---
title: npm-link
section: 1
description: Symlink a package folder
---

### Synopsis

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### Description

This is handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and test iteratively without having to continually rebuild.

Package linking is a two-step process.

First, `npm link` in a package folder with no arguments will create a symlink in the global folder `{prefix}/lib/node_modules/<package>` that links to the package where the `npm link` command was executed.
It will also link any bins in the package to `{prefix}/bin/{name}`.
Note that `npm link` uses the global prefix (see `npm prefix -g` for its value).

Next, in some other location, `npm link package-name` will create a symbolic link from globally-installed `package-name` to `node_modules/` of the current folder.

Note that `package-name` is taken from `package.json`, _not_ from the directory name.

The package name can be optionally prefixed with a scope.
See [`scope`](/using-npm/scope).
The scope must be preceded by an @-symbol and followed by a slash.

When creating tarballs for `npm publish`, the linked packages are "snapshotted" to their current state by resolving the symbolic links, if they are included in `bundleDependencies`.

For example:

```bash
cd ~/projects/node-redis    # go into the package directory
npm link                    # creates global link
cd ~/projects/node-bloggy   # go into some other package directory.
npm link redis              # link-install the package
```

Now, any changes to `~/projects/node-redis` will be reflected in
`~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/node-redis/`.
Note that the link should be to the package name, not the directory name for that package.

You may also shortcut the two steps in one.
For example, to do the above use-case in a shorter way:

```bash
cd ~/projects/node-bloggy  # go into the dir of your main project
npm link ../node-redis     # link the dir of your dependency
```

The second line is the equivalent of doing:

```bash
(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
npm link redis
```

That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global installation target into your project's `node_modules` folder.

Note that in this case, you are referring to the directory name,
`node-redis`, rather than the package name `redis`.

If your linked package is scoped (see [`scope`](/using-npm/scope)) your link command must include that scope, e.g.

```bash
npm link @myorg/privatepackage
```

### Caveat

Note that package dependencies linked in this way are _not_ saved to `package.json` by default, on the assumption that the intention is to have a link stand in for a regular non-link dependency.
Otherwise, for example, if you depend on `redis@^3.0.1`, and ran `npm link redis`, it would replace the `^3.0.1` dependency with `file:../path/to/node-redis`, which you probably don't want!  Additionally, other users or developers on your project would run into issues if they do not have their folders set up exactly the same as yours.

If you are adding a _new_ dependency as a link, you should add it to the relevant metadata by running `npm install <dep> --package-lock-only`.

If you _want_ to save the `file:` reference in your `package.json` and `package-lock.json` files, you can use `npm link <dep> --save` to do so.

### Workspace Usage

`npm link <pkg> --workspace <name>` will link the relevant package as a dependency of the specified workspace(s).
Note that It may actually be linked into the parent project's `node_modules` folder, if there are no conflicting dependencies.

`npm link --workspace <name>` will create a global link to the specified workspace(s).

### Configuration

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### See Also

* [package spec](/using-npm/package-spec)
* [npm developers](/using-npm/developers)
* [package.json](/configuring-npm/package-json)
* [npm install](/commands/npm-install)
* [npm folders](/configuring-npm/folders)
* [npm config](/commands/npm-config)
* [npmrc](/configuring-npm/npmrc)
