Add support for package tarballs in :npm-deps

Question

NPM supports installing packages from tarballs via {npm install /path/to/foo.tgz}. This can be useful for trying a local (modified) version of a package, or generally any unpublished and/or private JS project; all that's needed is a {package.json} and a {.js} file and {npm pack} can generate a tarball.

It would be nice if ClojureScript would support this as well, through {:npm-deps}.

Proposed syntax:

{:npm-deps {"/path/to/tarball.tgz" "0.1.0"
            "/path/to/bar.tgz" ""}}


The version isn't needed with tarballs, so it could be anything.

I have the code for this working but I still want to add a test before I submit a patch.

Answer 1

Comment made by: jannis

This patch implements the feature and adds tests for indexing and building with a tarball dependency.

Answer 2

Comment made by: thheller

What benefit does this provide over just running {{npm install ./some.tgz}}?

I don't think this is a good idea.

Answer 3

Reference: https://clojure.atlassian.net/browse/CLJS-2622 (reported by jannis)