README

A cli tool to list package.json dependencies in [package]@[version] form

Install

npm install -g package-deps-cli

Usage example

$ package-deps-cli
yargs@^3.23.0

$ package-deps-cli --dev
yargs@^3.23.0
coffee-script@^1.9.3

Why

I deploy my node.js based applications using docker. This tool allows me to install dependencies globally which would not be possible using npm. The result looks like this

RUN npm install -g package-deps
ADD ./package.json /app/package.json
RUN cd /app; npm install -g $(package-deps-cli); npm link $(package-deps-cli)
ADD ./ /app
RUN cd /app; npm install

The benefit is that when you change your app/ source code (but not package.json) docker will repeat the steps starting from "ADD ./ /app" but it will be very fast as it will just link global packages.

Notes

• Something similar can be achieved using 'npm-cache', but it's slower
• npm will never install dependencies globally afaik (see https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/2949#issuecomment-11408461)