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11 <h1><a href="../cli/npm-link.html">npm-link</a></h1> <p>Symlink a package folder</p>
13 <h2 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h2>
15 <pre><code>npm link (in package folder)
16 npm link <pkgname>
17 npm ln (with any of the previous argument usage)</code></pre>
19 <h2 id="DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</h2>
21 <p>Package linking is a two-step process.</p>
23 <p>First, <code>npm link</code> in a package folder will create a globally-installed
24 symbolic link from <code>prefix/package-name</code> to the current folder.</p>
26 <p>Next, in some other location, <code>npm link package-name</code> will create a
27 symlink from the local <code>node_modules</code> folder to the global symlink.</p>
29 <p>Note that <code>package-name</code> is taken from <code>package.json</code>,
30 not from directory name.</p>
32 <p>When creating tarballs for <code>npm publish</code>, the linked packages are
33 "snapshotted" to their current state by resolving the symbolic links.</p>
36 handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and test it
37 iteratively without having to continually rebuild.</p>
41 <pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-redis # go into the package directory
42 npm link # creates global link
43 cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into some other package directory.
44 npm link redis # link-install the package</code></pre>
46 <p>Now, any changes to ~/projects/node-redis will be reflected in
47 ~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/redis/</p>
49 <p>You may also shortcut the two steps in one. For example, to do the
50 above use-case in a shorter way:</p>
52 <pre><code>cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into the dir of your main project
53 npm link ../node-redis # link the dir of your dependency</code></pre>
55 <p>The second line is the equivalent of doing:</p>
57 <pre><code>(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
58 npm link redis</code></pre>
60 <p>That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global
61 installation target into your project's <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p>
63 <h2 id="SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</h2>
65 <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>
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77 <p id="footer">npm-link — npm@1.4.6</p>