An npm Package of My Very Own (fab.accept)

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I have yet to create a npm package of my own. The fab.accept (fab) app from the other day affords me the perfect opportunity. It is an extremely small app, but that is one of the ideas behind the upcoming version of fab.js—small, modular apps.

First, I create a github repository for fab.accept. With that, I am ready to get started building my node package.

During this process, I make extensive use of the npm help subsystem. For instance, I read through npm help json to figure out how to write my package.json file:

{ "name": "fab.accept"
, "version": "0.0.1"
, "author": "Chris Strom"
, "description": "Simple (fab) app to respond to Accept HTTP headers"
, "homepage": "http://github.com/eee-c/fab.accept"
, "engines": ["node >= 0.2.0"]
, "main": "lib/main" }

There is also a dependencies attribute supported by npm. I opt not to use that here because it would require a version of fab.js (0.5) that is not yet in the npm registry.

After creating a lib/main.js with the code from the other day, I am ready to install locally:

cstrom@whitefall:~/repos/fab.accept$ npm install .
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm info install fab.accept@0.0.1
npm info activate fab.accept@0.0.1
npm info build Success: fab.accept@0.0.1
npm ok

Nice! It took me a little while to root through the npm help json documentation to figure out what I needed, but once I had that sorted out, it was pretty easy to get my package ready to be installed.

After that, I use it in my (fab) game to make sure that it is working. I had left some debug code in there and accessed an array incorrectly. Once I have those issues resolved, I am ready to publish to the npm registry.

I am not sure what sort of authorization I need (do I need to send an email to get an account?). Only one way to find out:

cstrom@whitefall:~/repos/fab.accept$ npm publish .
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm ERR! Failed PUT response undefined
npm ERR! Error: Cannot insert data into the registry without authorization
npm ERR! See: npm-adduser(1)
npm ERR!     at request (/home/cstrom/.node_libraries/.npm/npm/0.1.27-12/package/lib/utils/registry/request.js:38:15)
npm ERR!     at PUT (/home/cstrom/.node_libraries/.npm/npm/0.1.27-12/package/lib/utils/registry/request.js:129:34)
npm ERR!     at Object.publish (/home/cstrom/.node_libraries/.npm/npm/0.1.27-12/package/lib/utils/registry/publish.js:49:7)
npm ERR!     at /home/cstrom/.node_libraries/.npm/npm/0.1.27-12/package/lib/publish.js:15:14
npm ERR!     at /home/cstrom/.node_libraries/.npm/npm/0.1.27-12/package/lib/cache.js:178:11
npm ERR!     at cb (/home/cstrom/.node_libraries/.npm/npm/0.1.27-12/package/lib/utils/graceful-fs.js:28:9)
npm ERR!     at node.js:769:9
npm ERR! try running: 'npm help publish'
npm ERR! Report this *entire* log at <http://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues>
npm ERR! or email it to <npm-@googlegroups.com>
npm not ok

Beautiful. It might not have worked, but it tells me exactly what I need to do:

cstrom@whitefall:~/repos/fab.accept$ npm adduser
Username: eee-c
Password: 
Email: npm@eeecooks.com
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm info adduser Authorized user eee-c
npm ok

And now...

cstrom@whitefall:~/repos/fab.accept$ npm publish .
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm WARN Sending authorization over insecure channel.
npm WARN Sending authorization over insecure channel.
npm WARN Sending authorization over insecure channel.
npm info publish done with upload
npm info publish uploaded
npm ok

Damn, that was pretty easy. This npm stuff is all right!

The only thing left for me is to install from the npm registry to make sure it all works. Before I can do that, I need to remove my locally installed package:

cstrom@whitefall:~/.node_libraries$ npm rm fab.accept
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm info uninstall safe to uninstall: fab.accept-0.0.1
npm info uninstall fab.accept-0.0.1 complete
npm ok

I also need to remove the previously installed package from the cache:

cstrom@whitefall:~/.node_libraries$ npm cache clean
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm ok

If I do not remove from the cache, then I am not testing the downloaded package. I have no reason to believe that anything will not work, but, as long as I am testing this, I might as well test what I think I am testing.

With that, I can install from the npm registry:

cstrom@whitefall:~/.node_libraries$ npm install fab.accept
npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm info version 0.1.27-12
npm info fetch http://registry.npmjs.org/fab.accept/-/fab.accept-0.0.1.tgz
npm info install fab.accept@0.0.1
npm info activate fab.accept@0.0.1
npm info build Success: fab.accept@0.0.1
npm ok

Success!

This npm is pretty darn cool. I went from no package to published package in a single night. I cannot ask for much more than that.


Day #232