GitHub Action for install npm dependencies with caching without any configuration

Example	Status
main
basic
shrinkwrap
Yarn
without lock file
subfolders

This example should cover 95% of use cases.

If you use npm ci or yarn --frozen-lockfile on CI to install NPM dependencies - this Action is for you. Simply use it, and your NPM modules will be installed and the folder ~/.npm or ~/.cache/yarn will be cached. Typical use:

name: main
on: [push]
jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Build and test
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1
      - uses: bahmutov/npm-install@v1
      - run: npm t

See bahmutov/npm-install-action-example .

If your repository contains packages in separate folders, install each one separately

repo/
  app1/
    package-lock.json
  app2/
    yarn.json

name: main
on: [push]

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Build and test
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1

      - uses: bahmutov/npm-install@v1
        with:
          working-directory: app1
      - uses: bahmutov/npm-install@v1
        with:
          working-directory: app2

      - name: App1 tests
        run: npm t
        working-directory: app1
      - name: Run app2
        run: node .
        working-directory: app2

See npm-install-monorepo-example .

You can also specify multiple subfolders in a single action; one subfolder per line.

name: main
on: [push]

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Build and test
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1
      - uses: bahmutov/npm-install@v1
        with:
          working-directory: |
            app1
            app2

By default, this action will use a lock file like package-lock.json, npm-shrinkwrap.json or yarn.lock. You can set useLockFile: false to use just package.json which might be better for building libraries.

- uses: bahmutov/npm-install@v1
  with:
    useLockFile: false

You can install just the production dependencies (without installing dev dependencies) by setting an environment variable NODE_ENV variable

- uses: bahmutov/npm-install@v1
  env:
    NODE_ENV: production

If you are writing your own GitHub Action and would like to use this action as a utility function, import it and run it.

const { npmInstallAction } = require('npm-install')
await npmInstallAction()

You can see verbose messages from GitHub Actions by setting the following secrets (from Debugging Actions Guide)

ACTIONS_RUNNER_DEBUG: true
ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG: true

Tip: environment variable ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG enables debug messages from this action itself, try it first.

Using Mocha and Sinon.js following the guide How to set up Mocha with Sinon.js. You can find the tests in test folder. In general:

• all environment inputs are done inside the action, so they can be stubbed and controlled during tests
• there are separate workflows in .github/workflows that match examples. Each workflow uses this action to install dependencies

• Do Not Let NPM Cache Snowball on CI blog post
• Trying GitHub Actions blog post
• GitHub Actions in Action slides

Author: Gleb Bahmutov <[email protected]> © 2019

• @bahmutov
• glebbahmutov.com
• blog

License: MIT - do anything with the code, but don't blame me if it does not work.

Support: if you find any problems with this module, email / tweet / open issue on Github

Copyright (c) 2019 Gleb Bahmutov <[email protected]>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.