yaln (Yet another local npm)

Intention

While developing libraries, using npm link, yarn link and also partially yalc sometimes introduce wierd problems. Especially there can be difference between a built and a linked package.

This package was created to get around those limitations and mimik a real local installation of package in an easy way.

How it works

yaln uses npm pack to create an actual npm package file and store it in ~/.yaln/packages/. Those built packages can be installed in other repositories. It can watch for changes of packages in ~/.yaln/packages/ and installs them locally or install them once.

Install

npm i -g @chbiel/yaln

Or from source

git clone ...
cd ...
npm i -g .

Usage

# In library / source project
# Plain
yaln pack

# With tsc-watch
tsc-watch --onSuccess "yaln pack"

# With rollup
rollup -c --watch --watch.onBundleEnd="yaln pack"

# In the target project
# Plain
yaln install [package list]

# With watch
yaln watch [package list]

Pre commit hook

To ensure, that no local file references are committed to package.json, you can use the following pre-commit hook:

- id: no-relative-packages
  name: no-relative-packages
  entry: bash -c "git diff --cached --name-only | grep -q 'package.json' && cat package.json | grep -E 'file:.+\/\.yaln\/.+' && echo -e 'file references not allowed in package.json' 1>&2 && exit 1 || exit 0"
  language: system
  pass_filenames: false

Known bugs

• Looks like sometimes, when the first package update gets detected while using watch, the package gets installed twice

Missing features

• Support yarn
• Allow configuration of exchangePath