NPM global install still creating a node_modules directory

Question

In Ubuntu, I have a directory with my code /code which has my packages.json and such. My NPM prefix is /usr via npm prefix -g. I am trying to install packages globally so as to not create a node_modules directory in /code, but really as long as node_modules is not in /code, that will also work.

While in /code, I run npm install -g. I see a .staging directory created under my global prefix (eg, /usr/lib/node_modules/.staging) but then NPM takes another step and begins creating a /code/node_modules directory.

If I instead just run npm install -g it correctly ends up in /usr/lib/node_modules/. But I do not want to have to run npm install -g for every package I need.

Why is NPM doing that and how can I make it stop doing that? At the very least, I would like the node_modules directory to NOT be in my /code directory (this is due to some environment constraints I can't change).

user_436641 · Answer

Globally installed packages are (almost always) not going to be used by your code. That's not how node or npm (conventionally) works. There isn't a shared global node_modules that programs all look in. (OK, there kinda is, but you don't want to use it if you can avoid it. Read on.) Having a local node_modules helps you avoid dependency hell. Global modules are for CLI tools that end up in your PATH and things like that.

You don't explain why you don't want a local node_modules for your project, so I will mention that if it is simply because it somehow bothers you, then please please please just get over it. You will be vastly happier. Type npm install and move on.

That said, for legacy reasons, your code in /code will look in /node_modules if there is no /code/node_modules. This is true for CommonJS modules that use require(). If you are using ESM modules via import, you may need to read the docs.

So, if you are using CommonJS/require(), you could have a directory structure like /project-name/code. You could have your index.js or whatever other code in the code subdirectory, while your package.json could be in project-name. Run npm install from /project-name and it will create a node_modules directory there rather than in the code subdirectory, and your Node.js files in code will find those modules.

If you don't like that, then for other options, you can review the relevant docs. At the time of this writing, those options include a NODE_PATH environment variable, $HOME/.node_modules, $HOME/.node_libraries, and $PREFIX/lib/node. However it all comes with this caveat that I implore you to abide by if you can:

It is strongly encouraged to place dependencies in the local node_modules folder. These will be loaded faster, and more reliably.

NPM global install still creating a node_modules directory

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