Where do we put node modules we install by npm in a Meteor project?

Question

I followed the github meteorirc project\'s lead and put them in /public/

I installed my node modules via npm from inside /public/ and therefore I have a /public/node

Answer 1

This helped me a lot including a syntax highlighting package! Thanks!

I use a little helper though, as I think this will not be the last npm package I'll use ;)

meteorNpm = do() ->
  require = __meteor_bootstrap__.require

  path    = require 'path'
  fs      = require 'fs'

  base = path.resolve '.'
  if base is '/'
    base = path.dirname global.require.main.filename

  meteorNpm =
    # requires npm modules placed in `public/node_modules`
    require: (moduleName) ->
      modulePath = 'node_modules/' + moduleName

      publicPath = path.resolve(base + '/public/' + modulePath)
      staticPath = path.resolve(base + '/bundle/static/' + modulePath)

      if path.existsSync(publicPath)
        module = require publicPath
      else if path.existsSync(staticPath)
        module = require staticPath
      else
        module = null

      return module

Use it like this:

highlight = meteorNpm.require "highlight.js"

Answer 2

Meteor takes lib/node_modules from the development bundle and makes a symbolic link or copies it to server/node_modules, which is in the hidden .meteor sub folder under your project.

So, if you cd into the lib directory of the development bundle or into server directory of the .meteor folder (I believe it is in build); you will be able to use the node modules. If you have trouble loading them, you might want to check out this question.

Answer 3

To use Npm modules in Meteor its adding the npm module in.

First you need to add a npm package adapter such as meteorhacks:npm

meteor add meteorhacks:npm

Then start your meteor app by running meteor, you will notice a new packages.json file in your project

Add in modules like this (you need to explicitly define a version)

{
    "request" : "2.53.0"
}

Then you can use the npm modules in your meteor app, use Meteor.npmRequire instead of require

var request = Meteor.npmRequire("request")

Answer 4

cd /usr/local/meteor/lib/ && npm install <module>

Answer 5

I am using such script which nicely install all node.js dependencies. It behaves similar to official support in Meteor engine branch (it installs dependencies at runtime) but it supports also installing from git repositories and similar goodies.

Answer 6

You have to add bundle folder to the path:

var staticTwitPath = path.resolve(base+'/bundle/static/'+twitPath);

Here is my working sample in coffeescript, node_modules are in public folder:

# loading node_modules from public folder
require = __meteor_bootstrap__.require
path    = require("path")
fs      = require('fs')

cheerioPath = 'node_modules/cheerio'

base = path.resolve('.')
if base == '/'
  base = path.dirname(global.require.main.filename)

publicPath = path.resolve(base+'/public/'+cheerioPath)
staticPath = path.resolve(base+'/bundle/static/'+cheerioPath)

if path.existsSync(publicPath)
  cheerio = require(publicPath)
else if path.existsSync(staticPath)
  cheerio = require(staticPath)
else
  console.log('node_modules not found')

Good luck!