What is the process to install npm packages in a designated directory?

Other Questions NPM
1

To install npm packages associated with a package.json file in the current working directory, the command npm install is typically used. However, I’m interested in whether there’s a way to install packages in a specific directory without having to change to that directory first. I’ve found workable solutions for tools like Bower and Gulp, which are as follows: 

bower install --config.cwd= gulp build --cwd
but haven’t discovered a similar feature for npm. When I attempt to run the command npm install --prefix C:\Users\ng\Projects\Lottery\src\SPA, it results in the following error:
npm ERR! addLocal Could not install C:\Users\ng\Projects npm ERR! Windows_NT 10.0.10586 npm ERR! argv “C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe” “C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js” “install” “–prefix” “C:\Users\ng\Projects\Lottery\src\SPA” npm ERR! node v6.2.1 npm ERR! npm v3.9.3 npm ERR! code EISDIR npm ERR! errno -4068 npm ERR! syscall read npm ERR! eisdir EISDIR: illegal operation on a directory, read npm ERR! eisdir This is most likely not a problem with npm itself npm ERR! eisdir and is related to npm not being able to find a package.json in a package you are trying to install. npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request: npm ERR! C:\Users\ng\Projects\npm-debug.log
Indeed, as per the

documentation,

the default prefix configuration typically points to the directory where Node.js is installed, commonly found at /usr/local or the specific location of node.exe on Windows.

2

I’ve faced similar challenges before, especially when trying to handle multiple projects sharing some dependencies. One way to resolve it is to ensure that you have a valid package.json file in the target directory where you want the installation to occur. What I usually do is navigate to that target directory (even temporarily) and run npm init if needed, to generate a new package.json. Once you have a valid package.json there, using npm install --prefix should work without errors. Alternatively, if recreating the directory structure with its package file doesn’t work for you, consider using a script or command-line tool to automate the installation process for each target directory. This way, you maintain directory specificity without manual navigation every time. Hope that helps!