Is it necessary to include a package.json file in the /src directory when creating a package?

Question

Is it necessary to include a package.json file in the /src directory when creating a package?

I am facing a situation where I have a package.json file in both the root directory and the /src folder within my projects. However, during the build process, the /src package.json is the one that gets copied to the /dist folder (and eventually published to Nexus).

This setup has led me to question whether this approach is the most efficient. Since I only make changes to the outermost package.json while developing, the /src file seems unnecessary and out of date. Managing updates for two files can be cumbersome.

My dilemma is whether I should continue maintaining both files or if it's possible to work with just the "root" package.json.

package.json
src/
    index.ts
    package.json
dist/
    index.d.ts
    index.js
    package.json //from src

typescript npm package.json

Answer 1

Answer №1

Your project setup is a bit unconventional. Typically, projects are structured with a single package.json file at the root level:

.npmignore
package.json
src/
    index.ts
dist/
    index.d.ts
    index.js

Instead of only publishing the contents of the dist folder, you should run npm publish from the root directory. The .npmignore file specifies what files or directories to exclude from the package. If you want to exclude only the src folder, your .npmignore would look like this:

src

In the package.json file, make sure to set the main and typings fields to indicate where Node and TypeScript can find your code:

{
  "main": "dist/index.js",
  "typings": "dist/index.d.ts"
  ...
}

(Alternatively, if you prefer to publish just the contents of the dist folder, you could consider setting up an additional build step to copy your root package.json into the dist directory. However, the publishing approach outlined above is more common and recommended.)

Answer 2

Your project setup is a bit unconventional. Typically, projects are structured with a single package.json file at the root level:

.npmignore
package.json
src/
    index.ts
dist/
    index.d.ts
    index.js

Instead of only publishing the contents of the dist folder, you should run npm publish from the root directory. The .npmignore file specifies what files or directories to exclude from the package. If you want to exclude only the src folder, your .npmignore would look like this:

src

In the package.json file, make sure to set the main and typings fields to indicate where Node and TypeScript can find your code:

{
  "main": "dist/index.js",
  "typings": "dist/index.d.ts"
  ...
}

(Alternatively, if you prefer to publish just the contents of the dist folder, you could consider setting up an additional build step to copy your root package.json into the dist directory. However, the publishing approach outlined above is more common and recommended.)

Is it necessary to include a package.json file in the /src directory when creating a package?

Answer №1

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