Installing “global” npm dependencies via package.j

Question

This question already has an answer here:

• Install dependencies globally and locally using package.json 5 answers

I have a few "global" dependencies (jshint, csslint, buster, etc..) that I'd like to have automatically installed and executable via the command line when my package is installed via npm install. Is this possible?

Currently, I'm doing the following manually:

1. npm install -g <package_name>
2. from within my project: npm link <package_name>

Update: Just came across this feature request for npm. It seems like the scripts config within package.json is the way to go?

Update Again: Or, after reading the npm docs, maybe I'm supposed to use a .gyp file? I'm confused.

Answer 1

I really like the pattern where you install local dependencies, then use a bash script that sets your PATH to ./node_modules/.bin.

File: env.sh

# Add your local node_modules bin to the path for this command
export PATH="./node_modules/.bin:$PATH"

# execute the rest of the command
exec "$@"

Then, you can use this script before any bash command. If you pair that with a Makefile or npm script:

File: Makefile

lint :
    ./env.sh csslint my_styles

File: package.json

"scripts": {
  "lint": "./env.sh csslint my_styles"
}

This tasks in these files look like they reference csslint in some global location, but they actually use the version in your node_modules bin.

The really awesome benefit of this is that these dependencies can be versioned easily, just like your other node modules. If you stick with a global install solution, you could be clobbering some specific version on the user's system that is required for one of their other projects.

Answer 2

It's not possible to specify dependencies as "global" from a package.json. And, this is by design as Isaac states in that feature request you referenced:

Yeah, we're never going to do this.

But, "binaries" can still be used when a package is installed locally. They'll be in .../node_modules/.bin/. And, you should be able to queue them up with a preinstall script.

Though, if the series of commands is rather lengthy (as "jshint, csslint, buster, etc.." would suggest), you may want to look into using a build tool such as grunt to perform the various tasks:

{
    // ...,

    "scripts": {
        "preinstall": "grunt"
    }
}

Answer 3

You should try this: https://github.com/lastboy/package-script

I've been using it to install global npm packages straight from the package.json. It works well for clients who aren't technically literate.

It even checks if the packages are already installed, if not install them!