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9 <h1><a href="../cli/npm-link.html">npm-link</a></h1> <p>Symlink a package folder</p>
11 <h2 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h2>
13 <pre><code>npm link (in package folder)
14 npm link <pkgname>
15 npm ln (with any of the previous argument usage)</code></pre>
17 <h2 id="DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</h2>
19 <p>Package linking is a two-step process.</p>
21 <p>First, <code>npm link</code> in a package folder will create a globally-installed
22 symbolic link from <code>prefix/package-name</code> to the current folder.</p>
24 <p>Next, in some other location, <code>npm link package-name</code> will create a
25 symlink from the local <code>node_modules</code> folder to the global symlink.</p>
27 <p>Note that <code>package-name</code> is taken from <code>package.json</code>,
28 not from directory name.</p>
30 <p>When creating tarballs for <code>npm publish</code>, the linked packages are
31 "snapshotted" to their current state by resolving the symbolic links.</p>
34 handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and test it
35 iteratively without having to continually rebuild.</p>
39 <pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-redis # go into the package directory
40 npm link # creates global link
41 cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into some other package directory.
42 npm link redis # link-install the package</code></pre>
44 <p>Now, any changes to ~/projects/node-redis will be reflected in
45 ~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/redis/</p>
47 <p>You may also shortcut the two steps in one. For example, to do the
48 above use-case in a shorter way:</p>
50 <pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into the dir of your main project
51 npm link ../node-redis # link the dir of your dependency</code></pre>
53 <p>The second line is the equivalent of doing:</p>
55 <pre><code>(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
56 npm link redis</code></pre>
58 <p>That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global
59 installation target into your project's <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p>
61 <h2 id="SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</h2>
63 <ul><li><a href="../misc/npm-developers.html">npm-developers(7)</a></li><li><a href="../misc/npm-faq.html">npm-faq(7)</a></li><li><a href="../files/package.json.html">package.json(5)</a></li><li><a href="../cli/npm-install.html">npm-install(1)</a></li><li><a href="../files/npm-folders.html">npm-folders(5)</a></li><li><a href="../cli/npm-config.html">npm-config(1)</a></li><li><a href="../misc/npm-config.html">npm-config(7)</a></li><li><a href="../files/npmrc.html">npmrc(5)</a></li></ul>
65 <p id="footer">npm-link — npm@1.3.14</p>
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