npm install as a service

A server that performs npm install and returns a zip file containing the node_modules.

Building and Running with Docker

Build the Docker image:

docker build . -t npm-install

Run the container:

docker run -p 8080:8080 npm-install

Deploying to Google Cloud Run and proxying locally

Deploy:

gcloud run deploy npm-install \
  --source . \
  --cpu 8 \
  --memory 32Gi \
  --no-allow-unauthenticated \
  --region europe-west1

Expose the service locally using Cloud Run's local proxy:

gcloud run services proxy npm-install \
  --region europe-west1 \
  --port 8080

Usage

You can now send a POST request to /install using either a JSON body or by uploading files using multipart/form-data.

Using local files (recommended)

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/install \
  -F "package.json=@example/package.json" \
  -F "package-lock.json=@example/package-lock.json" \
  --output node_modules.zip

The package-lock.json field is optional.

Using JSON body

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/install \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "package.json": "{\"name\":\"test-package\",\"dependencies\":{\"express\":\"^4.17.1\"}}"
  }' \
  --output node_modules.zip

The server will:

1. Create a temporary directory
2. Write the package files
3. Run npm install (or npm ci if package-lock.json is provided)
4. Zip the resulting node_modules directory
5. Stream the zip file back in the response