Linked packages can't be found during build

[bertday]

Can you reproduce the problem with latest npm?

Yes. I'm on Node 7.2.0, npm 3.10.9.

Description

I'm working on two projects at the same time, both generated with create-react-app. One exports a React component that's used by the other, so I'd like create a symlink between the two. I ran npm link within the master project and then npm link mapbook (where mapbook is the name of the project) in the client. Then in index.js for the client I have:

import Mapbook from 'mapbook'

Expected behavior

When I run npm run start, I'm expecting the module to be imported without any errors.

Actual behavior

Instead I get:

Error in ./src/index.js
Module not found: 'mapbook' in /home/ubuntu/workspace/atlas-mapbook/src

Not sure why it's not seeing the symlink in node_modules. If I change the import/export statements to CommonJS and simply node index.js it works fine, so I don't think it's a permissions issue.

Environment

Run these commands in the project folder and fill in their results:

1. npm ls react-scripts (if you haven’t ejected):

   [email protected] /home/ubuntu/workspace/atlas-mapbook
   └── [email protected]

2. node -v: v7.2.0

3. npm -v: 3.10.9

Then, specify:

1. Operating system: Ubuntu 16.04 on Cloud9; NVM preinstalled
2. Browser and version: n/a

Reproducible Demo

https://github.com/rbrtmrtn/create-react-app-issue

Thanks for any suggestions!

[joserobleda]

I guess CRA default settings doesn't makes babel to transpile anything with a realpath outside your project.

I'm also looking for a solution to this situation. I found a workaround by ejecting, but I really don't want to..

[bertday]

@joserobleda interesting. What did you do after you ejected?

[gaearon]

There is no good support for npm link workflow at the moment.
There are a few issues about this and we’ll need to consider a holistic solution at some point.

[gaearon]

Closing in favor of #1107, let's consolidate npm link discussion and use cases there.