Package Import

Import ESM packages from registries in the browser.

• Quick Usage
• Options
  • string modulePath: Module Resolution Path
  • object importMap: Importmaps
  • object registryMap: Registrymaps
  • bool dom = true: DOM Parsing
    • <script type="importmap">
    • <script type="registrymap">
• Script Resolution
• Specifying Versions

Quick Usage

Package Import provides a simple interface for importing packages using importmaps and registrymaps to pull packages from their various sources.

import PackageImport from "package-import";

const importer = new PackageImport();

await importer.get('my-package');

By default, if no importmap is defined and no modulePath is specified, Package Import will look at the root of the current website for a node_modules directory.

Options

new PackageImport(modulePath, {
  importMap, // optional
  registryMap, // optional
  dom: true, // optional
});

string modulePath: Module Resolution Path

The default module resolution path is set to node_modules, relative to the base URL of the current site.

To specify the module resolution path, pass a URL to PackageImport:

const importer = new PackageImport("https://unpkg.com/");
await importer.get("my-package");

This will locate the package at https://unpkg.com/my-package/ and import the package's main script.

object importMap: Importmaps

An importmap can be specified in the constructor, alleviating any need to add additional script tags on the page:

const importer = new PackageImport("https://unpkg.com/", {
  importMap: {
    "imports": {
      "my-package": "https://some-other-registry.com/my-package/index.js"
    }
  }
});

await importer.get("my-package");

In the example above, my-package always resolving to https://some-other-registry.com/my-package/index.js.

object registryMap: Registrymaps

Registrymaps are similar to importmaps, except that Package Import will attempt to resolve the package through its Script Resolution model by first fetching the module's package.json file to discover the main script.

const importer = new PackageImport("/node_modules", {
  registryMap: {
    "registries": {
      "unpkg": "https://unpkg.com/"
    },
    "imports": {
      "my-package": "unpkg",
    }
  }
});

await importer.get("my-package");

In the example above, my-package will be resolved by fetching the package.json from the package that lives at https://unpkg.com/my-package/.

bool dom = true: DOM Parsing

In the event that DOM parsing is not wanted, the dom option can be overridden to false. This will prevent the importmap and registrymap from scanning the DOM for scripts to use when resolving imports.

<script type="importmap">
{
  "imports": {
    "my-package": "https://unpkg.com/my-package/index.js"
  }
}
</script>

const importer = new PackageImport("/node_modules", { dom: false });
await importer.get("my-package");

In the example above, the module will be resolved from /node_modules/my-package instead of pulling it from unpkg.

script type="importmap"

Package Import will attempt to parse all scripts with type="importmap" on the page and use it as an importmap unless dom is set to false.

For example, the following:

<script type="importmap">
{
  "imports": {
    "my-package": "https://unpkg.com/my-package/index.js"
  }
}
</script>

Will result in my-package always resolving to https://unpkg.com/my-package/index.js.

script type="registrymap"

While non-standard, Package Import will attempt to parse all scripts with type="registrymap" on the page and use it as a registrymap.

For example, the following:

<script type="registrymap">
{
  "registries": {
    "unpkg": "https://unpkg.com/"
  },
  "imports": {
    "my-package": "unpkg",
  }
}
</script>

The example above will retrieve my-package by fetching the package.json from the package that lives at https://unpkg.com/my-package/.

Script Resolution

Package Import attempts to determine the correct script to import through a series of steps:

When calling await importer.get("my-package"), Package Import will walk through the following steps:

1. Search any importmap for "my-package". If it exists, treat it like a direct URL.
2. Search any registrymap for "my-package". If it exists, use it to resolve the package.json.
3. Use the modulePath to resolve the package.json.

If the package.json needs to be resolved, the script is determined by using checking the main property in the package.json, or falling back to the browser property in the package.json.

Specifying Versions

Modules with an accompanying registrymap will attempt to resolve at the specified version.

const importer = new PackageImport("/node_modules", {
  registryMap: {
    "registries": {
      "unpkg": "https://unpkg.com/"
    },
    "imports": {
      "my-package": "unpkg",
    }
  }
});

await importer.get("my-package@12.0.5");
await importer.get("unmapped-pkg@7.5.1");

In the example above, my-package will be resolved by fetching the package.json from the package that lives at https://unpkg.com/my-package@12.0.5/. However, unmapped-pkg will resolve using the default module resolution path at: /node_modules/unmapped-pkg without the version included in the fetch URL.