External Dependencies

On this page

Add an External Package

Add Packages by Name and Version
Upload a Dependency Directory
Import a Package in a Function
Import a Full Module
Import a Module Subfolder

An external dependency is a library that includes code that you can't or don't want to implement yourself. For example, you might use an official library for an external service or a custom implementation of a data structure or algorithm.

Atlas automatically transpiles dependencies and also supports most built-in Node.js modules.

Note

Create Your Own Modules

Though most npm modules are written by third parties, you can also create and publish your own npm modules to house logic specific to your application. You can make your modules available to the Node.js community or reserve them for private use. For more information, check out npm's guide on Contributing packages to the registry.

Add an External Package

To import and use an external dependency, you first need to add the dependency to your application. You can either add packages by name or upload a directory of dependencies.

Important

Override Existing Dependencies

You can only use one method at a time to specify the external packages your app can use. The most recent method that you used to specify dependencies is the source of truth and overrides previous specifications.

For example, a package added by name through the UI overrides any copies of the same package that you've added previously, including those in an uploaded dependency directory.

Add Packages by Name and Version

You can add packages from the npm registry to your app by name. You can either add a specific version or use the latest version.

Navigate to Dependencies in the Atlas UI

Navigate to the Triggers Page
1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.
2. If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.
3. In the sidebar, click Triggers under the Services heading.
  The Triggers page displays.
Select the Trigger that you want to add the dependency to.
On the Edit Trigger page, go to the Function section and click Add Dependency.

Add Dependency Information

In the Add Dependency modal window, include the following information:

Field	Description
Define a Package Name	The name of the npm package.
Package Version	Optional. Specific version of the dependency to use. By default, Atlas functions use the latest version available.

Click Add to add the package.

You can track the status of adding the dependency in the progress tracker at the bottom of the window. The progress tracker provides a message letting you know if the package succeeded or failed. Failure messages contain additional information about why the package could not be added.

Check Operation Success

When you successfully add the dependency, you'll see it on the list of dependencies in the Dependencies tab on the main Triggers page.

Upload a Dependency Directory

You can upload a zipped node_modules directory of packages to your app. Zipped dependency directories may not exceed 15MB.

Important

Existing Dependencies Overwritten

When you import an archive, any existing dependencies will be removed.

Locally Install External Dependencies

To upload external dependencies, you first need a local node_modules folder containing at least one Node.js package. You can use the following code snippet to install a dependency locally you would like to upload:

npm install <package name>

If the node_modules folder does not already exist, this command automatically creates it.

Note

Alternative Methods of Installation

You can also configure a package.json and run the npm install command to install all packages (and their dependencies) listed in your package.json.

To learn more about npm and node_modules, consult the npm documentation.

Create a Dependency Archive

Now that you've downloaded all of your npm modules, you need to package them up in an archive so you can upload them to Atlas. Atlas supports .tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, and .zip archive formats.

Create an archive containing the node_modules folder:

tar -czf node_modules.tar.gz node_modules/

Upload the Dependency Archive

After you create an archive containing your dependencies, you can upload your dependency archive using the Atlas UI:

Navigate to the Triggers Page
1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.
2. If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.
3. In the sidebar, click Triggers under the Services heading.
  The Triggers page displays.
Select the Dependencies tab.
Click Upload Folder.
In the modal, click Upload Folder, then select the node_modules.tar.gz archive you just created.
Click Add. Atlas uploads the archive file, which may take several minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection and the size of your dependency archive.
Atlas displays a banner indicating the success or failure of the operation. If successful, the Dependencies tab displays a list of the dependencies that you included in your dependency archive.
- If drafts are enabled, you must also click Review & Deploy to apply these changes.
- If drafts are disabled, the change will take effect within 5 to 60 seconds, depending on the size of your dependency archive.

Import a Package in a Function

You can import built-in modules and external packages that you've added to your app and then use them in your functions. To import a package, call require() with the package name from within the function body.

Important

Where Do I Import Modules?

Node.js projects commonly place require() calls in the global scope of each file, but Atlas does not support this pattern. You must place require() calls within a function scope.

Import a Full Module

exports = () => {
   const R = require("ramda");
   return R.map(x => x*2, [1,2,3]);
}

Import a Module Subfolder

exports = function(arg){
   const cloneDeep = require("lodash/cloneDeep");
   var original = { name: "Deep" };
   var copy = cloneDeep(original);
   copy.name = "John";
   console.log(`original: ${original.name}`);
   console.log(`copy: ${copy.name}`);
   return (original != copy);
};

Back

Global Modules

Handle Errors