multi-tool

multi-tool _{^{| Install and require multiple versions of NPM packages}}

Install multiple versions of NPM packages at runtime. Use any semver ranges which are also a valid (Li|U)nix directory names as your versions and require them intuitively (e.g. require('ramda@0.23.x'), require('ramda@~0.22.1'), require('ramda@latest')). Leverage custom invalidators to automatically keep installed packages up-to-date.

Install

$ npm install --save multi-tool

Usage

An options object is required to configure before using. However, only path is required:

const options = {delay: 2500, path: 'node_modules', invalidate: () => true, timeout: 60000};
const install = require('multi-tool')(options);

Install and use latest version:

const installed = await install('ramda', 'latest');
const R = require('ramda@latest');

R.identity(0);

Install and use exact version:

const installed = await install('ramda', '0.23.0');
const R = require('ramda@0.23.0');

R.identity(0);

Install and use x-based version:

const installed = await install('ramda', '0.23.x');
const R = require('ramda@0.23.x');

R.identity(0);

Install and use tilde-based version:

const installed = await install('ramda', '~0.22.1');
const R = require('ramda@~0.22.1');

R.identity(0);

Install and use caret-based version:

const installed = await install('ramda', '^0.22.1');
const R = require('ramda@^0.22.1');

R.identity(0);

Install invalid package:

const installed = await install('package-doesnt-exist', 'latest');

Install invalid version:

const installed = await install('ramda', '99.99.99');

Custom invalidators:

It is possible to use custom invalidators to customize when multi-tool should assume an already successfully installed package should be reinstalled. This is accomplished via a higher-order function passed as an argument upon require. The invalidator function is executed upon each install. The invalidator function is provided the package name, the package version, and how many milliseconds ago the package at hand was last successfully installed. The invalidator function should return a Boolean value which when true will invalidate the previously successfully installed package and reinstall. The default invalidator behavior is to always invalidate.

Invalidate always:

const invalidator = (name, version, age) => age >= 0;
const install = require('multi-tool')({path: 'node_modules', invalidate: invalidator});

Invalidate never:

const invalidator = (name, version, age) => age >= Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER;
const install = require('multi-tool')({path: 'node_modules', invalidate: invalidator});

Invalidate only latest versions and only after 10 minutes:

const invalidator = (name, version, age) => version === 'latest' && age >= 600000;
const install = require('multi-tool')({path: 'node_modules', invalidate: invalidator});

Maintainers

• Rocky Madden (@rockymadden)