How to execute 'npm link' directly on install

Question

I have an internal project where I want to link a command to a file with bin. Like expect this package.json:

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "bin": {
    "cli-name": "./bin/my-executable.js"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "node-red": "^1.0.0"
  }
}

When executing npm install, all dependencies will be installed, and the bin configuration of node-red will be created too.

But my own bin will be completely ignored. It's not possible to use cli-name in cmd. It's necessary to execute npm link too, in a second step. Then cli-name will be available as command in console. I've even tried to use a postinstall script of npm with npm link in it, but then I got a loop ...

Is there a way to do this in one step on npm install?

Answer 1

You can try changing you package.json to something like this:

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "script": {
    "cli-name": "./bin/my-executable.js",
    "postinstall": "npm run cli-name"
  },
  "dependencies": {
     "node-red": "^1.0.0"
  }
}

And just run:

npm install

Answer 2

In order to run a global binary (bin) module you need to install it globally.

npm -g install

https://bretkikehara.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/nodejs-creating-your-first-global-module/

Another option (if you're on linux) is to use $(npm bin)/<module> if it is not installed globally.