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132npm command-line interface
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138<header class="title">
139<h1 id="npm-link">npm-link</h1>
140<span class="description">Symlink a package folder</span>
141</header>
142
143<section id="table_of_contents">
144<h2 id="table-of-contents">Table of contents</h2>
145<div id="_table_of_contents"><ul><li><a href="#synopsis">Synopsis</a></li><li><a href="#description">Description</a></li><li><a href="#caveat">Caveat</a></li><li><a href="#workspace-usage">Workspace Usage</a></li><li><a href="#configuration">Configuration</a></li><ul><li><a href="#save"><code>save</code></a></li><li><a href="#save-exact"><code>save-exact</code></a></li><li><a href="#global"><code>global</code></a></li><li><a href="#install-strategy"><code>install-strategy</code></a></li><li><a href="#legacy-bundling"><code>legacy-bundling</code></a></li><li><a href="#global-style"><code>global-style</code></a></li><li><a href="#strict-peer-deps"><code>strict-peer-deps</code></a></li><li><a href="#package-lock"><code>package-lock</code></a></li><li><a href="#omit"><code>omit</code></a></li><li><a href="#include"><code>include</code></a></li><li><a href="#ignore-scripts"><code>ignore-scripts</code></a></li><li><a href="#audit"><code>audit</code></a></li><li><a href="#bin-links"><code>bin-links</code></a></li><li><a href="#fund"><code>fund</code></a></li><li><a href="#dry-run"><code>dry-run</code></a></li><li><a href="#workspace"><code>workspace</code></a></li><li><a href="#workspaces"><code>workspaces</code></a></li><li><a href="#include-workspace-root"><code>include-workspace-root</code></a></li><li><a href="#install-links"><code>install-links</code></a></li></ul><li><a href="#see-also">See Also</a></li></ul></div>
146</section>
147
148<div id="_content"><h3 id="synopsis">Synopsis</h3>
149<pre><code class="language-bash">npm link [&lt;package-spec&gt;]
150
151alias: ln
152</code></pre>
153<h3 id="description">Description</h3>
154<p>This is handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and
155test iteratively without having to continually rebuild.</p>
156<p>Package linking is a two-step process.</p>
157<p>First, <code>npm link</code> in a package folder with no arguments will create a
158symlink in the global folder <code>{prefix}/lib/node_modules/&lt;package&gt;</code> that
159links to the package where the <code>npm link</code> command was executed. It will
160also link any bins in the package to <code>{prefix}/bin/{name}</code>.  Note that
161<code>npm link</code> uses the global prefix (see <code>npm prefix -g</code> for its value).</p>
162<p>Next, in some other location, <code>npm link package-name</code> will create a
163symbolic link from globally-installed <code>package-name</code> to <code>node_modules/</code> of
164the current folder.</p>
165<p>Note that <code>package-name</code> is taken from <code>package.json</code>, <em>not</em> from the
166directory name.</p>
167<p>The package name can be optionally prefixed with a scope. See
168<a href="../using-npm/scope.html"><code>scope</code></a>.  The scope must be preceded by an @-symbol and
169followed by a slash.</p>
170<p>When creating tarballs for <code>npm publish</code>, the linked packages are
171"snapshotted" to their current state by resolving the symbolic links, if
172they are included in <code>bundleDependencies</code>.</p>
173<p>For example:</p>
174<pre><code class="language-bash">cd ~/projects/node-redis    # go into the package directory
175npm link                    # creates global link
176cd ~/projects/node-bloggy   # go into some other package directory.
