NPM : how to source ./node_modules/.bin folder?

Question

I have a problem on npm installation

I have created a project say project A

cd ~/projectA
npm install sails

but sails command is not found after installation.

I know that it is successfully install in ~/projectA/node_modules directory. but the executable cannot be sourced. And i know it is installed ~/projectA/node_modules/.bin

How can I source the .bin automatically whenever I enter into this projectA folder?

Did I did something wrong?

Are you sure it is installed under `~/projectA/node_modules/.bin` and not `~/projectA/node_modules/sails/bin` instead? What do you mean by source? — verybadalloc, Aug 04 '13 at 01:00
@verybadalloc source is like the unix dot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_(Unix) and http://superuser.com/a/46146 — SHernandez, Apr 07 '15 at 11:29
possible duplicate of [How to use package installed locally in node\_modules?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9679932/how-to-use-package-installed-locally-in-node-modules) — Shahar 'Dawn' Or, Jul 07 '15 at 21:43

bmavity · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-04T20:41:30.810

16

I can give you an inelegant solution, which is working for me. I just exported my path in my .bashrc file.

export PATH="$PATH:./node_modules/.bin"

Edit: It's been a while, but I have changed my strategy to use npm scripts instead. In the above case, setup package.json as follows:

"scripts": {
    "sails": "sails"
}

Which you can then run with

npm run sails

or with arguments

npm run sails -- <args>

edited Jul 04 '16 at 20:41

answered Sep 21 '13 at 01:53

bmavity

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6

I would put the node_modules/.bin first: `export PATH="./node_modules/.bin:$PATH"` – Michael_Scharf Dec 18 '13 at 00:05
Upvote for using npm scripts, and for the hint on how to use args – logan Jul 28 '16 at 07:19

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 25 '14 at 20:22

You should use the npm bin command to get an absolute path to your current node bin directory.

For example:

➤ lessc
bash: lessc: command not found
➤ npm bin
/home/brice/[...]/node_modules/.bin
➤ export PATH=$(npm bin):$PATH
➤ lessc --version
lessc 1.7.3 (Less Compiler) [JavaScript]

This avoids the problem of relative paths, especially if you're going to be using this in a build system that will invoke the command in subdirectories.

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 03 '15 at 17:03

3

A bit more robust is:

export PATH=$(npm bin):$PATH

You can either run it, add it to your shell profile, or create an alias like:

alias snpm='export PATH=$(npm bin):$PATH'

If you do go the alias route, be sure to use single quotes so it delays the execution of the variables!

answered Dec 03 '15 at 17:03

cadlac

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Thanks for the help! – Josh Cole Jun 05 '17 at 14:57

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 06 '13 at 04:02

To use on the command line like sails generate foo you will need to install the npm module globally.

npm install -g sails

You could also use the path to the bin in the command if you don't want to install globally:

./node_modules/sails/bin/sails.js generate foo

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 21 '13 at 02:43

The official instructions for sails (https://github.com/balderdashy/sails) advises

To install the latest stable release with the command-line tool:

sudo npm -g install sails

This installs globally and adds to a directory like /usr/local/bin that should be in your $PATH.

But to answer the general question regarding the location of the binaries if you install locally, they should be placed in ./node_modules/.bin directory (so run ./node_modules/.bin/sails ...)

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 14 '16 at 18:21

If you don't like to mess up with your PATH for running a npm script that isn't global -- e.g. you are the only one to use it --, I would personally recommend the use of an sh "alias".

npm install (locally) your beloved package (json-diff here, for instance)
```
cd ~ && npm install json-diff
```
alias it (save it in your ~/.xxxxrc file):
```
alias diffj "\`npm bin\`/json-diff !*"
```

Then, for diffing 2 json's:

diffj old.json new.json

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 05 '17 at 14:42

In my ~/.bashrc, I have the following:

function nbin {
  local dir;
  dir=$(npm bin)
  if [ -d "$dir" ]; then
    ( # subshell to not change this shell's $PATH
      PATH=$dir:$PATH
      eval "$@"
    )
  else
    echo "\"$dir\" is not an npm binary directory." >&1
    return 1
  fi
}

I can then run executable foo in the .bin directory as:

nbin foo

score -1 · Answer 8 · edited Apr 22 '20 at 15:05

-1

Possible workaround with NPM 5.2+ using the npx command.

npx sails new test-project

See this question for a similar use case and elegant solutions.

edited Apr 22 '20 at 15:05

LessQuesar

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answered Apr 22 '20 at 09:15

Titu

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NPM : how to source ./node_modules/.bin folder?

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