# Cockpit Javascript Dependencies
For included Javascript libraries, and build processes
Cockpit uses Node.js dependencies to process its code. The required Node.JS
javascript code is packaged in the `node_modules/` directory when distributed.
Cockpit does not use Node.js or any npm packages code at runtime. In addition
when building straight from a tarball it is also not necessary to have Node.js
installed.
## Git builds
When building from Git, the `node_modules/` directory is managed as a git
submodule from the `node-cache` repository in the same project as the main
repository (ie: `cockpit-project/node-cache`). That means that normal builds
won't need to run `npm install`. Checking out the correct version of the
`node_modules` directory is managed by the script `tools/node-modules`, which
is automatically invoked from the build system on an as-needed basis, and has
good caching. You can also do a recursive git checkout, if you'd prefer to
build in a no-network environment, but you'll lose the caching benefits.
The gitlink for `node_modules/` is always kept in sync with the `package.json`
file used to fetch that set of modules with `npm install`.
## Making changes
In the event that you need to modify `package.json`, the `node_modules` will
need to be regenerated, and a new commit recorded. That can be managed locally
by running
```
tools/node_modules install
```
which will produce a commit which is available for local testing.
When you are ready to open a pull request with your changes, push the newly
created `node_modules` commit to the cache by running
```
tools/node_modules push
```
Then create a pull request with your `package.json` and `node_modules` changes.
## GitHub setup notes (documentation for project admins)
This section documents the way to setup the `node-cache` repository on GitHub,
from scratch. This could potentially be automated, but it doesn't need to
happen regularly, so it's not a high priority. These instructions may also be
useful for other projects or for forks.
On the GitHub side, the workflow is driven from the `npm-install.yml` script,
and makes use of the `node-cache upload` environment, which needs to be
configured with a `NODE_CACHE_DEPLOY_KEY` secret. The exact steps:
- create the `node-cache` repository under the same project as the main
repository (or fork it)
- add a commit to that repository with a `README`. At least one commit on a
named branch needs to be present in order for the GitHub web UI to function
properly (eg: generate diffs, show tree contents, etc.)
- generate an SSH key locally, without a passphrase, without touching the disk:
`ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C 'node-cache deploy' -f "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}/deploy-key" -N ''`
- create an environment called `node-cache upload` in the settings of the
primary repository:
https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/settings/environments/new
- add the content of the private key `deploy-key` to the `node-cache upload`
environment as a secret with the name `NODE_CACHE_DEPLOY_KEY`
- upload the public key `deploy-key.pub` as a deploy key to `node-cache` with
write access enabled:
https://github.com/cockpit-project/node-cache/settings/keys/new
- destroy the local copy: `rm ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}/deploy-key*`
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