According to: https://docs.npmjs.com/files/folders
- Local install (default): puts stuff in ./node_modules of the current package root.
- Global install (with -g): puts stuff in /usr/local or wherever node is installed.
- Install it locally if you're going to require() it.
- Install it globally if you're going to run it on the command line. -> If you need both, then install it in both places, or use npm link.
prefix Configuration
The prefix config defaults to the location where node is installed. On most systems, this is
/usr/local. On windows, this is the exact location of the node.exe binary.
The docs might be a little outdated, but they explain why global installs can end up in different directories:
(dev) go|c:\srv> npm config ls -l | grep prefix
; prefix = "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs" (overridden)
prefix = "C:\\Users\\bjorn\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm"
Based on the other answers, it may seem like the override is now the default location on Windows, and that I may have installed my office version prior to this override being implemented.
This also suggests a solution for getting all team members to have globals stored in the same absolute path relative to their PC, i.e. (run as Administrator):
mkdir %PROGRAMDATA%\npm
setx PATH "%PROGRAMDATA%\npm;%PATH%" /M
npm config set prefix %PROGRAMDATA%\npm
open a new cmd.exe window and reinstall all global packages.
Explanation (by lineno.):
setx .. /M to set the
system path (under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE). This is what requires you to run
this in a shell with administrator permissions.npm to use this new path. (Note: folder isn't visible in %PATH% in
this shell, so you must open a new window).