npm-cache

npm-cache is a command line utility that caches dependencies installed via npm, bower, and composer.

It is useful for build processes that run [npm|bower|composer] install every time as part of their build process. Since dependencies don't change often, this often means slower build times. npm-cache helps alleviate this problem by caching previously installed dependencies on the build machine. npm-cache can be a drop-in replacement for any build script that runs [npm|bower|composer] install.

How it Works

When you run npm-cache install [npm|bower|composer], it first looks for package.json, bower.json, or composer.json in the current working directory depending on which dependency manager is requested. It then calculates the MD5 hash of the configuration file and looks for a filed named .tar.gz in the cache directory ($HOME/.package_cache by default). If the file does not exist, npm-cache uses the system's installed dependency manager to install the dependencies. Once the dependencies are installed, npm-cache tars the newly downloaded dependencies and stores them in the cache directory. The next time npm-cache runs and sees the same config file, it will find the tarball in the cache directory and untar the dependencies in the current working directory.

Installation

npm install -g npm-cache

Usage

npm-cache install

Examples

npm-cache install	# try to install npm, bower, and composer components
npm-cache install bower	# install only bower components
npm-cache install bower npm	# install bower and npm components
npm-cache install bower --cacheDirectory /home/cache/	# install components using /home/cache as cache directory
npm-cache install bower --forceRefresh	# force installing dependencies from package manager without cache
npm-cache clean	# cleans out all cached files in cache directory