deps/npm/html/doc/cli/npm-link.html

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  11
  12 <h1><a href="../cli/npm-link.html">npm-link</a></h1> <p>Symlink a package folder</p>
  13
  14 <h2 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h2>
  15
  16 <pre><code>npm link (in package folder)
  17 npm link &lt;pkgname&gt;
  18 npm ln (with any of the previous argument usage)</code></pre>
  19
  20 <h2 id="DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</h2>
  21
  22 <p>Package linking is a two-step process.</p>
  23
  24 <p>First, <code>npm link</code> in a package folder will create a globally-installed
  25 symbolic link from <code>prefix/package-name</code> to the current folder.</p>
  26
  27 <p>Next, in some other location, <code>npm link package-name</code> will create a
  28 symlink from the local <code>node_modules</code> folder to the global symlink.</p>
  29
  30 <p>Note that <code>package-name</code> is taken from <code>package.json</code>,
  31 not from directory name.</p>
  32
  33 <p>When creating tarballs for <code>npm publish</code>, the linked packages are
  34 &quot;snapshotted&quot; to their current state by resolving the symbolic links.</p>
  35
  36 <p>This is
  37 handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and test it
  38 iteratively without having to continually rebuild.</p>
  39
  40 <p>For example:</p>
  41
  42 <pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-redis    # go into the package directory
  43 npm link                    # creates global link
  44 cd ~/projects/node-bloggy   # go into some other package directory.
  45 npm link redis              # link-install the package</code></pre>
  46
  47 <p>Now, any changes to ~/projects/node-redis will be reflected in
  48 ~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/redis/</p>
  49
  50 <p>You may also shortcut the two steps in one.  For example, to do the
  51 above use-case in a shorter way:</p>
  52
  53 <pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-bloggy  # go into the dir of your main project
  54 npm link ../node-redis     # link the dir of your dependency</code></pre>
  55
  56 <p>The second line is the equivalent of doing:</p>
  57
  58 <pre><code>(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
  59 npm link redis</code></pre>
  60
  61 <p>That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global
  62 installation target into your project&#39;s <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p>
  63
  64 <h2 id="SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</h2>
  65
  66 <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>
  67 </div>
  68
  69 <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 id=npmlogo>
  70 <tr><td style="width:180px;height:10px;background:rgb(237,127,127)" colspan=18>&nbsp;</td></tr>
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  74 <tr><td style="width:10px;height:10px;background:#fff">&nbsp;</td></tr>
  75 <tr><td style="width:60px;height:10px;background:rgb(237,127,127)" colspan=6>&nbsp;</td><td colspan=10 style="width:10px;height:10px;background:rgb(237,127,127)">&nbsp;</td></tr>
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  77 </table>
  78 <p id="footer">npm-link &mdash; npm@1.4.8</p>
  79