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I am trying to use browserify for a small web application, what I would like to achieve is pretty basic: I would like to be able to require('jquery') in my JS code instead of having the dependency linked with a <script> tag in the HTML code.

So, I have this in the first line of my JS file called main.js:

require('jquery');

Then, I start browserify to produce bundle.js:

browserify main.js -o bundle.js

Output:

Error: Cannot find module 'jquery' from /home/matias/dev/app/js

However, it seems jquery is properly installed:

npm -g list | grep jquery

returns [email protected].

Any idea what I am doing wrong ?

EDIT: installing modules 'locally' (without -g option) seems to work with browserify - is it the right way to do ? I would prefer to have it using globally installed modules.

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It is highly recommended to install modules locally. This way, each project depends on the specific versions it needs, and there is no risk of regressions from backwards-incompatible changes. When you upgrade a global module, anything that depends on it could potentially break.

Whether you are using browserify or not, npm dependencies should be fixed to a specific version (likely, the latest version at the time of authoring). They should only be upgraded (past a major version) when you have the time to test and make sure nothing breaks, using a tool such as npm-check-updates.

All that said, you can run npm link jquery from inside your project directory to make the local dependencies (in node_modules) symlink to the globally installed jquery. This is helpful when you are developing the dependency module, but it is not suitable for normal use.

In your situation, use local dependencies.

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