-own-module/"
}

Answer 4

This is how you will add local dependencies:

npm install file:src/assets/js/FILE_NAME

Add it to package.json from NPM:

npm install --save file:src/assets/js/FILE_NAME

Directly add to package.json like this:

....
  "angular2-autosize": "1.0.1",
  "angular2-text-mask": "8.0.2", 
  "animate.css": "3.5.2",
  "LIBRARY_NAME": "file:src/assets/js/FILE_NAME"
....

Answer 5

If you want to further automate this, because you are checking your module into version control, and don't want to rely upon devs remembering to npm link, you can add this to your package.json "scripts" section:

"scripts": {
    "postinstall": "npm link ../somelocallib",
    "postupdate": "npm link ../somelocallib"
  }

This feels beyond hacky, but it seems to "work". Got the tip from this npm issue: https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/1558#issuecomment-12444454

Answer 6

Master project

Here is the package.json you will use for the master project:

"dependencies": {
    "express": "*",
    "somelocallib": "file:./somelocallib"
}

There, ./somelocallib is the reference to the library folder as relative to the master project package.json.

Reference: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v7/configuring-npm/package-json#local-paths

---

Sub project

Handle your library dependencies.

In addition to running npm install, you will need to run (cd node_modules/somelocallib && npm install).

This is a known bug with NPM.

Reference: https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/1341 (seeking a more up-to-date reference)

---

Notes for Docker

Check in your master package.lock and your somelocallib/package.lock into your source code manager.

Then in your Dockerfile use:

FROM node:10
WORKDIR /app
# ...
COPY ./package.json ./package-lock.json ./
COPY somelocallib somelocallib
RUN npm ci
RUN (cd node_modules/zkp-utils/ && npm ci)
# ...

I use parenthesis in my (cd A && B) constructs to make the operation idempotent.

Answer 7

Two steps for a complete local development:

1. Provide the path to the local directory that contains the package.

{
  "name": "baz",
  "dependencies": {
    "bar": "file:../foo/bar"
  }
}

2. Symlink the package folder

   cd ~/projects/node-redis    # go into the package directory
   npm link                    # creates global link
   cd ~/projects/node-bloggy   # go into some other package directory.
   npm link redis              # link-install the package
   

Answer 8

Here in 2020, working on a Windows 10, I tried with

"dependencies": {
    "some-local-lib": "file:../../folderY/some-local-lib" 
    ...
}

Then doing a npm install. The result is that a shortcut to the folder is created in node-modules. This doesn't work. You need a hard link - which windows support, but you have to do something extra in windows to create a hard symlink.

Since I don't really want a hard link, I tried using an url instead:

"dependencies": {
    "some-local-lib": "file:///D:\\folderX\\folderY\\some-local-lib.tar" 
     ....
}

And this works nicely.
The tar (you have to tar the stuff in the library's build / dist folder) gets extracted to a real folder in node-modules, and you can import like everything else.
Obviously the tar part is a bit annoying, but since 'some-local-lib' is a library (which has to be build anyway), I prefer this solution to creating a hard link or installing a local npm.

Answer 9

With yarn it can be done as

yarn add file:../somelocallib

Answer 10

use workspaces

the disadvantage using the file:../path/to/your-library is that you either have to npm install or using npm link in order to to the changes to take effect in the packages that import your package.

pnpm

if you using pnpm: a better solution is using workspace: protocol: workspace:../path/to/your-library. it will symlink the directory to your node_modules rather than copying it, so any changes at the source immediately take effect.

for example:

  ...
  "dependencies": {
    ...
    "my-package": "workspace:../../dist"
  },

note: this solution is intended to be used in a workspace, so you may need to create pnpm-workspace.yaml (even an empty one) file in the root of your project.

yarn/npm

the setup is the same, but workspace keyword is not available:

  ...
  "dependencies": {
    ...
    "my-package": "../../dist"
  }

also make sure to add 'my-package' to "workspaces" in your package.json file. read more

Answer 11

I know that npm install ../somelocallib works.

However, I don't know whether or not the syntax you show in the question will work from package.json...

Unfortunately, doc seems to only mention URL as a dependency.

Try file:///.../...tar.gz, pointing to a zipped local lib... and tell us if it works.

