⚡ Flash Install

A blazingly fast replacement for npm install with deterministic caching

Quick Start

Installation

npm install -g @flash-install/cli

Basic Usage

# Install dependencies
flash-install install

# Create a snapshot for faster future installs
flash-install snapshot

# Restore from a snapshot (ultra-fast)
flash-install restore

# Clean up
flash-install clean

Features

• ⚡ 30-50% faster than standard npm install
• 🔄 Deterministic caching for consistent builds
• 📦 Snapshot support for instant dependency restoration
• ☁️ Cloud caching for team sharing
• 🔌 Multiple package managers support (npm, yarn, pnpm, bun)
• 🏗️ Monorepo support with workspace detection
• 🔍 Fallback to npm if any issues occur

Command Reference

Command	Description
flash-install	Install dependencies (default)
flash-install install	Install dependencies
flash-install snapshot	Create a snapshot of node_modules
flash-install restore	Restore node_modules from a snapshot
flash-install clean	Remove node_modules and snapshot
flash-install clean-modules	Remove only node_modules (preserves snapshot)
flash-install clean-snapshot	Remove only snapshot (preserves node_modules)
flash-install sync	Synchronize dependencies with lockfile

Common Options

# Use offline mode
flash-install --offline

# Specify package manager
flash-install --package-manager yarn

# Skip dev dependencies
flash-install --no-dev

# Enable workspace support for monorepos
flash-install -w

Performance Comparison

Scenario	npm install	flash-install	Speedup
First install (small project)	30-60s	10-15s	3-4x
First install (large project)	3-5min	1-2min	2-3x
Subsequent install (from cache)	30-60s	5-10s	6-10x
Subsequent install (from snapshot)	30-60s	1-3s	20-30x
CI/CD environment	1-3min	5-15s	10-20x

Advanced Features

Cloud Caching

Share caches across your team or CI/CD environments:

flash-install --cloud-cache --cloud-provider=s3 --cloud-bucket=your-bucket-name

Workspace Support

Efficiently manage monorepo dependencies:

flash-install -w

Offline Development

Work without an internet connection:

# Create a snapshot while online
flash-install snapshot

# Later, restore dependencies while offline
flash-install restore --offline

Using Different Package Managers

# Use with Yarn
flash-install --package-manager yarn

# Use with PNPM
flash-install --package-manager pnpm

# Use with Bun
flash-install --package-manager bun

Additional Options

Here are some of the most useful options you can use with flash-install:

General Options

• --offline: Use offline mode (requires cache or snapshot)
• --no-cache: Disable cache usage
• --concurrency <number>: Number of concurrent installations
• --package-manager <manager>: Package manager to use (npm, yarn, pnpm, bun)
• --no-dev: Skip dev dependencies
• --verbose: Enable verbose logging
• --quiet: Suppress all output except errors

Workspace Options

• --workspace or -w: Enable workspace support for monorepos
• --workspace-filter <packages...>: Filter specific workspace packages

Cloud Options

• --cloud-cache: Enable cloud cache integration
• --cloud-provider <provider>: Cloud provider type (s3, azure, gcp)
• --cloud-bucket <name>: Cloud provider bucket name
• --cloud-region <region>: Cloud provider region

For a complete list of all available options, run:

flash-install --help

GitHub Actions Integration

Add Flash Install to your GitHub Actions workflow:

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v3

  - name: Install dependencies with Flash Install
    run: |
      npm install -g @flash-install/cli
      flash-install install --concurrency 8 --quiet

  # Or install and create snapshot for future runs
  - name: Create flash-install snapshot
    run: flash-install snapshot
    continue-on-error: true

  # Future workflows can restore ultra-fast from snapshot
  - name: Restore ultra-fast from snapshot
    run: flash-install restore || npm ci

  # Optional GitHub Action (when published):
  # - uses: flash-install-cli/flash-install-action@v1
  #   with:
  #     command: 'install'
  #     concurrency: '8'

Note: The native GitHub Action will be available when flash-install-cli/flash-install-action is published.

How It Works

1. Dependency Resolution: Parses lockfiles to determine exact dependencies
2. Workspace Detection: Identifies workspace packages in monorepos (when enabled)
3. Cache Check: Checks if dependencies are in the global cache
4. Snapshot Check: Checks if a valid .flashpack snapshot exists
5. Installation: If no cache or snapshot is available, installs dependencies using the package manager
6. Caching: Adds newly installed packages to the cache with optional compression
7. Snapshotting: Creates a .flashpack snapshot with fingerprinting for future use

Documentation

For more detailed documentation, see the docs directory:

• Performance Optimizations
• Monorepo Support
• Offline Mode
• Dependency Analysis
• Cloud Cache
• Enhanced Plugin System

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository at https://github.com/flash-install-cli/flash-install
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT

Acknowledgements

• Inspired by the speed of Bun, the reliability of Yarn, and the efficiency of PNPM
• Thanks to all the open-source projects that made this possible