Intro
This is a quick guide to creating a Node.js package for npm. Full package.json documentation available from npmjs.com.
Start a package
npm init
This will prompt you for some things like name and version, then generate a package.json in your current directory. For license, you can use GPL-3.0 for GNU General Public License v3.
Add extras
Full list of options at package.json documentation.
Dependencies
Add run-time and development only dependencies.
npm install --save something-needed-to-run
npm install --save-dev something-only-for-dev
Run scripts
Run scripts can be run with npm run <script_name>.
They are shell commands that run in your system shell (e.g. bash)
"scripts": {
"build": "tsc",
"clean": "rm lib/*",
"start": "npx nodemon server.js"
},
Static files
Add any other supporting files like static images.
"files": [
"lib/**/*"
],
Bin executables
If you have any commands you want to be able to invoke directly, like a regular executable, you want to add a bin entry.
Bin executables get launch scripts created automatically so you can run them directly.
"bin": {
"myprog": "bin/myprog.js"
},
This would run with myprog or node_modules/.bin/myprog in the system shell.
Git repo
"repository": {
"type": "git",
"url": "https://github.com/Me/Project.git"
},
Example package.json
The package.json will look something like this:
{
"name": "myproject",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "test only",
"author": "",
"license": "GPL-3.0",
"repository": {
"type": "git",
"url": "https://github.com/Me/Project.git"
},
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"start": "node index.js",
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"bin": {
"myprog": "bin/myprog.js"
},
"files": [
"lib/**/*"
],
"devDependencies": {
"something": "^4.4.0"
},
"dependencies": {
"something": "^4.17.2"
}
}
Uploading to npmjs.org
First, login. If it prompts you for 2-factor code from your authenticator app, it likely just sent you an email with the code. After logging in, it stores a token in ~/.npmrc.
npm login # Stores token in ~/.npmrc
You only need to login once, but you need to push anytime there are changes and you increment the version number.
npm publish
Installing from npmjs.org
Install the package using the same name you published it under.
For example:
npm install mypackage