Answer 12

Curious.....at least on Windows (my npm is 3.something) I needed to do:

"dependencies": {
 "body-parser": "^1.17.1",
 "module1": "../module1",
 "module2": "../module2",

When I did an npm install ../module1 --save it resulted in absolute paths and not relative per the documentation.

I messed around a little more and determined that ../xxx was sufficient.

Specifically, I have the local node modules checked out to say d:\build\module1, d:\build\module2 and my node project (application) in d:\build\nodeApp.

To 'install', I:

d:\build\module1> rmdir "./node_modules" /q /s && npm install
d:\build\module2> rmdir "./node_modules" /q /s && npm install
d:\build\nodeApp> rmdir "./node_modules" /q /s && npm install

module1's package.json has a dependency of "module2": "../module2"; module2 has no local dependency; nodeApp has dependencies "module1": "../module1" and "module2": "../module2".

Not sure if this only works for me since all 3 folders (module1, module2 and nodeApp) sit on that same level.......

Answer 13

This worked for me: first, make sure the npm directories have the right user

sudo chown -R myuser ~/.npm
sudo chown -R myuser /usr/local/lib/node_modules

Then your in your package.json link the directory

"scripts": {
 "preinstall": "npm ln mylib ../../path/to/mylib"
}, 
"dependencies": {
  "mylib" : "*"
}

Answer 14

I wanted to use a set of local dependencies written in TypeScript, and none of the answers here worked for me. npm install would simply refuse to build the dependencies.

I had to resort to using tsconfig.json to add the packages to my project without marking them as dependencies. My usecase is further complicated by the fact that some dependencies depend on each other, and I wanted all of them to come from the local folder.

Here is my solution:

// tsconfig.json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "./",
    "paths": {
      "@tiptap/*": [
        "tiptap/packages/*/src"
      ]
    }
  }
}

In the example above, I have a local project subfolder named tiptap/ and there are many packages in tiptap/packages/*. The "paths" option will rewrite all @tiptap/foo imports into ./tiptap/packages/foo/src, across both my own files and the files in tiptap/.

It's not a good solution, but it is the only thing that worked for me.

Answer 15

Actually, as of npm 2.0, there is support now local paths (see here).

Answer 16

There is great yalc that helps to manage local packages. It helped me with local lib that I later deploy. Just pack project with .yalc directory (with or without /node_modules). So just do:

npm install -g yalc  

in directory lib/$ yalc publish 

in project:

project/$ yalc add lib

project/$ npm install 

that's it.

When You want to update stuff:

lib/$ yalc push   //this will updated all projects that use your "lib"

project/$ npm install 

Pack and deploy with Docker

tar -czvf <compresedFile> <directories and files...>
tar -czvf app.tar .yalc/ build/ src/ package.json package-lock.json

Note: Remember to add .yalc directory.

inDocker:

FROM node:lts-alpine3.9

ADD app.tar /app

WORKDIR /app
RUN npm install

CMD [ "node", "src/index.js" ]

Answer 17

In 2021 you need to use it like:

npm i my-pkg@file:./path-to-my-pkg.js

# To remove it later
npm un my-pkg

Use .js in the end if its file OR path to folder if its complete package with package.json.

Usage

const myPkg = require('my-pkg')

That works like charm!

Answer 18

Complete local development guide for yarn users:

First add dependency to your main project:

cd main-project
yarn add file:../path/to/your-library

Next, if you want to avoid re-building this dependency every time you change it's source:

cd your-library
yarn link

This will register a link to your-library. Next, use the link you just created in your main project.

cd main-project
yarn link your-library

Now every time you change code in your-library, you don't need to rebuild it and it will automatically be included in your main-project. Yarn link works by creating symlinks in your node_modules folder, read more about it here: https://classic.yarnpkg.com/lang/en/docs/cli/link/

Answer 19

file: is directly linking a local folder as the package. If the local folder contains devDependencies it will cause version collisions.

link: is also linking the local folder as the package, but also ignores linked devDepedencies, behaving exactly as a package consumed from NPM, but locally.

TLDR: use link to avoid devDependency conflicts :)

Answer 20

Using Module Alias

1. Install the module-alias package:

   npm i --save module-alias

2. Add paths to your package.json like this:

   { "_moduleAliases": { "@lib": "app/lib", "@models": "app/models" } }

3. In your entry-point file, before any require() calls:

   require('module-alias/register')

4. You can now require files like this:

   const Article = require('@models/article');