Develop npm packages locally with ease: explore symlinking, packaging, and third-party tools for smooth local testing.

Case

Given 2 repos:

/twreporter-react
  /node_modules
    /@twreporter
      /redux # scoped package @twreporter/redux
    /redux
  /src
    /server.js

/twreporter-npm-packages
  /packages
    /redux # the source code of @twreporter/redux
      /node_modules
      /lib
        /create-store.js

We want to develop @twreporter/redux and test it being used in twreporter-react at local.

Different Ways to Do This

Symlink

Use npm link or yarn link to symlink the files of a module into the consumers node_modules folder.

This is the most common suggested way.

But it has some problems:

1. Not like packages published with npm publish will only contain the files we specified. When compiling the files in @twreporter/redux, the compiler like Babel may take the closest config file (.babelrc) relative to the target.

2. The require invoked in the @twreporter/redux will search the Node modules in /twreporter-npm-packages/packages/redux/node_modules, not twreporter-react/node_modules.

Pack the Package into Zipped File

As mentioned in this PR comment, we can use npm pack or yarn pack to pack the package.

Ref:

• yarn pack
• npm pack

Third Party Management Tools

As mentioned in this PR comment, we can use package like yalc to simulate a local npm registry.

Ref:

• Yalc