winwsl

winwsl keeps separate node_modules trees for Windows and WSL inside the same project root, so switching environments does not force a full reinstall every time.

Install

npm i -g winwsl

Usage

Run it from a project directory that contains both package.json and package-lock.json:

winwsl
winwsl install
winwsl ci
winwsl run build

By default it stays quiet unless something fails. Use --verbose to see swap and restore details:

winwsl --verbose

Run install and ci through winwsl so it can track when one environment's cache is older than the current package.json and package-lock.json.

If you need to pass npm flags that collide with winwsl flags, insert -- first:

winwsl -- --version

How it works

• node_modules is treated as the active tree for the current runtime.
• node_modules_win stores the Windows dependency tree.
• node_modules_wsl stores the WSL dependency tree.
• winwsl restores the matching cache when it can, and falls back to a fresh install when it cannot.
• A .winwslenv marker is written so future runs can tell which environment produced a given tree.

Requirements

• Windows or WSL only
• Node.js 20+
• A valid package.json and package-lock.json in the current working directory