177npm link redis              # link-install the package
178</code></pre>
179<p>Now, any changes to <code>~/projects/node-redis</code> will be reflected in
180<code>~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/node-redis/</code>. Note that the link
181should be to the package name, not the directory name for that package.</p>
182<p>You may also shortcut the two steps in one.  For example, to do the
183above use-case in a shorter way:</p>
184<pre><code class="language-bash">cd ~/projects/node-bloggy  # go into the dir of your main project
185npm link ../node-redis     # link the dir of your dependency
186</code></pre>
187<p>The second line is the equivalent of doing:</p>
188<pre><code class="language-bash">(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
189npm link redis
190</code></pre>
191<p>That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global
192installation target into your project's <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p>
193<p>Note that in this case, you are referring to the directory name,
194<code>node-redis</code>, rather than the package name <code>redis</code>.</p>
195<p>If your linked package is scoped (see <a href="../using-npm/scope.html"><code>scope</code></a>) your
196link command must include that scope, e.g.</p>
197<pre><code class="language-bash">npm link @myorg/privatepackage
198</code></pre>
199<h3 id="caveat">Caveat</h3>
200<p>Note that package dependencies linked in this way are <em>not</em> saved to
201<code>package.json</code> by default, on the assumption that the intention is to have
202a link stand in for a regular non-link dependency.  Otherwise, for example,
203if you depend on <code>redis@^3.0.1</code>, and ran <code>npm link redis</code>, it would replace
204the <code>^3.0.1</code> dependency with <code>file:../path/to/node-redis</code>, which you
205probably don't want!  Additionally, other users or developers on your
206project would run into issues if they do not have their folders set up
207exactly the same as yours.</p>
208<p>If you are adding a <em>new</em> dependency as a link, you should add it to the
209relevant metadata by running <code>npm install &lt;dep&gt; --package-lock-only</code>.</p>
210<p>If you <em>want</em> to save the <code>file:</code> reference in your <code>package.json</code> and
211<code>package-lock.json</code> files, you can use <code>npm link &lt;dep&gt; --save</code> to do so.</p>
212<h3 id="workspace-usage">Workspace Usage</h3>
213<p><code>npm link &lt;pkg&gt; --workspace &lt;name&gt;</code> will link the relevant package as a
214dependency of the specified workspace(s).  Note that It may actually be
215linked into the parent project's <code>node_modules</code> folder, if there are no
216conflicting dependencies.</p>
217<p><code>npm link --workspace &lt;name&gt;</code> will create a global link to the specified
218workspace(s).</p>
219<h3 id="configuration">Configuration</h3>
220<h4 id="save"><code>save</code></h4>
221<ul>
222<li>Default: <code>true</code> unless when using <code>npm update</code> where it defaults to <code>false</code></li>
223<li>Type: Boolean</li>
224</ul>
225<p>Save installed packages to a <code>package.json</code> file as dependencies.</p>
226<p>When used with the <code>npm rm</code> command, removes the dependency from
227<code>package.json</code>.</p>
228<p>Will also prevent writing to <code>package-lock.json</code> if set to <code>false</code>.</p>
229<h4 id="save-exact"><code>save-exact</code></h4>
230<ul>
231<li>Default: false</li>
232<li>Type: Boolean</li>
233</ul>
234<p>Dependencies saved to package.json will be configured with an exact version
235rather than using npm's default semver range operator.</p>
236<h4 id="global"><code>global</code></h4>
237<ul>
238<li>Default: false</li>
239<li>Type: Boolean</li>
240</ul>
241<p>Operates in "global" mode, so that packages are installed into the <code>prefix</code>
242folder instead of the current working directory. See
243<a href="../configuring-npm/folders.html">folders</a> for more on the differences in behavior.</p>
244<ul>
245<li>packages are installed into the <code>{prefix}/lib/node_modules</code> folder, instead
246of the current working directory.</li>
247<li>bin files are linked to <code>{prefix}/bin</code></li>
248<li>man pages are linked to <code>{prefix}/share/man</code></li>
249</ul>
250<h4 id="install-strategy"><code>install-strategy</code></h4>
251<ul>
252<li>Default: "hoisted"</li>
253<li>Type: "hoisted", "nested", "shallow", or "linked"</li>
254</ul>
255<p>Sets the strategy for installing packages in node_modules. hoisted
