使用npm安装时重命名包

Question

Working on an existing nodejs project, one of packages is not in my control, for example, public-package . When I try to publish a new version, I have to deploy with a new package name, such as my-package .

For example,

{
  ...
    "dependencies": {
    "public-package": "1.0.123",
    ...
  }
  ...
}

In source code, there are lot of lines, such as require('public-package')

So how can I use my package, rename it directly when npm install without changing the code from require('public-package') to require('my-package') ?

Such as

{
  ...
    "dependencies": {
    "public-package": "my-package@1.0.10",   # <= how to make this work?
    ...
  }
  ...
}

Can I do anything to make it work as above code?

Answer 1

You could try to change the main entry in the package.json of public-package (located in node_modules/public-package/package.json )

See Folders as Modules in the node docs for details of how the main entry works. The technique is used to point require to a subfolder of a module, but in this case you could adapt it to fit your needs.

{ 
  "name" : "public-package",
  "main" : "./public-package.js"
}

Change it to

{ 
  "name" : "public-package",
  "main" : "/path/to/my-package.js"
}

Now each time you do a require('public-package') , it loads my-package without the need of changing the source code.

To change the entry automatically in node_modules/public-package/package.json , you could add a custom script to npm that does a search-and-replace in that file.