NPM : how to source ./node_modules/.bin folder?

Question

I have a problem on npm installation

I have created a project say project A

cd ~/projectA
npm install sails

but sails command is not fo

Answer 1

If you don't like to mess up with your PATH for running a npm script that isn't global -- e.g. you are the only one to use it --, I would personally recommend the use of an sh "alias".

1. npm install (locally) your beloved package (json-diff here, for instance)

   cd ~ && npm install json-diff
   

2. alias it (save it in your ~/.xxxxrc file):

   alias diffj "\`npm bin\`/json-diff !*"
   

Then, for diffing 2 json's:

diffj old.json new.json

Answer 2

Possible workaround with NPM 5.2+ using the npx command.

npx sails new test-project

See this question for a similar use case and elegant solutions.

Answer 3

You should use the npm bin command to get an absolute path to your current node bin directory.

For example:

➤ lessc
bash: lessc: command not found
➤ npm bin
/home/brice/[...]/node_modules/.bin
➤ export PATH=$(npm bin):$PATH
➤ lessc --version
lessc 1.7.3 (Less Compiler) [JavaScript]

This avoids the problem of relative paths, especially if you're going to be using this in a build system that will invoke the command in subdirectories.

Answer 4

A bit more robust is:

export PATH=$(npm bin):$PATH

You can either run it, add it to your shell profile, or create an alias like:

alias snpm='export PATH=$(npm bin):$PATH'

If you do go the alias route, be sure to use single quotes so it delays the execution of the variables!

Answer 5

To use on the command line like sails generate foo you will need to install the npm module globally.

npm install -g sails

You could also use the path to the bin in the command if you don't want to install globally:

./node_modules/sails/bin/sails.js generate foo

Answer 6

The official instructions for sails (https://github.com/balderdashy/sails) advises

To install the latest stable release with the command-line tool:

sudo npm -g install sails

This installs globally and adds to a directory like /usr/local/bin that should be in your $PATH.

But to answer the general question regarding the location of the binaries if you install locally, they should be placed in ./node_modules/.bin directory (so run ./node_modules/.bin/sails ...)