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<title>npm-folders</title>
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<h1><a href="../files/npm-folders.html">npm-folders</a></h1> <p>Folder Structures Used by npm</p>
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<h2 id="description">DESCRIPTION</h2>
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<p>npm puts various things on your computer. That's its job.</p>
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<p>This document will tell you what it puts where.</p>
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<h3 id="tl-dr">tl;dr</h3>
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<ul>
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<li>Local install (default): puts stuff in <code>./node_modules</code> of the current
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package root.</li>
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<li>Global install (with <code>-g</code>): puts stuff in /usr/local or wherever node
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is installed.</li>
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<li>Install it <strong>locally</strong> if you're going to <code>require()</code> it.</li>
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<li>Install it <strong>globally</strong> if you're going to run it on the command line.</li>
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<li>If you need both, then install it in both places, or use <code>npm link</code>.</li>
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</ul>
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<h3 id="prefix-configuration">prefix Configuration</h3>
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<p>The <code>prefix</code> config defaults to the location where node is installed.
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On most systems, this is <code>/usr/local</code>. On windows, this is the exact
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location of the node.exe binary. On Unix systems, it's one level up,
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since node is typically installed at <code>{prefix}/bin/node</code> rather than
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<code>{prefix}/node.exe</code>.</p>
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<p>When the <code>global</code> flag is set, npm installs things into this prefix.
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When it is not set, it uses the root of the current package, or the
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current working directory if not in a package already.</p>
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<h3 id="node-modules">Node Modules</h3>
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<p>Packages are dropped into the <code>node_modules</code> folder under the <code>prefix</code>.
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When installing locally, this means that you can
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<code>require("packagename")</code> to load its main module, or
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<code>require("packagename/lib/path/to/sub/module")</code> to load other modules.</p>
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<p>Global installs on Unix systems go to <code>{prefix}/lib/node_modules</code>.
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Global installs on Windows go to <code>{prefix}/node_modules</code> (that is, no
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<code>lib</code> folder.)</p>
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<p>Scoped packages are installed the same way, except they are grouped together
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in a sub-folder of the relevant <code>node_modules</code> folder with the name of that
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scope prefix by the @ symbol, e.g. <code>npm install @myorg/package</code> would place
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the package in <code>{prefix}/node_modules/@myorg/package</code>. See <code><a href="../misc/scope.html">scope(7)</a></code> for
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more details.</p>
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<p>If you wish to <code>require()</code> a package, then install it locally.</p>
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<h3 id="executables">Executables</h3>
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<p>When in global mode, executables are linked into <code>{prefix}/bin</code> on Unix,
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or directly into <code>{prefix}</code> on Windows.</p>
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<p>When in local mode, executables are linked into
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<code>./node_modules/.bin</code> so that they can be made available to scripts run
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through npm. (For example, so that a test runner will be in the path
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when you run <code>npm test</code>.)</p>
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<h3 id="man-pages">Man Pages</h3>
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<p>When in global mode, man pages are linked into <code>{prefix}/share/man</code>.</p>
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<p>When in local mode, man pages are not installed.</p>
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<p>Man pages are not installed on Windows systems.</p>
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<h3 id="cache">Cache</h3>
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<p>See <code><a href="../cli/npm-cache.html">npm-cache(1)</a></code>. Cache files are stored in <code>~/.npm</code> on Posix, or
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<code>~/npm-cache</code> on Windows.</p>
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<p>This is controlled by the <code>cache</code> configuration param.</p>
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<h3 id="temp-files">Temp Files</h3>
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<p>Temporary files are stored by default in the folder specified by the
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<code>tmp</code> config, which defaults to the TMPDIR, TMP, or TEMP environment
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variables, or <code>/tmp</code> on Unix and <code>c:\windows\temp</code> on Windows.</p>
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<p>Temp files are given a unique folder under this root for each run of the
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program, and are deleted upon successful exit.</p>
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<h2 id="more-information">More Information</h2>
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<p>When installing locally, npm first tries to find an appropriate
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<code>prefix</code> folder. This is so that <code>npm install foo@1.2.3</code> will install
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to the sensible root of your package, even if you happen to have <code>cd</code>ed
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into some other folder.</p>
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<p>Starting at the $PWD, npm will walk up the folder tree checking for a
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folder that contains either a <code>package.json</code> file, or a <code>node_modules</code>
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folder. If such a thing is found, then that is treated as the effective
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"current directory" for the purpose of running npm commands. (This
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behavior is inspired by and similar to git's .git-folder seeking
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logic when running git commands in a working dir.)</p>
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<p>If no package root is found, then the current folder is used.</p>
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<p>When you run <code>npm install foo@1.2.3</code>, then the package is loaded into
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the cache, and then unpacked into <code>./node_modules/foo</code>. Then, any of
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foo's dependencies are similarly unpacked into
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<code>./node_modules/foo/node_modules/...</code>.</p>
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<p>Any bin files are symlinked to <code>./node_modules/.bin/</code>, so that they may
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be found by npm scripts when necessary.</p>
