Summary
peerDependenciesMeta
allows for defining peerDependencies
as optional while optionalDependencies
enables the specification of regular dependencies
as optional.
Items listed in optionalDependencies
function similarly to those listed in dependencies
. This means that transitive optionalDependencies
may be found in nested node_modules, and installed packages could possess their own versions of their optionalDependencies
, possibly conflicting with each other.
peerDependencies
are treated as shared (singletons) and are placed in the top-level node_modules directory. If conflicts arise, they should not be installed in nested node_modules. The use of peerDependenciesMeta
provides the ability to label certain peerDependencies
as optional.
For more information, refer to the npm documentation on optionalDependencies and peerDependencies.