yarn-easy-patch

A simpler alternative to the cumbersome yarn patch workflow.

The Problem

The standard Yarn patch workflow is an unusable aberration:

1. Run yarn patch <package> to get a temp folder
2. Manually edit files in that temp folder
3. Run yarn patch-commit to create the patch

But often, you've already made changes directly in node_modules while debugging. Now you need to recreate those changes in the temp folder? 😩

The Solution

yarn-easy-patch automates this by:

1. Detecting existing patches and applying them to node_modules first
2. Running yarn patch to create the temp folder
3. Automatically copying your changes from node_modules to the temp folder
4. Running yarn patch-commit to create the patch
5. Cleaning up old patch files if a new one was created

Just make your changes in node_modules, then run one command!

Installation

Run directly (no install needed)

yarn dlx yarn-easy-patch <package-name>

Install globally

npm install -g yarn-easy-patch

Then run:

yarn-easy-patch <package-name>

Usage

# Make your changes directly in node_modules
vim node_modules/some-package/lib/index.js

# Create the patch
yarn dlx yarn-easy-patch some-package

The patch file will be created in your .yarn/patches/ directory and your package.json will be updated with the patch resolution.

Incremental Patching

If you already have a patch for a package and want to add more changes, yarn-easy-patch will:

1. Detect the existing patch in .yarn/patches/
2. Apply it to node_modules before you make additional changes
3. Create a new combined patch with both old and new changes
4. Remove the old patch file automatically

This lets you incrementally build on existing patches without losing previous work.

Options

yarn-easy-patch <package-name> [options]

Options:
  -h, --help              Show help message
  -v, --version           Show version number
  --patches-dir <path>    Directory to look for existing patches
                          (default: .yarn/patches)

Examples

# Basic usage
yarn dlx yarn-easy-patch react-native

# Scoped packages
yarn dlx yarn-easy-patch @babel/core

# Custom patches directory
yarn dlx yarn-easy-patch some-package --patches-dir ./my-patches

Requirements

• Node.js >= 16
• Yarn Berry (Yarn 2+)
• rsync (pre-installed on macOS/Linux)

How It Works

1. Checks for existing patches in .yarn/patches/ and attempts to apply them to node_modules
2. Runs yarn patch <package> which creates a temporary folder
3. Uses rsync to copy your modified files from node_modules/<package>/ to the temp folder
4. Runs the yarn patch-commit command to generate the .patch file
5. Removes old patch files if a new one with a different hash was created

License

MIT