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<h3 id="global-installation">Global Installation</h3>
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<p>If the <code>global</code> configuration is set to true, then npm will
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install packages "globally".</p>
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<p>For global installation, packages are installed roughly the same way,
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but using the folders described above.</p>
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<h3 id="cycles-conflicts-and-folder-parsimony">Cycles, Conflicts, and Folder Parsimony</h3>
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<p>Cycles are handled using the property of node's module system that it
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walks up the directories looking for <code>node_modules</code> folders. So, at every
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stage, if a package is already installed in an ancestor <code>node_modules</code>
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folder, then it is not installed at the current location.</p>
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<p>Consider the case above, where <code>foo -> bar -> baz</code>. Imagine if, in
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addition to that, baz depended on bar, so you'd have:
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<code>foo -> bar -> baz -> bar -> baz ...</code>. However, since the folder
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structure is: <code>foo/node_modules/bar/node_modules/baz</code>, there's no need to
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put another copy of bar into <code>.../baz/node_modules</code>, since when it calls
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require("bar"), it will get the copy that is installed in
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<code>foo/node_modules/bar</code>.</p>
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<p>This shortcut is only used if the exact same
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version would be installed in multiple nested <code>node_modules</code> folders. It
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is still possible to have <code>a/node_modules/b/node_modules/a</code> if the two
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"a" packages are different versions. However, without repeating the
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exact same package multiple times, an infinite regress will always be
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prevented.</p>
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<p>Another optimization can be made by installing dependencies at the
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highest level possible, below the localized "target" folder.</p>
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<h4 id="example">Example</h4>
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<p>Consider this dependency graph:</p>
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<pre><code>foo
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+-- blerg@1.2.5
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+-- bar@1.2.3
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| +-- blerg@1.x (latest=1.3.7)
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| +-- baz@2.x
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| | `-- quux@3.x
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| | `-- bar@1.2.3 (cycle)
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| `-- asdf@*
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`-- baz@1.2.3
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`-- quux@3.x
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`-- bar
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</code></pre><p>In this case, we might expect a folder structure like this:</p>
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<pre><code>foo
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+-- node_modules
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+-- blerg (1.2.5) <---[A]
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+-- bar (1.2.3) <---[B]
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| `-- node_modules
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| +-- baz (2.0.2) <---[C]
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| | `-- node_modules
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| | `-- quux (3.2.0)
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| `-- asdf (2.3.4)
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`-- baz (1.2.3) <---[D]
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`-- node_modules
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`-- quux (3.2.0) <---[E]
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</code></pre><p>Since foo depends directly on <code>bar@1.2.3</code> and <code>baz@1.2.3</code>, those are
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installed in foo's <code>node_modules</code> folder.</p>
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<p>Even though the latest copy of blerg is 1.3.7, foo has a specific
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dependency on version 1.2.5. So, that gets installed at [A]. Since the
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parent installation of blerg satisfies bar's dependency on <code>blerg@1.x</code>,
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it does not install another copy under [B].</p>
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<p>Bar [B] also has dependencies on baz and asdf, so those are installed in
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bar's <code>node_modules</code> folder. Because it depends on <code>baz@2.x</code>, it cannot
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re-use the <code>baz@1.2.3</code> installed in the parent <code>node_modules</code> folder [D],
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and must install its own copy [C].</p>
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<p>Underneath bar, the <code>baz -> quux -> bar</code> dependency creates a cycle.
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However, because bar is already in quux's ancestry [B], it does not
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unpack another copy of bar into that folder.</p>
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<p>Underneath <code>foo -> baz</code> [D], quux's [E] folder tree is empty, because its
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dependency on bar is satisfied by the parent folder copy installed at [B].</p>
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<p>For a graphical breakdown of what is installed where, use <code>npm ls</code>.</p>
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<h3 id="publishing">Publishing</h3>
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<p>Upon publishing, npm will look in the <code>node_modules</code> folder. If any of
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the items there are not in the <code>bundledDependencies</code> array, then they will
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not be included in the package tarball.</p>
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<p>This allows a package maintainer to install all of their dependencies
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(and dev dependencies) locally, but only re-publish those items that
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cannot be found elsewhere. See <code><a href="../files/package.json.html">package.json(5)</a></code> for more information.</p>
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<h2 id="see-also">SEE ALSO</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="../files/package.json.html">package.json(5)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../cli/npm-install.html">npm-install(1)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../cli/npm-pack.html">npm-pack(1)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../cli/npm-cache.html">npm-cache(1)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../cli/npm-config.html">npm-config(1)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../files/npmrc.html">npmrc(5)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../misc/npm-config.html">npm-config(7)</a></li>
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<li><a href="../cli/npm-publish.html">npm-publish(1)</a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 id=npmlogo>
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</table>
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<p id="footer">npm-folders — npm@4.4.1</p>
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