256(default): Install non-duplicated in top-level, and duplicated as necessary
257within directory structure. nested: (formerly --legacy-bundling) install in
258place, no hoisting. shallow (formerly --global-style) only install direct
259deps at top-level. linked: (experimental) install in node_modules/.store,
260link in place, unhoisted.</p>
261<h4 id="legacy-bundling"><code>legacy-bundling</code></h4>
262<ul>
263<li>Default: false</li>
264<li>Type: Boolean</li>
265<li>DEPRECATED: This option has been deprecated in favor of
266<code>--install-strategy=nested</code></li>
267</ul>
268<p>Instead of hoisting package installs in <code>node_modules</code>, install packages in
269the same manner that they are depended on. This may cause very deep
270directory structures and duplicate package installs as there is no
271de-duplicating. Sets <code>--install-strategy=nested</code>.</p>
272<h4 id="global-style"><code>global-style</code></h4>
273<ul>
274<li>Default: false</li>
275<li>Type: Boolean</li>
276<li>DEPRECATED: This option has been deprecated in favor of
277<code>--install-strategy=shallow</code></li>
278</ul>
279<p>Only install direct dependencies in the top level <code>node_modules</code>, but hoist
280on deeper dependencies. Sets <code>--install-strategy=shallow</code>.</p>
281<h4 id="strict-peer-deps"><code>strict-peer-deps</code></h4>
282<ul>
283<li>Default: false</li>
284<li>Type: Boolean</li>
285</ul>
286<p>If set to <code>true</code>, and <code>--legacy-peer-deps</code> is not set, then <em>any</em>
287conflicting <code>peerDependencies</code> will be treated as an install failure, even
288if npm could reasonably guess the appropriate resolution based on non-peer
289dependency relationships.</p>
290<p>By default, conflicting <code>peerDependencies</code> deep in the dependency graph will
291be resolved using the nearest non-peer dependency specification, even if
292doing so will result in some packages receiving a peer dependency outside
293the range set in their package's <code>peerDependencies</code> object.</p>
294<p>When such an override is performed, a warning is printed, explaining the
295conflict and the packages involved. If <code>--strict-peer-deps</code> is set, then
296this warning is treated as a failure.</p>
297<h4 id="package-lock"><code>package-lock</code></h4>
298<ul>
299<li>Default: true</li>
300<li>Type: Boolean</li>
301</ul>
302<p>If set to false, then ignore <code>package-lock.json</code> files when installing. This
303will also prevent <em>writing</em> <code>package-lock.json</code> if <code>save</code> is true.</p>
304<h4 id="omit"><code>omit</code></h4>
305<ul>
306<li>Default: 'dev' if the <code>NODE_ENV</code> environment variable is set to
307'production', otherwise empty.</li>
308<li>Type: "dev", "optional", or "peer" (can be set multiple times)</li>
309</ul>
310<p>Dependency types to omit from the installation tree on disk.</p>
311<p>Note that these dependencies <em>are</em> still resolved and added to the
312<code>package-lock.json</code> or <code>npm-shrinkwrap.json</code> file. They are just not
313physically installed on disk.</p>
314<p>If a package type appears in both the <code>--include</code> and <code>--omit</code> lists, then
315it will be included.</p>
316<p>If the resulting omit list includes <code>'dev'</code>, then the <code>NODE_ENV</code> environment
317variable will be set to <code>'production'</code> for all lifecycle scripts.</p>
318<h4 id="include"><code>include</code></h4>
319<ul>
320<li>Default:</li>
321<li>Type: "prod", "dev", "optional", or "peer" (can be set multiple times)</li>
322</ul>
323<p>Option that allows for defining which types of dependencies to install.</p>
324<p>This is the inverse of <code>--omit=&lt;type&gt;</code>.</p>
325<p>Dependency types specified in <code>--include</code> will not be omitted, regardless of
326the order in which omit/include are specified on the command-line.</p>
327<h4 id="ignore-scripts"><code>ignore-scripts</code></h4>
328<ul>
329<li>Default: false</li>
330<li>Type: Boolean</li>
331</ul>
332<p>If true, npm does not run scripts specified in package.json files.</p>
333<p>Note that commands explicitly intended to run a particular script, such as
334<code>npm start</code>, <code>npm stop</code>, <code>npm restart</code>, <code>npm test</code>, and <code>npm run-script</code>
335will still run their intended script if <code>ignore-scripts</code> is set, but they
336will <em>not</em> run any pre- or post-scripts.</p>
337<h4 id="audit"><code>audit</code></h4>
338<ul>
339<li>Default: true</li>
340<li>Type: Boolean</li>
341</ul>
342<p>When "true" submit audit reports alongside the current npm command to the
