Cache your npm install on azure devops

Is your build time on azure devops waaay to long? Tired of waiting on your build? Guess What? You’re at the right place!

Quick introduction of the current solutions that can be used:

Option 1 (my current favorite)

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=1ESLighthouseEng.PipelineArtifactCaching

Option 2

Caching task is called “Cache (Beta)”

Caching with Microsoft DevLabs

Step 1: Adding the task

Step 2: Task order

Add the task before the npm install

Step 3: Configuring the task for npm

key file: **/package-lock.json, !**/node_modules/**/package-lock.json

target folder: **/node_modules, !**/node_modules/**/node_modules

Feed: Create a feed if you don’t have one:

How to create a feed

After the feed has been made, simply select the feed in the dropdown:

That’s all for the restore and save the artifact task!

Let’s move on to your npm install

Step 1: Add a bash Task (Yeah I like bash 💩) and make it look like this:

Step 2: Configuring some settings

Under “Advanced” add your working directory, this is where your package.json is lives

Step 3: Finishing touch

Under “Run this task” Select “Custom conditions” and add the following custom condition:

ne(variables['CacheRestored'], 'true')

This will simply skip the npm install if the cache is already restored by our previous task!

Voila!

Your npm install should be skipped when building the second time!

Happy coding! :)