Checking in node_modules has the same problem as copy/pasting for native modules (on which I was relying, hence the compilation issues). Using file: is a better solution that wasn't around when I first encountered this solution, but still has the problem of requiring you to manually manage every dependency (which can grow to obnoxious proportions in Node). There's no clear way to create the equivalent package of a fat shaded JAR or a statically linked binary.