How do I install a package with npm with a different/custom module name

Question

I want to install a specific revision from a github tarball named something like "mymodule" and name it something like "mymoduleTemp", and then load a potentially different version of it that will take the real name "mymodule".

So, how do I do the first thing? I'm looking for something like:

npm install https://github.com/me/mymodule/tarball/someTag -name mymoduleTemp 

Is there any way to do that? A nice-to-have:

• If mymodule already exists, it doesn't get clobbered when mymoduleTemp is installed (ie ideally the process wouldn't be to install as mymodule then rename the folder)

Answer 1

Since [email protected] you could install package under a custom module name. [email protected] introduces support for package aliases.

To install a tarball under custom module name use custom-name@tarball-url argument, e.g. install specific express tarball as my-express module:

npm i my-express@https://github.com/expressjs/express/archive/4.16.3.tar.gz

This feature also allows to alias packages published to npm registry:

npm i express@npm:@my-scope/express

Answer 2

In newer versions of npm (6+), its now possible to alias the module name with

npm i <alias_name>@npm:<original_package_name>