I am working on a Node.js project and need to install a package into a custom directory, not the default node_modules folder. Is there a way to direct npm to install into a particular location when running the command? For instance, if I want the dependency to reside inside a designated folder, how should I write the command? Here is an example command using an alternative approach:
npm addmodule exampleLib --dest=custom_folder
I would appreciate any guidance on modifying npm commands for this purpose.
nm, npm always drops stuff in the node_modules folder. if you’re needing it elsewhere, you’ll have to use a symlink or change directory before installing. its not really a native feature.
In my projects, I’ve successfully used npm’s --prefix flag to install packages in a different directory than the default node_modules. For example, running npm install --prefix ./custom_folder package installs the package into a node_modules folder inside custom_folder. This approach doesn’t completely remove the node_modules subfolder; it merely shifts it into your specified directory. In practice, it has saved me from having to create workarounds like symlinks, provided that you update your module paths accordingly and ensure your application can locate the dependencies.
In one of my projects I needed to manage dependencies in an isolated directory and found a workaround that may be useful. I set up a subdirectory with its own package.json file and ran an npm install from within that directory. This way, npm treats that folder as a separate project and creates its own node_modules directory there. Although it doesn’t directly change the behavior of npm globally, it allows for a clear separation of dependencies and helps keep the main project structure uncluttered, which ultimately simplifies management.