npm install private github repositories by dependency in package.json

C

13

297

I'm trying to install github private repository by npm that includes other private github repositories as dependency.

Have tried a lot of ways and posts but none is working. Here is what i'm doing :

npm install git+https://github.com/myusername/mygitrepository.git

in package.json is like :

"dependencies": {
    "repository1name": "git+https://github.com/myusername/repository1.git",
    "repository2name": "git+https://github.com/myusername/repository2.git"
}

What is the the right way to do it?

Concoction answered 22/4, 2014 at 4:34 Comment(2)

git+https://<token-from-github>:[email protected]/<user>/<GitRepo>.git It supports authentication and works fine in all cases. – Concoction 19/2, 2015 at 6:36

you need to specify the branch, commit or tag for it to work EJ: #master->git+github.com/myusername/repository2.git#master – Ethnic 11/3 at 2:51

C

128

The following worked just fine in all scenarios i needed :

"dependencies": {
"GitRepo": "git+https://<token-from-github>:[email protected]/<user>/<GitRepo>.git"
}

Concoction answered 25/10, 2014 at 9:27 Comment(18)

Do you have a reference link for this solution? – Shonna 9/4, 2015 at 20:8

@Ian : I read it somewhere but don't have reference link. I'm using it in production for over a year without any problem. You can get oauth token from Github as : Settings -> Applications -> Personal Access Token -> Generate new token. This token can have read/write or both privileges as per your use case. – Concoction 10/4, 2015 at 6:5

@lan : for bitbucket you can use following syntax : git clone https://<bitbucket-team-token>:[email protected]/<team>/<BitRepo> <bitbucket-team-token> can be obtained from : Team -> Manage Team -> API Key – Concoction 13/4, 2015 at 5:14

@vashishatashu, thanks for a great idea. However, I get "fatal: blahblah not found" when trying this, even though I have granted access to the user in question to the repo. Any ideas? – Connally 6/8, 2015 at 11:52

Is there a specific npm command I need to execute for this to work? I'm using npm install but I'm just getting the plain files instead of an actual git clone.. – Ninety 18/9, 2015 at 5:5

Does this work for private repos that I have access to? – Clachan 29/6, 2016 at 7:22

@Clachan : Yes this is exactly what the above given syntax works. If you face any problem just let me know. – Concoction 29/6, 2016 at 7:31

@vashishatashu, it was working on node 4, but for my current version of node it does not work. If I include the git information into the package.json and I run npm -i I don't get any error, but it does not install the package. You know why? This are my versions: node --version v6.2.1 npm --version 3.9.3 – Clachan 4/7, 2016 at 16:55

Here's a nice article on this technique: web.archive.org/web/20170506085956/http://rzrsharp.net/2013/07/… – Bemoan 15/8, 2016 at 20:11

@Clachan : I am still on node v4 and right now do not have a active Github plan so can not say what's wrong. – Concoction 3/8, 2017 at 9:10

I used this reference: help.github.com/articles/… – Syrupy 30/7, 2018 at 3:22

There is more detail on this other StackOverflow post https://mcmap.net/q/13496/-how-to-use-private-github-repo-as-npm-dependency – Jolyn 15/10, 2018 at 19:50

How should be for gitlab private servers? – Dipterocarpaceous 1/3, 2019 at 12:6

Hi , i want to deploy my repo as a public repo so i don't want to disclose the token, what can be done ? – Locomobile 9/5, 2019 at 8:8

Hi, Can you specify a folder I need in the repository? – Koontz 31/7, 2019 at 9:21

Since your own access token from Github is visible directly in your package.json, it does not seem to be a safe solution. – Pensive 29/4, 2021 at 10:4

If you push your code to a repository, your token will be visible to anyone with access to the repository. – Ridiculous 2/2, 2022 at 11:54

This solution isn't secure, you should use the solution below that creates ~/.gitconfig file, rather than storing your gh token in your package.json. The gh token is supposed to be treated like a password so ... – Lawn 8/11, 2022 at 3:11

A

197

Try this:

"dependencies" : {
  "name1" : "git://github.com/user/project.git#commit-ish",
  "name2" : "git://github.com/user/project.git#commit-ish"
}

You could also try this, where visionmedia/express is name/repo:

"dependencies" : {
   "express" : "visionmedia/express"
}

Or (if the npm package module exists):

"dependencies" : {
  "name": "*"
}

Taken from NPM docs

Agate answered 22/4, 2014 at 4:50 Comment(10)

npm ERR! Failed resolving git HEAD (github.com/user/reponame.git) fatal: ambiguous argument 'commit-ish': unknown revision or path not in the working tree. – Concoction 22/4, 2014 at 5:15

Doesn't work. the #xxxx isn't required as if not given its considered to be master and all my work is in master. Any other idea? – Concoction 22/4, 2014 at 5:22

Same outcome if you remove the header (#commit-ish)? – Agate 22/4, 2014 at 5:24

What's the name of your repository? – Agate 22/4, 2014 at 5:28

I can't reveal its for some client. actually if i remove dependencies, it works just fine. 1 module gets installed. The issue starts when i give git dependencies. – Concoction 22/4, 2014 at 5:35

Does the git repositories have a package.json file? – Agate 22/4, 2014 at 5:48

If the dependencies exist in the npm package module you could also try "name1" : "*" – Agate 22/4, 2014 at 5:49

Did get the desired result by using git+ssh method. Still couldn't get it through git-http. – Concoction 22/4, 2014 at 9:19

@vashishatashu, regarding fatal: ambiguous argument 'commit-ish': unknown revision or path not in the working tree. Pretty obvious that commit-ish is just a sample word which you should replace with a sha of a specific commit that you need. (or remove that #commit-ish at all if you need the latest commit in your master branch) – Yazbak 26/8, 2015 at 11:35

As of version 1.1.65, you can refer to GitHub urls as just “foo”: “user/foo-project”. npmjs docs reference – Rheinland 19/3, 2019 at 15:9

C

128

The following worked just fine in all scenarios i needed :

"dependencies": {
"GitRepo": "git+https://<token-from-github>:[email protected]/<user>/<GitRepo>.git"
}