343default registry and all registries configured for scopes. See the
344documentation for <a href="../commands/npm-audit.html"><code>npm audit</code></a> for details on what is
345submitted.</p>
346<h4 id="bin-links"><code>bin-links</code></h4>
347<ul>
348<li>Default: true</li>
349<li>Type: Boolean</li>
350</ul>
351<p>Tells npm to create symlinks (or <code>.cmd</code> shims on Windows) for package
352executables.</p>
353<p>Set to false to have it not do this. This can be used to work around the
354fact that some file systems don't support symlinks, even on ostensibly Unix
355systems.</p>
356<h4 id="fund"><code>fund</code></h4>
357<ul>
358<li>Default: true</li>
359<li>Type: Boolean</li>
360</ul>
361<p>When "true" displays the message at the end of each <code>npm install</code>
362acknowledging the number of dependencies looking for funding. See <a href="../commands/npm-fund.html"><code>npm fund</code></a> for details.</p>
363<h4 id="dry-run"><code>dry-run</code></h4>
364<ul>
365<li>Default: false</li>
366<li>Type: Boolean</li>
367</ul>
368<p>Indicates that you don't want npm to make any changes and that it should
369only report what it would have done. This can be passed into any of the
370commands that modify your local installation, eg, <code>install</code>, <code>update</code>,
371<code>dedupe</code>, <code>uninstall</code>, as well as <code>pack</code> and <code>publish</code>.</p>
372<p>Note: This is NOT honored by other network related commands, eg <code>dist-tags</code>,
373<code>owner</code>, etc.</p>
374<h4 id="workspace"><code>workspace</code></h4>
375<ul>
376<li>Default:</li>
377<li>Type: String (can be set multiple times)</li>
378</ul>
379<p>Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the
380current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by
381this configuration option.</p>
382<p>Valid values for the <code>workspace</code> config are either:</p>
383<ul>
384<li>Workspace names</li>
385<li>Path to a workspace directory</li>
386<li>Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
387workspaces within that folder)</li>
388</ul>
389<p>When set for the <code>npm init</code> command, this may be set to the folder of a
390workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a
391brand new workspace within the project.</p>
392<p>This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.</p>
393<h4 id="workspaces"><code>workspaces</code></h4>
394<ul>
395<li>Default: null</li>
396<li>Type: null or Boolean</li>
397</ul>
398<p>Set to true to run the command in the context of <strong>all</strong> configured
399workspaces.</p>
400<p>Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like <code>install</code> to
401ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:</p>
402<ul>
403<li>Commands that operate on the <code>node_modules</code> tree (install, update, etc.)
404will link workspaces into the <code>node_modules</code> folder. - Commands that do
405other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the root project,
406<em>unless</em> one or more workspaces are specified in the <code>workspace</code> config.</li>
407</ul>
408<p>This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.</p>
409<h4 id="include-workspace-root"><code>include-workspace-root</code></h4>
410<ul>
411<li>Default: false</li>
412<li>Type: Boolean</li>
413</ul>
414<p>Include the workspace root when workspaces are enabled for a command.</p>
415<p>When false, specifying individual workspaces via the <code>workspace</code> config, or
416all workspaces via the <code>workspaces</code> flag, will cause npm to operate only on
417the specified workspaces, and not on the root project.</p>
418<p>This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.</p>
419<h4 id="install-links"><code>install-links</code></h4>
420<ul>
421<li>Default: false</li>
422<li>Type: Boolean</li>
423</ul>
424<p>When set file: protocol dependencies will be packed and installed as regular
425dependencies instead of creating a symlink. This option has no effect on
426workspaces.</p>
427<h3 id="see-also">See Also</h3>
428<ul>
429<li><a href="../using-npm/package-spec.html">package spec</a></li>
430<li><a href="../using-npm/developers.html">npm developers</a></li>
431<li><a href="../configuring-npm/package-json.html">package.json</a></li>
432<li><a href="../commands/npm-install.html">npm install</a></li>
433<li><a href="../configuring-npm/folders.html">npm folders</a></li>
434<li><a href="../commands/npm-config.html">npm config</a></li>
435<li><a href="../configuring-npm/npmrc.html">npmrc</a></li>
436</ul></div>
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