There are two ways to install npm packages: locally or globally. You choose which kind of installation to use based on how you want to use the package.
-
If you want to use it a package as a command line tool, something like the grunt CLI, then you want to install it globally. This way, it works no matter which directory is your current directory.
-
If you want to depend on the package from your own module using something like Node's
require
, then you want to install locally.
To download packages globally, you simply use the command npm install -g <package>
, e.g.:
npm install -g jshint
If you get an EACCES error, see Chapter 3.
Tip: Consider using npx to run packages globally, if you have npm 5.2 or greater installed.