NPM workspaces not supported

[mickaeltr]

Hello,

We have a mono-repository with multiple Node.js applications, using NPM packages: one package = one application

The structure is as follows:

/package.json → defines common dependencies
/node_modules → all dependencies will be downloaded here
/backend
/backend/package.json → backend dependencies only
/frontend
/frontend/package.json → frontend dependencies only

We have tried deploying a single workspace, by setting an NPM_CONFIG_WORKSPACE environment variable. The goal is to run all NPM commands with the option --workspace=$NPM_CONFIG_WORKSPACE, so that only the workspace dependencies are installed and cached.

However, if fails with the following error:

       Fetching source code
-----> Using buildpack 'nodejs'
       
-----> Creating runtime environment
       
       NPM_CONFIG_LOGLEVEL=error
       NPM_CONFIG_WORKSPACE=frontend
       NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/usr/share/ca-certificates/Scalingo/scalingo-database.pem
       NODE_VERBOSE=false
       NODE_ENV=production
       NODE_MODULES_CACHE=true
       
-----> Installing binaries
       engines.node (package.json):   20
       engines.npm (package.json):    10
       
       Resolving node version 20...
       Downloading and installing node 20.13.1...
       Bootstrapping npm 10 (replacing 10.5.2)...
npm ERR! Workspaces not supported for global packages
npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in: /tmp/npmcache.aaJTU/_logs/2024-05-28T16_10_04_024Z-debug-0.log
       Unable to install npm 10.  Does npm 10 exist?  Is npm 10 compatible with this Node.js version?
-----> Build failed
grep: Unmatched ( or \(
       
       We're sorry this build is failing!
       
       If you're stuck, please send us an email so we can help:
       support@scalingo.com
       
       Keep coding,
       Scalingo
       
!     An error occurred during buildpack compilation
 !   Error deploying the application
 !   → Invalid return code from buildpack 

It would be very helpful to have support for NPM workspaces, so I am available to help if needed.

Thank you

---

Some documentation:

• NPM workspaces: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/using-npm/workspaces
• NPM config: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/using-npm/config