Use a different node_modules directory for different versions of Node.js

Question

When using NVM, or otherwise switching between Node.js versions, node_modules has to be rebuilt for each Node version. Would it be possible somehow use a different node_modules directory for each version, instead of having to rebuild the contents everytime you switch between versions?

something like:

node_modules_v8/
node_modules_v7/
node_modules_v6/

Maybe there is a better way to do this, not sure.

Answer 1

Three suggestions (in my order of pref):

1. Use Docker to help configure Containers and Volumes to switch up where things point to based on your version of node.
2. Set a symbolic link (Linux syntax, Windows syntax) to your node_modules folder that points to the correct version of modules that node expects to run.
3. Similar to manipulating symbolic links, use the NODE_PATH setting and point it to the correct cache of your node_modules folder (i.e. NODE_PATH=/etc/node_v8) just prior to executing your node command. If you set it globally it would restrict you running multiple instances of node on that box so, you'd need to set the NODE_PATH on a per process instance.