Loading module installed directly from github repo with npm

Question

I installed a public github repo using the syntax provided in the repository's readme:

npm install https://github.com/user_name/proj_name.git

However, I'm not sure how to load this module into my js code. I've tried:

const my_lib = 'proj_name';

Unfortunately, this is not working for me. How can I load a module that was installed directly from a github repository?

What name is provided in the package.json file in that repo? — Sebastian Kaczmarek
– Sebastian Kaczmarek, Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 7:06
@SebastianKaczmarek, it is the same as proj_name in the github url — bambi
– bambi, Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 7:07
Check your dependencies in package.json file and import module with const my_lib = require('package_name') — Ahmet Zeybek
– Ahmet Zeybek, Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 7:12
For example, if you added expressjs with yarn add expressjs/express, this would be seen in package.json as express, so you can import this module with const express = require('express') — Ahmet Zeybek
– Ahmet Zeybek, Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 7:16

Maximilian Fixl · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-16 09:00:52Z

2

Currently you're just defining a constant as a string with value 'proj_name'. To load a module from node_modules, you have to do the following:

npm install <package_name> --save, where --save write the package and version in your dependencies of package.json. You can also use --savedev to write the package in your devDependencies (both optional).

Use const packageName = require('packageName'); in your e.g. app.js to use the package in your code.

See here for more details about npm install in general, specifying-dependencies and here for ecma script require and import.

edited Jan 16, 2020 at 9:00

answered Jan 16, 2020 at 8:07

Maximilian Fixl

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1 Comment

bambi Over a year ago

This was helpful. I didn't realize I needed to add the --save flag. It's worth noting that I don't have a full node app/project setup. I just had a single script that I was trying to run that was requiring that package.

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